Box o' eep

Ganked from blunaris...

If I needed to communicate the essence of my person and my soul but only had a cardboard box and a choice of thirteen objects in which to do this, here is what I would assemble:

( The box o' eep )

Freedom of speech? Yeah, right.

Warning: This is the LJ entry when I get political. And I'm not cutting this shit, because I think it's important. So there.

Censorship is alive and kicking in the U.S.A., my friends. If you haven't heard about the latest right-wing roadblock to free speech, check out this link from CNN. Basically, Nightline is going to air an episode where they have the names and photographs of all the soldiers who've been killed in Iraq. They did the same thing after 9/11 with all of the people they know were killed. But the Sinclair Broadcast Group says that this is anti-war propaganda, and they're refusing to air the episode. The fuck? Nightline says it's paying tribute to the fallen soldiers. Granted, it could be seen as anti-war, but if my friend/boyfriend/neighbor/whomever was killed over there, I'd want his/her name given some credit, too. This is ridiculous. And who is the Sinclair Group to censor something like this? It turns out that Sinclair executives have given $136,000 to Republicans and the Bush administration since 2000. Surprise, surprise.

As the people at MoveOn.org said, "Censoring images of the fallen serves the right-wing ideologues who pushed the war in Iraq, but it certainly doesn't serve our country to hide those who were killed." Jane Bright of Military Families Speak Out had this to say: "The Sinclair Broadcast Group is trying to undermine the lives of our soldiers killed in Iraq. By censoring Nightline they want to hide the toll the war on Iraq is having on thousands of soldiers and their families, like mine." But the Sinclair group continues to hold fast, replying that "Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for [Nightline] the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq."

Are you pissed off by this as well? Do you dislike the idea that someone can censor a TV program because of an implied political agenda, when the same type of program has already been aired? Want to at least voice your opinion? Why not give these guys a call.

David D. Smith, CEO
Sinclair Broadcast Group
(410) 568-1500 x1504

And while you're at it, have you thought about the fact that the government doesn't want the American public to see the coffins of soldiers who've died in Iraq? Have you really thought about that? Why not? They're not showing bodies, just anonymous, flag-draped coffins. Why not show us the results of invading Iraq? Why doesn't the government want us to see this? Are they assuming "out of sight, out of mind?" What's going on, here? And why isn't there information about the effect our invasion has caused in Iraq? Why is it only about us? Why aren't the numbers of Iraqi casualties ever mentioned? (For more on this, check out this entry in blunaris's LJ.) War works both ways, folks. Sure, a bunch of us died because of some religous zealot, but a bunch of people over there are dying for a cause they believe is lead by zealots as well.

And while I'm at it, what is up with all this censorship of the press and the media? Why can't Howard Stern be crass and rude like he always has been? What's changed in America since Private Parts was a hit at the box office? Should we blame this all on Janet's nipple? And what's wrong with a little boob on TV, anyway? Sigh. I'm so annoyed with this country right now. And I'm annoyed with people who are just sitting by and letting all this bullshit happen. Some day, people are going to wake up and say, "Hey, this is doubleplusungood. But at least there's a parade outside the Ministry of Peace today!"