I love this. Not only is the Senate trying to tell Cable Companies what is “marketable” or “what the public wants” (the other 365 days a year the senate seems to care not at all about “what the public wants”), but then you get gems like this:
‘It almost seems like an invitation to an unmarketable package,’ said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat. ‘I don’t know why a father should have to choose between protecting their children and being able to watch sports.’
Beer ads featuring almost half nekkid women? We dads just gotta have the “behind the scenes at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.” Celebrity poker tournaments, that’s what I’m talkin’ about!
And OMG the homo-erotic pickup truck ads? Usually right after an ad for Viagra or Levitra. “that’s what I drive” has to be code for SOMETHING. (Does anyone really think that dads wanna see sweaty cowboys tossing things into their truck and then bouncing through rivers and over rough roads? Oh, wait, never mind).
If dad’s wanna watch “the best damn sports show, period” along with their looney tunes, more power to them!
So congress, butt out, cuz no doubt you’ll screw something up if you get involved. Why can’t you go work on the Medicare drug plan.
update: What I was trying to say with this (in hindsight) non-sensical post, is that I want the govt. to get the HELL out of deciding what is or isn’t “family” programming.
We, the families, have the tools to handle television in our own homes. If you are worried about what your kids are going to see, don’t let them watch TV. Or do like I do and turn on the ratings blocking (anything over PG in our house has to have a password to be seen). Set time limits (I can set any TV in the house to not work before or after a certain time). Watch the show with your kids. Listen to what they are saying, help them with questions.
Do not expect the crooks and liars in Congress to do this for you. Do you want Ted Kennedy picking TV shows for your kids? (Don’t really want him teaching Driver’s Ed, either). Do you want people like Newt Gingrich or Gary Condit deciding what is “good for the family?” Abramoff hasn’t even been figured out yet – right now our legislators are for sale, and are indebted to countless special interest groups. I wouldn’t trust them to pick a single TV show for my kids to watch, much less an entire programming package.