It is Clearwater's right to program what they want. They did not take him off because he didn't sell, or because they thought he was indecent. They took him off because they are afraid the government would fine them if they did not. The government forced them to make a business decision based on arbitrary decency laws. This is government control of the airwaves.

The world needs to execise it's right to get real. I am saying it again, I know. But people need to realize their hurt feelings when someone says something nasty is less important than keeping the government out of our private lives. I'd honestly rather be less secure and more free. It's just my opinion. And Clear channel sucks ass.

canyoneer

All Who Are Against Freedom Must be Exterminated In Order To Preserve Freedom!

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants."

--Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William Smith

I told you I'd abuse any power given to me, canyoneer. Why do you think I won't enter politics? For the same reason Gandalf and Galadriel refused to take the One Ring when Frodo offered it to them.

Stern is gonna get booted by the FCC and CC!?!? Oh, well then in true Stern fashion I must say....

ProgrammerCat

So that was just venting, blowing off steam, and none of us should pay any attention to it?

spiritauthor

Hear hear!

Freedom of Speech is different than the freedom to be heard...this argument is so simple minded.

No one said that Howard can't say balloonknot or blumpkin or ni**er...what they are saying is that he can't say it on the air on stations they own. That has nothing to do with the Constitution, period.

Farkowski

are you asserting Savage does not continue similar comments on his radio show?

or do "facts" only apply in limited cases?

That depends on your definition of "similar comments."

Is Savage a homophobe? Yes. Does he rant about the "gay lobby" on his radio show? Yes. Does he refer to gays as "sodomites?" Yes.

Has he ever told a caller to his radio show to "get AIDS and die?" I sincerely doubt it. I've listened to him, on and off (mostly to get an idea of what the crazy branch of the right wing is into these days) and while he's certainly been combative and rude to his callers that support homosexuals or purport to be homosexuals themselves, he hasn't come even close to making similar comments to those that got him fired from MSNBC.

For the record, Savage disgusts me. He's a homo- and xenophobe, and I listen to him for entertainment purposes only. He does a great disservice to rational conservatives everywhere.

Sharon Needles
What the conservative right doesn't seem to understand is that in order to live in a free society, sometimes you are going to be offended by something someone else says or does.


You have got to be joking! The libs are the ones who are hell bent on being PC about everything!

All you people and your cute little opinions. How quaint. Like a little Christmas show put on by second-graders who still believe in Santa Claus.

Shut the f*ck up and vote Republican.

Hmm, would I rise up to defend Micheal Savage if was pulled from the air ?

I guess it would depend on the circumstances. I think my opinion would also be colored by his response to being yanked. If he took this opportunity to go a virtriolic rampage against all things liberal, I'd probably not intercede on his behalf. He would be making clear who he was wanting to rise to his defense. I'd don't extend a hand to someone vigorously slapping me in the face.

daisyheadmaisy

NutznGum
to tell her that she's waht's wrong with the country because she thinks people shouldn't complain about having their free speach rights taken away.

What about my free speech? Or do you think free speech applies only if it's something YOU agree with????

Oh, shut up you barely cogent Neanderthal. Nobody's suggesting that you should be forced to stop speaking; we're just suggesting you shut up because with every word that comes out of your mouth you prove how much of an idiot you are. Now, if the FCC decided to shut you up, Farkers would be up in arms over their suppression of your right to free speech. Why? Because the government has no business doing so.

The problem is that Stern is undergoing real censorship by the government. His employer can do whatever the fark they want, but the government has no right to censor him and fine him for "indecency" that isn't.

Now go back to playing with your blocks.

While I support the boldness of those defending Dr. Laura (really... Dr. Laura?) I believe her tv show was canceled because it did not get any ratings.

Radio has a larger conervative audience.

2004-03-25 01:04:56 PM Obdicut:
...........................................................
You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;

I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.

As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,

I have a world apart that is not among men.
...........................................................
His stuff is so good it almost motivated me to learn Chinese so I could read it in the original.

And yet, they're very inconsistent- on that Super Bowl broadcast of Janet Jackson's there was also a commercial about a 4-hour erection. A lot of people were saying about Janet Jackson, 'How do I explain to my kids? We're a little family, we watched it together ...' And, well, what did you say about the other thing? These are convenient targets.

Seriously....CARLIN FOR PRESIDENT!

Obdicut

So that was just venting, blowing off steam, and none of us should pay any attention to it?

Do whatever you want to do.

ProgrammerCat

What I want to do is to understand your meaning. And to do that, I have to understand your intention. I'm asking you to clarify what you meant.

Modern Major General

Good thing nobody has kicked Dr. Laura off the radio or Savage off TV. Because I'm sure that if they did, all of the liberal 1st Amendment defenders furiously vent their outrage.

Farkin' hypocrites.

Was the government involved? No. So shut up.

daisyheadmaisy said: What about my free speech? Or do you think free speech applies only if it's something YOU agree with????


I never said you could not say what you said. I said that I think your opinion's wrong. You let your dislike for stern trump his free speech rights. You can say that if you like and i'm allowed to say that your opinion is uninformed, naive and emotional. I'm allowed to say that you are the problem with america. I never said you couldn't express your opinion, i'm just saying i think its dead wrong.

captainktainer
Now go back to playing with your blocks.

I find it amazing that I am refered to as an idiot when all I am doing is exercising my freedom of speech.
And who's stooping to a childish level here?

Canyoneer

And perhaps most appropriate to these days (and most of human history, really)

O soldiers who fight long -- their blood vanishes the
desert weeds!
But what more have the generals accomplished?
Swords and arrows -- dangerous, cursed instruments,
Resorted to by sage rulers only when absolutely necessary!

Roy G Biv:
I don't care for Savage or Dr. Laura or any other right wing mouthpieces but, I'm not going to press the FCC to take them off the air. The current round of censorship seems to be coming from the right. Nobody seemed to care what Stern was sayinfg till he spoke out against Bush.

It's one thing for CC to make a 'business' decision and drop Stern, it is another thing to have the GOVERNMENT in effect make them do it (as in financially impossible to maintain) through vague or non-established guidelines.

Of course it also sucks that CC is able to obtain such a huge share of the nation through deregulation...but first things first.

daisyheadmaisy

I'm sorry that the implications of this issue are over your head, despite being very well explained in the article that brought you to this thread. Some people "get it", and some don't and never will. It's unfortunate that you appear to be in the latter camp.

No one here cares whether or not you're sick of hearing Stern complain. (For now you're perfectly free to tell us about it anyway, but if you're going to post in such an immature fashion, expect to get negative responses.) This issue goes way beyond Howard Stern as he's said himself repeatedly. Sit down, relax, take a chill pill, and think for a while to see if you can grasp the severity of our government's crackdown on your rights. You'll know you "get it" when you stop wanting to complain about Howard Stern complaining, and instead get the urge to, say, write to a senator or two about how you disagree with this nonsense.

Carlin is the man! That bit he did about the preacher gettin his panties in a wad about an indecent radio show (was it about his 7 words you can't say on the air?) fits in so well here. I don't remember it verbatim but at the end when he says "Someone should tell the padre that there are two knobs on the radio. TWO KNOBS! But I guess he wouldn't be very familiar with anything that had two knobs."

I know I can't do that bit justice here, but the Dude (Carlin) abides.

He does a great disservice to rational conservatives everywhere.

hmm... he must also do a disservice to unicorns, leprechans, the Easter Bunny, famous Jewish athletes, honest politicians....


/ j/k... sorta

Since the airwaves are owned by the people of the USA (and not by the radio station that essentially rents their broadcast frequency from the federal government), we have a right to set a standard of decency (I can't believe I'm invoking this cliche...) to "protect the children".

Given this right, I am appalled by the way the standards are being applied. Fining a station for a show that has blatantly racist or pornographic content? I'm ok with that under controlled conditions. I suspect that part of the problem is that these explicit radio shows are aired during "drive time", which is when radio has its peak audience. If the guidelines allowed more of the controversial content, say, late at night (like broadcast TV), then no one could really argue with the fines. Also, every studio has a "dump" button that they can push to filter out the idiot callers who break the rules. From what I understand, they frequently use a 7-second delay. However, it's ridiculous to say that the FCC can come back 3 years later and fine them. What is the statute of limitations? 5 years, 10 years? Give me a break. It would be interesting to see Stern sue the FCC for violating his right to due process and a speedy trial.

Woah! - liberals really squeal when their own PC Thought-Gestapo rules are applied to themselves.

Yes, blame Bush! because the Democrats would NEVER do something to censor! *cough*

NutznGum
You let your dislike for stern trump his free speech rights.

Excuse me, I said 2 times that I LIKE Stern! I listened to him everyone morning and watched the E Show, but he is no longer entertaining in my opinion.

ProgrammerCat --->

Ideas die... especially bad ideas... Sometimes, they just take longer than our lifespans, but they die...

2004-03-25 01:10:07 PM ProgrammerCat: I am familiar with Jefferson's sentiments. It is just that your list is so large and unweildy. If you got the power to carry out this plan, that would leave about 174 people in North America.

Savage transcript of the "get Aids and die"

http://www.tvbarn.com/ticker/archives/012976.html

The U.S. government infringes on our freedom of speech rights with the "campaign finance law" and nobody cares.

A private company gets rid of someone they find to obnoxious and rude and there is a huge out cry about freedom of speech.
---------------------------------------------

Stalin is smiling

You don't know me.
No, I don't.

I don't get offended over very much. I'm a liberal, but not politically correct, I'm mixed race so don't hand me anything about white guilt,
Um, Ok. But as Patrice O'Neill (black comic if it matters) likes to point out on Tough Crowd every chance he gets, white people freak out more often about racial comments than black people. He thinks it's hysterical and I have to agree with him.

I don't give a damn one way or another about religion.

That's nice.

I do however, care deeply about the Constitution. I get greatly offended when people try to stomp on our rights.
You got a problem with that?

I agree with you 100%. But let's put blame where blame is due. Conservatives aren't the only ones who get so easily offended and want people to watch what they say. The liberals are just as bad, it's just not focused on obscenity.

skinink

"Yeah right; fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you."

Ooookkkkkay.

Actually farkdog it was that great, ummm, orator G.W. Bush who said, "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice... uh, won't get fooled again." Good one...

daisyheadmaisy
Sharon Needles
What the conservative right doesn't seem to understand is that in order to live in a free society, sometimes you are going to be offended by something someone else says or does.


You have got to be joking! The libs are the ones who are hell bent on being PC about everything!

But not via government regulation. Key difference.

1. Every person (in this country)has the freedom to say what he/she wants.
2. That person's employer can fire him/her for those comments.
3. The government cannot do anything (fine, incarcerate, etc) to a person for what he/she says.
4. Some other people will be offended by the words of another.

If you disagree with number three, because of number four, i believe you are saying you are not in a capacity to protect yourself, so you need the government to do so.

am i wrong here?

we need the gov. to protect us from foreign invaders, yes. not from the words of fellow americans.

Farkowski

hmm... he must also do a disservice to unicorns, leprechans, the Easter Bunny, famous Jewish athletes, honest politicians....

Sandy Koufax.

BCO22365:

YES! Brilliant! You are correct! People who want to vote Dem because Howard lost a few stations are woefully ignorant to the real problems we face.

No, no he's not. He was suspended from a company that hired him as a contractor. He is still gainfully employed by Infinity broadcasting, and according to an interview with Mel Karmazin just yesterday, that is not going to change.

Yeah, it's just really suspicious that after what, 20 years of the same thing, of doing worse on the air...wait of actually doing these things himself instead of a caller...all of a sudden there's a problem.

Same with Bono. He said f*ck a year ago and they only have a problem with it now.

Sgt Otter

Yes, we are fully aware of the comments that got Savage fired from his MSNBC TV show. The point in question is whether he has made similar comments to callers on his nationally syndicated radio show.

Farkowski

Sandy Koufax and Mark Spitz want to have a word with you.