The Lessons of 9/11? There was Too Much Swearing

New stuff to freak out about, courtesy of the nutjobs at the American Family Association. They warn us of a threat to american families coming straight out of their TVs; a show that's so profanity-laced, it's sure to turn kids into foulmouthed devil worshippers (all emphasis theirs):

...CBS has stated they have not, and will not, make any cuts in the amount and degree of profanity. CBS will ignore the law. The network is suing the FCC over the indecency law, saying they should be able to show whatever they desire whenever they desire. CBS wants no limits.

This is a test case for CBS to see how far they can go. If there is no out-pouring of complaints from the public, they will go further the next time.

The profanity is so bad that CBS has warned their affiliates that they could be subject to huge fines. The FCC says it will fine not only the networks, but also affiliates if the law is violated. Under the new Broadcast Decency Act the $325,000 per incident could run into millions of dollars not only for the network but also for local affiliates.

CBS could very easily bleep out the profanity, but they refuse. The goal of CBS is to be able to show whatever they want at anytime. The network wants no restraints on their programming. If they are allowed to get away with this, they will simply air even more profanity in the future.

So CBS is going to run Debbie Does Dallas, right? Nope, a rebroadcast of the documentary, 9/11. From CBS's site:

"9/11," a two-hour CBS Special Presentation, is broadcast. It features footage that French filmmakers Gedeon and Jules Naudet captured on September 11, 2001, when they were in lower Manhattan taping a documentary on the Engine 7, Ladder 1 firefighters. It includes the only known video of the first plane striking the World Trade Center and follows the firefighters into the heart of what would soon be known as Ground Zero. It also features 45 minutes of footage from inside the North Tower as the rescue effort is underway and dramatic scenes of escape in the minutes before the building collapses. It wins an Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Special (Informational) as well as a Peabody Award.

See, when someone watches 3,000 people die, they tend to do a lot of swearing. According to Delcotimes.com:

It’s one of the most remarkable pieces of film ever recorded. Two French brothers, Gedeon and Jules Naudet, were making a documentary about a year in the life of a rookie New York City firefighter. They just happened to be in Lower Manhattan on that glorious morning that turned into one of the ugliest days in the history of the United States, and they filmed the ordeal from beginning to end.

Their camera was the only one to capture American Airlines Flight 11 slamming into the North Tower.

One of the brothers followed firefighters into the lobbies of the Twin Towers as fires burned, debris and bodies fell, and chaos reigned.

They capture in heartbreaking detail the confusion and the fear and, yes, the courage of those first responders to an unprecedented disaster. One brother was in the lobby of the North Tower when the South Tower collapsed, barely escaping with his life.

More than 39 million people saw it when it first aired on CBS in March 2002. It’s unlikely that anyone who saw it has ever forgotten it.

Including the morons at AFA, who've never forgotten all the swearing, apparently. But this is history, this is what happened, and this is what people said. Religious right idiots have a bad tendency to be distracted by trivia when confronted with films depicting powerful historical truths.

Sen. Tom Coburn, a congressman at the time, said in 1997 that NBC playing Schindler's List had brought TV 'to an all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity.' He described the broadcast as '...irresponsible sexual behavior...I cringe when I realize that there were children all across this nation watching this program.' If this guy could sexualize nudity in a nazi death camp movie, you've got to wonder what kind of horror show Coburn has for a porno stash.

Why is it that the people most concerned about other people's souls are those who've lost their own?

--Wisco

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