Keeping Abreast Of The Superbowl

I find interesting that the FCC can order an immediate investigation into an exposed breast broadcast during the Super Bowl, but the Justice Department continues to drag its feet on an investigation into the the leaking of the name of a CIA agent.

Not to mention administration stonewalling on the 9/11 inquiry.

I suggest that the tireless watchdogs and the limitless funds of the FCC be brought to use on the more important issues facing our country today.

As soon as possible.

I am very upset about this incident, and my distress has nothing to do with poor taste. I lived through the era of the Hayes office, where you could not say "pregnant" on screen, and married couples slept in twin beds with a night table between them in films.

I think that what has happened is that the pendulum has swung very far in the other direction, since that time. Unfortunately, we have a very strong group, both in the administration, and in the country, who would like to see things go back to the days of the Hayes office.

I think that Janet Jackson only fueled the fire, and strengthened the case of the ultraconservatives. That there is to be an "investigation" into what is to me, at worst, a "tempest in a teapot" indicates to me that the bluenoses have amassed a level of clout in this country that could be dangerous to our hard won freedoms.

There are several issues here.

One is that somehow the idea of exposing a woman's breast is entertainment. It is cynical indeed. And the fact that the woman in question is Janet Jackson, from arguably the weirdest show business family in America as well as the family most addicted to plastic surgery, makes it worse.

I do feel however that the talking head who ranted on about an intrusion into "sacred space" is nuts.

The Superbowl has become a festival. And festivals are times when ordinary standards of behavior break down. There was, however, the hypocrisy of CBS' refusal to air the ad from MoveOn.org because it was seen as advocacy and therefore in bad taste. However, the exposure of Jackson, which must have been known (there had to have been rehearsals) and could not have been accidental (as a commentator pointed out, she seemed to have been wearing a pastie, something she would not have done if she had not prepared for the event and she made no move to cover her breast with her hand) in the face of an event which is supposed to be minimally governed by taste points to a total subjectivity.