stole this from mike
CENSORSHIP IS UnAMERICAN:
Failing America’s Next Generation is InDECENT
It’s no surprise that in a presidential election year, the war over cultural values and free expression has returned. If you live in America, you’ve been bombarded by the latest public debate about what in our media is InDECENT and what is just plain threatening to our 1st Amendment rights. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, egged on by the threats and investigations by the F.C.C. (the government agency that oversees the airwaves) have used the unfortunate incident of Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” as a springboard to launch a much larger cultural crackdown against sex.
Politicians who aren’t busy denouncing sex in the media, are busy opposing marriage for same-sex couples, even promising to write this bigotry into the U.S. Constitution. We are watching as our government attempts to write discrimination into our Nation’s most sacred laws, while trying to establish freedom and a new constitution in Iraq. We seem to be moving away from years of teaching tolerance and acceptance on our own soil, despite our effort’s at establishing Democracy abroad.
This new wave follows the unforgettable effort to abuse the Dixie Chicks last year for expressing their political beliefs. Free speech, free thought, free expression are under attack in America while, ironically, young patriotic Americans are dying for freedom in Iraq, and the results-a genuine chilling effect on the airwaves and in living rooms-are evident:
* Radio disc jockeys and employees have been fired or fined for so-called offensive language.
* TV shows have been pulled off the air or edited because of so-called unsuitable language or nudity.
* Congress has passed bipartisan legislation increasing the fines for indecent language to $500,000, making free expression a risky proposition.
The real agenda of the anti-expression coalition is becoming clear: use one divisive incident and blow it into an all-out cultural war to win major restrictions on political expression and fuel a campaign of intimidation towards our media. Censorship is UnAmerican, and it is painfully out of step with the mentality of the new generation. This new war is also a distraction from what is TRULY INDECENT in America right now: the lack of health care, stagnant job market and rising cost of education.
So it is our responsibility to speak out and push the nation to focus on the issues that are truly important. In the spirit of a vigorous debate about standards and values, Rock the Vote is launching a new CAMPAIGN AGAINST InDECENCY that we hope will get at least as much attention as Janet Jackson’s nipple ring. The principles of our campaign are as follows:
* The Economy is indecent: 67% of 2003 college graduates were forced by economic hardships to move back in with their parents after graduation.
* Healthcare is indecent: 16 million 18-30 year olds have no healthcare and are twice as likely as their parents to be uninsured
* Education is indecent: The average debt held by college students borrowing for their education is $18,400.
Our purpose is to say that the new generation has a different future in mind: a future where our government leads the way to foster the values of tolerance and diversity, not divisiveness and conformity. Where young people can afford higher education, find a good paying job with access to health care, and where marriage is about love, not sex.
Please join us to fight for the REAL issues facing young people - not some phony culture war!
Failing America’s Next Generation is InDECENT
It’s no surprise that in a presidential election year, the war over cultural values and free expression has returned. If you live in America, you’ve been bombarded by the latest public debate about what in our media is InDECENT and what is just plain threatening to our 1st Amendment rights. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, egged on by the threats and investigations by the F.C.C. (the government agency that oversees the airwaves) have used the unfortunate incident of Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” as a springboard to launch a much larger cultural crackdown against sex.
Politicians who aren’t busy denouncing sex in the media, are busy opposing marriage for same-sex couples, even promising to write this bigotry into the U.S. Constitution. We are watching as our government attempts to write discrimination into our Nation’s most sacred laws, while trying to establish freedom and a new constitution in Iraq. We seem to be moving away from years of teaching tolerance and acceptance on our own soil, despite our effort’s at establishing Democracy abroad.
This new wave follows the unforgettable effort to abuse the Dixie Chicks last year for expressing their political beliefs. Free speech, free thought, free expression are under attack in America while, ironically, young patriotic Americans are dying for freedom in Iraq, and the results-a genuine chilling effect on the airwaves and in living rooms-are evident:
* Radio disc jockeys and employees have been fired or fined for so-called offensive language.
* TV shows have been pulled off the air or edited because of so-called unsuitable language or nudity.
* Congress has passed bipartisan legislation increasing the fines for indecent language to $500,000, making free expression a risky proposition.
The real agenda of the anti-expression coalition is becoming clear: use one divisive incident and blow it into an all-out cultural war to win major restrictions on political expression and fuel a campaign of intimidation towards our media. Censorship is UnAmerican, and it is painfully out of step with the mentality of the new generation. This new war is also a distraction from what is TRULY INDECENT in America right now: the lack of health care, stagnant job market and rising cost of education.
So it is our responsibility to speak out and push the nation to focus on the issues that are truly important. In the spirit of a vigorous debate about standards and values, Rock the Vote is launching a new CAMPAIGN AGAINST InDECENCY that we hope will get at least as much attention as Janet Jackson’s nipple ring. The principles of our campaign are as follows:
* The Economy is indecent: 67% of 2003 college graduates were forced by economic hardships to move back in with their parents after graduation.
* Healthcare is indecent: 16 million 18-30 year olds have no healthcare and are twice as likely as their parents to be uninsured
* Education is indecent: The average debt held by college students borrowing for their education is $18,400.
Our purpose is to say that the new generation has a different future in mind: a future where our government leads the way to foster the values of tolerance and diversity, not divisiveness and conformity. Where young people can afford higher education, find a good paying job with access to health care, and where marriage is about love, not sex.
Please join us to fight for the REAL issues facing young people - not some phony culture war!