NOW: no more free speech

in america there is NO more free speech. my example is the howard stern show on the radio. it is gunna get kicked off the air because of his comments about bush. if there was freedom of speech, he would not get kicked off the air no matter what he says! this is true freedom. when this show gets kicked off the air i hope more radio stations question bush's policies. this makes me sick!

any thoughts???



[Edited on 24-3-2004 by they see ALL]

You forget that the media is a money making machine first and formost. If the media deems someone to be offensive enough to cause them to lose money, they will drop the show. It's business. The fact that no legal action can be taken against him for those comments shows that freedom of speach does, in fact, still exist.

yes... but i forgot to mention 1 VERY important thang...

bush is gunna make a law that bans the use of curses on the radio!!!

freedom of speech???

That gets into a grey area for me. What do you need to say that requires the word # that you can't say another way? Well, other then that statement, anyway

Banning a word is a lot different then banning the ability to spread an idea. If legislation is ever passed to that end, then yes, that will be the begining of the end of our freedom of speach.

You got that right, free speech in america is going down the drain. The thought police are arriving for sure.

If you say that the media corporations are all about money making, then you effectively say they only air stuff what the elite want us to hear, so there is no freedom of the press as well.

"How fortunate for leaders that men do not think."-Adolf Hitler

it is gunna get kicked off the air because of his comments about bush.

The questionable comments from Stern were not about Bush, they concerned "vulgarity." It is my undestanding that Stern is a Bush supporter, like all of those other radio freaks.
With freedom of speech, the question is "Where do we draw the line?" After all, with freedom comes responsibility. No one is going to argue that it's ok to scream "Fire!" in a crowded theater, if there is really no fire. Likewise, no one is going to say it's alright to spread rumors or publicly claim a person is a child molester, if he is in fact innocent.
Freedom of speech was taken seriously by our forefathers because, by it, we engage in the freedom to exchange ideas. However, it does not give anyone a license to abuse that freedom.
Do I like Howard Stern? No way, daddy-o...he's just another punk getting rich while trying to keep his followers illiterate, by broadcasting juvenile and mindless garbage.
But did he cross the line? I'm inclined to believe not. If people want to listen to that trash, they have that right, and must ultimately take responsibility for their own actions by whatever consequences emerge from that stuff.

Well...Since Bush's reign of power started this is what happen (I could be wrong about this correct me if I am):

-- It was fine up until 9/11, that is when, Movies on TV started to cut out bullets, guns, and bombs. Then the infamous list of songs that were banned songs, some of which never came back even affter CC denied the list was real.

-- Non-offencive words began to be bleeped, like: Gun, Bullets, Blead, blood, ETC. Everything just became polidicly corect, but that's just getting started and that's still happing....

-- Happy, Holsom music, movies and TV shows became a staple in American life .

-- Can't say what we want, if we say something wrong we will get sued or have the FBI on our butts. Ahh that's the life .....

-- Since the Janet Jackson thing everything got worse, Videos being banned or moved. Stern canned, ETC.

And you say we still have freedom of speach I think not! it has gone down hill since 9/11. This is just part of the master plan, and 1984 is a little late, but it is coming soon....really soon....

Well, I'm certainly no fan of Bush, and I would hurry to agree with your observation that his administration is careless with our civil liberties, via the mis-titled "Patriot Act".
I could also go into detail about how the Bush administration is screwing over seniors and veterans, as well as the middle class, through their irresponsible handling of Medicare and Social Security, along with the tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy which are bankrupting the nation, but that's another thread.
My point here is that I believe that Stern broadcasts crap, but nevertheless has the right to do so. Likewise, I have the right not to listen to him.


[Edited on 24-3-2004 by Masonic Light]

I could handle the aspect of no more cursing (not really), but dang, Imagine a world without Rap music, and Bling Bling BS that all the little kids are saying.


Now the artists would have to learn quality music

I hate to play devil's advocate but I will.

The problem is not free speech. The public person has never been allowed to say whatever they wanted to on the radio. What most people do not seem to know is that since 1934 the US Government has owned the airwaves and regulates the content. Howard Stern, who I love, could not have his program on normal television stations like ABC, NBC or CBS because of the content, but he can and does have a show on the E-network, which is Cable TV. Americans pay for cable and satellite entertainment, but radio and public TV networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) are free but regulated.

Anyone who has a show on the public radio agrees to the laws set down by the FCC. If you break those laws then you pay the price. A person cannot go into their place of work and scream "I hate Jewish people" and then when they are fired complain that they are only using their right to free speech.

Take this forum for example. The person who owns abovetopsecret.com sets the rules for this forum and the moderators enforce those rules. A random person cannot come onto this forum and start posting whatever they wanted to outside of the forum rules. If someone did that then the moderators would lock or delete the posts and possibly ban the abusive person. This person cannot claim that their free speech has been violated because this is not a place for free speech. This forum has regulations and rules and so does public radio & television, which is owned and regulated by the US government.

Now, if you want to make the argument that the US Government should not own the airwaves or that the radio waves should be a place for absolute free speech those are valid points of view. However, to say that freedoms are being taken away is incorrect. The radio waves have never been a free speech arena. Rights that were never there cannot be taken away.



[Edited on 25-3-2004 by zerotime]

[Edited on 25-3-2004 by zerotime]