"Fleeting explitives" undeleted

Washington Times:

Broadcasters scored a major victory yesterday when a federal court invalidated a Federal Communications Commission indecency ruling against Fox Television, calling the regulator's policy of punishing "fleeting expletives" "arbitrary and capricious."
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled the FCC did not "articulate a reasoned basis for this change in policy" when it began penalizing broadcasters in 2004 for accidentally airing expletives.
The case stems from two broadcasts of the Billboard Music Awards on Fox. In the 2002 show, Cher lashed out at critics, saying: "[Expletive] 'em." The next year, Nicole Richie said: "Have you ever tried to get cow [dung] out of a Prada purse? It's not so [expletive] simple."
In March 2006, the FCC determined that the Billboard shows violated indecency rules but did not impose a fine since the broadcasts aired prior to a 2004 policy crafted in response to a 2003 NBC broadcast of the Golden Globes, in which U2 singer Bono uttered the phrase, "[Expletive] brilliant." The commission found that a certain expletive, regardless of usage, "inherently has a sexual connotation," and is therefore actionable under indecency standards.
Yesterday's decision, by a 2-1 margin, threw out the FCC's ruling against Fox but stopped short of overturning the policy, instead sending the case back to the commission for further "explanation for its departure from prior precedent."
In his dissenting opinion yesterday, Judge Pierre Leval said the FCC had "furnished a reasoned explanation" for its change of policy.
FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin harshly criticized the court's ruling.
"I completely disagree with the court's ruling and am disappointed for American families. I find it hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that [expletive] and [expletive] are fine to say on broadcast television during the hours when children are most likely to be in the audience," he said.
...
When people talk about the coarsening of the culture the public expletives are part of that process. They used to be the mark of the inarticulate and lately the comedian and left wing bloggers who use them instead of logic in making their arguments.

Dennis Prager comments on a recent bumper sticker:

Every day I see at least one car, usually more than one, sporting a bumper sticker that reads, "Buck Fush."

Apparently, some of our fellow Americans on the left find this message to be profound and witty. But it is not these individuals' presence or absence of wit or profundity that interests me here -- both are so obviously absent, no comments are necessary. It's their contempt for society and their narcissism that demand commentary.

...
Read it. He gets its right. The left really needs to get remedial anger management training.

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