Saturday, January 13, 2007

Are you as outraged as I am?

All I wanted to do was sit on my sofa and watch a little football. I am just an American dad always hoping to spend quality family time with my two teenage children. And what could be more American and wholesome than watching the Philadelphia Eagles play the New Orleans Saints?

And then it happened. Thirty three minutes into the broadcast, with 8:37 left in the first quarter, the Eagles quarterback, Jeff Garcia threw long into double coverage, and the ball was knocked away from Dante Stallworth. The Fox network coverage at this point cut away to a pretty blonde in the crowd celebrating the defensive prowess of her hometown Saints. For about 7 seconds, Fox focused on the bouncing celebration of this woman, who jiggled up and down with her hands over her heads. And there, blazoned on her midriff-revealing black tee-shirt were the words, “Fuck da Eagles.”

I was shocked. Shocked!

I would have thought that this sort of thing would not happen in our America, where a Republican Congress responded to the outrage provoked by Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction by passing a law that allowed for fines of $375,000 per violation of decency standards by television networks.

The instant case cannot be seen as anything other than a pre-meditated attempt to broadcast obscenity into the homes of Americans who had hoped to see the wholesome fellowship of competition that we expect from the NFL.

If you are as shocked as I am, please let the Federal Communications Commission know.

You can file a complaint by E-mail to info@fcc.gov.

You may also choses to contact the Commissioners via E-mail
Chairman Kevin J. Martin: KJMWEB@fcc.gov
Commissioner Michael J. Copps: Michael.Copps@fcc.gov
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov
Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate: dtaylortateweb@fcc.gov
Commissioner Robert McDowell: Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov

I know that Fox Broadcasting would like you to let your government know how offended you are. Well, they would if it were CBS, which broadcast Super Bowl XXXVII.

“… and tell ’em Big Mitch sent ya!”

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

WNYC's On the Media reported this week that Fox's news channel is rapidly losing ground to the other networks, and cited Fox's biased, partisan reporting in combination with the public's turning away from Bush and Republicans for that fact.

Greg and Sheryl said...

Frankly, we were more amused than outraged. Actually, we weren't outraged at all. The Republicans are no longer in power in Congress, so maybe network TV will start regaining its edge!

BigMitch said...

greg & sheryl don't seem to recognize my feeble attempt at sarcasm. I do believe that the system of fines causes TV broadcasters to be overly cautious. The system will remain in effect until someone on the Right -- someone like Fox -- gets dinged by it. Then, and only then, will someone who matters to this White House take a stand against censorship. Let's make it happen!

Anonymous said...

Pop, you're missing the big picture. Since when does the White House care what happens in New Orleans?

Anonymous said...

Apparently her shirt actually said "Pluck Da Eagles" but a fold caused the Pl to look like an F.

BigMitch said...

My annonymous correspondent caused me to go back and look at the tape. Clearly there is an F.

Perhaps the tee shirt said Firetruck da Eagles, but that's not what the smart money is betting on.

I'm sticking with my original judgment: the tee shirt said, Fuck da Eagles.