Editorial: Supreme Court's (expletive) vote too (expletive) close

By: Editorial | Opelika Auburn News
Published: April 29, 2009

National broadcasters should be threatened with fines if foul language is broadcast on live television. One would think that would be a no-brainer.

The U.S. Supreme Court wasn’t sure, however, but managed a 5-4 vote for the Federal Communications Commission and five-year-old “fleeting” expletives policy.

The last thing we need in our homes is little Johnny dropping F-bombs after he hears someone who is considered to be a recording artist spew vulgarities through the microphone during an awards show.

Proponents of foul language on television will argue that it is up to the parents to keep children’s ears away from such broadcasts.

Then again, if the expletives are used on a live stage and aren’t part of the script, parents would have no idea the verbal barrage was coming.

If a fair warning about profanity was given in advance, at least parents would have a chance.

That’s why the FCC has laws in regard to such language, not that celebrities who turn microphones into their own verbal sewerage system really care.

But the issue at hand Tuesday was the FCC’s fleeting expletives policy and the constitutionality of it. Fleeting expletives are defined as foul language on live television used in isolated incidents. Debate on the policy has raged since its inception in 2004.

Many argue the rule is a violation of free speech.

Is this what we want as a nation?

The freedom to use foul language in front of children?

The freedom to use sexually explicit words in front of 7-year-old children?

What’s next? Will full-fledged porn be allowed on our prime time airwaves by 2016?

Since when did using profane language make an awards show acceptance speech that much better?

Will a television character dropping the F-bomb keep his or her weekly sitcom high in the ratings?

Indecent language adds nothing to plot nor substance, but it takes away from a person’s character while potentially adding to a young person’s vocabulary.

A 5-4 vote for the FCC by the Supreme Court may be a temporary Band-Aid.

But the fact the vote was so close is a dark sign for the future of decent television.