Let's all Raise our Glasses...

I read some news the other day that warmed my heart: L. Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Parent Television Council is going to step down as president of the watchdog group.

I have no real issue with watchdog groups, but the PTC has such a history of outright bullsh** that I have to take my shots.

The PTC, which is tied to the Media Research Center (a group that loves to perpetuate the "liberal media bias" lie-- and just so happens to be a powerful lobbying organization that just must just love our current anti-freedom public servants in D.C.), likes to tout that they are trying to clean up television "for the families". Of course, they just can't get in their heads that maybe parents could do some of their own policing.

Anyway, they've got good intentions (on the surface-- it doesn't take much digging to find their flaws), but their techniques and campaigns have been a little skewed at times.

Like when they they had to cough up $3.5 million to Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment for claiming that the WWE was responsible for four children's deaths (supposedly, the killer kids were copying wrestling moves on their victims). That was a lie. They also used WWE footage in their campaign. Oooo-- that's copyright infringement. And they also claimed they persuaded a number of WWE Smackdown! advertisers to stop running ads on the program. The only thing-- the advertisers never ran ads on the show. All of Bozell's lies were heavily reported on by the "liberal" media, but his apology to the WWE didn't get much press. Go figure...

Or their campaign to get Without a Trace busted for showing a teen orgy (well, at least as much as major network CBS could show, which we all know ain't much). Only: no one complained until after the PTC website showed the footage. That's right: no viewers complained when it aired. Complaints were filed by people who saw the clip on the PTC website and then filled out a form letter and turned it in to the inept FCC (don't even get me started on those a-holes). And CBS got hit with a $3.3 million fine (thanks in part to Emperor Bush's signing of a bill that increased the maximum fine the FCC can lay out) that no viewers actually complained about.

In my research for my comments, I found that 99.8% of the complaints filed to the FCC are through the PTC. Flip the numbers: at most, two-tenths of a percent of all complaints filed are by people who watched the show being complained about. And the FCC buys it-- just look at that frickin' CBS fine.

Here's a link to an especially troubling report on the PTC as it pertains to the FCC: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20041207-4442.html

I'll admit that as a parent, I'm well aware there's more on TV I don't want my kids to see than anything my parents had to worry about, but the thing is: I'm the parent. It's my job to police the television. We've all heard the phrase "If you don't like what you're watching, turn the channel." Pretty obvious. Heck, with the V-chip in TVs and cable boxes, you can't even get to the blocked channels/ratings without a password. Lazy parenting is what these PTC idiots are using to make their mark on television.

Maybe I'm different ("smart", to use a more precise word), but I think I can handle teaching my children what is and isn't appropriate along with policing content I don't want them exposed to in exchange for being able to watch Deadwood, The Shield, or Prison Break (the PTC website's "worst show of the week"-- woo hoo!).

Even though I'm sure Bozell will be replaced from the same type of UnAmerican fanatic he is, I think the PTC should use this leadership change to find a new target. This is a much more insidious threat than Rescue Me (a popular PTC show to rant about). I think they should go after shows like the last few years of Will & Grace, or shows like Joey, Rodney, Dane Cook's Tourgasm, Yes, Dear, or Conviction (the NBC version, not the BBC version).

Yes, the PTC's new campaign should be against horsecrap TV shows. They're so much more dangerous to society than hearing the F-Bomb or seeing a shooting because they serve no purpose other than being bland shows the PTC is probably okay with (except for the W&G gay thing-- because I'm guessing being gay is an affront to nature in their eyes. Just a guess.)

So let's all raise our glasses and make a toast to the man who gave the last 11 years of his life in an attempt to make the world the way he see fit. It consists of just two words. Two letters, to be more accurate:

F. U.!!!