Alphecca

Smiting Smut

Folks, you regulars know that while I launch plenty of salvos at the left, I also lob a few at the right now and then. We've got a lot of problems in this country right now, not the least of which is that we're trying (as a nation, a government) to defend our borders from mutant terrorists. We're in the middle of a costly war in Iraq. Partly because of that (and also decreased tax revenues during the recent recession) and also because of other big government spending programs -- oddly enough -- foisted on us by the Republicans -- we're running a large deficit. I can live with that.

But with all that is going on and all that we have to worry about, not the least of which is that we're in an election year, why the hell is the administration worrying about porno?

From the Baltimore Sun:

In this field office in Washington, 32 prosecutors, investigators and a handful of FBI agents are spending millions of dollars to bring anti-obscenity cases to courthouses across the country for the first time in 10 years. Nothing is off limits, they warn, even soft-core cable programs such as HBO's long-running Real Sex or the adult movies widely offered in guestrooms of major hotel chains.

Department officials say they will send "ripples" through an industry that has proliferated on the Internet and grown into an estimated $10 billion-a-year colossus profiting Fortune 500 corporations such as Comcast, which offers hard-core movies on a pay-per-view channel.

And remember, this is at a time when a sizable percentage of the VOTING public believes (rightly or wrongly) that government is abusing it's powers (in the name of Homeland Security) to intrude into our personal lives and liberties.

This is Stupid. And if Bush thinks this is the stuff he needs to do to win in November, then he or his advisors need their heads examined. The radical right isn't that large a constituency. Indeed, actions like this probably repel more moderate voters than attract conservative ones. Idiocy!