Fuss over Jackson hides

deeper problems with U.S. media
The Super Bowl brouhaha centering on the breast seen ’round the world would be titillating if it weren’t such a convenient cover-up, so to speak, for a more significant issue: the censorship of ideas in a supposedly free society.
CBS previously caved in to Republican whining by withdrawing its prime-time drama on the Reagans. They would not accept a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ad “out of concern about offending viewers.” And they refused to run “Child’s Pay,” MoveOn.org’s nationwide contest-winning ad critical of the $1 trillion deficit caused by President Bush’s bizarre reverse-Robin Hood economic policies. The Bush White House, by the way, promotes the FCC rule changes that would allow networks to own more local stations, increase market share, and, of course, maximize profits. Big dividends for CBS.
A flatulent horse, a groin-chomping canine and more erectile dysfunction ads than you could shake a stick at met CBS Super Bowl guidelines. A thought-provoking ad based on fact did not.
It’s obvious that extraordinarily wealthy, self-serving, greed-addicted corporate elitists work relentlessly against the public interest through sophisticated right-wing propaganda and media censorship. And it’s even more obvious that anyone who still believes their outrageous claims about the dominance of “the liberal media” is a clueless, dare I say it, boob.

Jerome Garger

Eugene