Saturday, March 13, 2004
George Carlin, move over: The U.S. Congress uses more curse words than you do. The new bill raising fines for indecent language is filled with its own set of obscene language, as noted by Wonkette and other websites. Read on:
"To amend section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, to provide for the punishment of certain profane broadcasts, and for other purposes...
"(2) by adding at the end the following:
"(b) As used in this section, the term `profane', used with respect to language, includes the words `shit', `piss', `fuck', `cunt', `asshole', and the phrases `cock sucker', `mother fucker', and `ass hole', compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)."
There's been progress since Carlin's famous "The Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television" bit. Apparently, it's okay to say "tits" under these profanity guidelines.
Still, while the congressmen who passed this are praised by the Christian right, Lenny Bruce was persecuted for uttering the same words that Congress has immortalized. George Carlin himself sees the New Puritanism for what it is: political grandstanding driven by fear of offending religious fanatics.
The Washington post grills the Congressman who wrote the bill:
Word Games (washingtonpost.com)
"To amend section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, to provide for the punishment of certain profane broadcasts, and for other purposes...
"(2) by adding at the end the following:
"(b) As used in this section, the term `profane', used with respect to language, includes the words `shit', `piss', `fuck', `cunt', `asshole', and the phrases `cock sucker', `mother fucker', and `ass hole', compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)."
There's been progress since Carlin's famous "The Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television" bit. Apparently, it's okay to say "tits" under these profanity guidelines.
Still, while the congressmen who passed this are praised by the Christian right, Lenny Bruce was persecuted for uttering the same words that Congress has immortalized. George Carlin himself sees the New Puritanism for what it is: political grandstanding driven by fear of offending religious fanatics.
The Washington post grills the Congressman who wrote the bill:
Word Games (washingtonpost.com)
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