8/24/2005

Let's Take Pat Out

And I don't mean assassination or kidnapping.

While CBC is a cable channel in my neck of the woods, it does air on broadcast channels on Sunday mornings, and in some parts of the U.S., it is a broadcast network. So let's start complaining about the obscene and indecent words of this madman, and start complaining to someone who can (won't, but can) do something about it: the FCC.

They do state that obscene broadcasts are prurient in nature, but I looked up the definition of prurient, and I think we can make a case:

Main Entry: pru·ri·ent
Pronunciation: -&nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: L prurient-, pruriens, present participle of prurire to itch, crave; akin to Latin pruna glowing coal, Sanskrit plosati he singes, and probably to Latin pruina hoarfrost -- more at FREEZE
: marked by or arousing an immoderate or unwholesome interest or desire; especially : marked by, arousing, or appealing to unusual sexual desire
- pru·ri·ent·ly adverb


emphasis mine - if calling for assassination (or even the laughable assertion that he really meant kidnapping, which, hello! is also illegal) is both immoderate and unwholesome, and therefore fits the FCC definition of obscene and indecent.

What I need is context - broadcast dates/times, station call letters - that I can send along with my complaint, so the FCC can do a proper investigation.

Of course, what we really need is an avalanche of these complaints to be sent, so it becomes a story on its own, which would hopefully give the FCC an incentive to do something, even if its a paltry slap on the wrist.

The address for making an FCC complaint is:

FCC
Enforcement Bureau
Investigations and Hearings Division
445 12th Street, Room 3-B443
Washington DC, 20554

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