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Aquarian
Weekly 6/13/01
REALITY CHECK
DISMANTLE THE FCC
The
following Memo From The Reality Check New & Information Desk was
sent to the E-mail of Jason Hillery, program director for KKMG-FM
radio and faxed to the general manager of Citadel Broadcasting,
Brenda Goodrich on 6/6/01. The crux of the diatribe centers on
the $7000 fine levied by the Federal Communications  Commission
on the Colorado Springs station for playing an edited-for-airplay
version of Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady." The FCC's reason for
slapping a fine on a nearly two year-old record that had previously
received enough television and radio airtime to become a number
1 record is that it "contains unmistakable offensive sexual references."
To
The Faithful,
Under
no circumstances should your company pay a cent of that fine.
In fact, instead of a check or money order forward this message:
"Listen, you pusillanimous, non-elected bully freaks, there are
well-attested cases on the books defending our right to air, print
and utter material of a shocking or offensive nature due to the
cryptic, if not, wholly ambiguous laws pertaining to indecency.
And if you would like to press this issue further we can take
this grade-school extortion and place its merit in federal court
where you will be exposed as the illegal puritan sounding board
you have always been, hopefully rendering these cushy jobs of
yours obsolete."
I
won't need any credit for penning it. Do with it what you will;
edit the damn thing or put your own sentiments in. I'm not even
sure I understand the details of your particular case. Perhaps
you went to a day care center and blasted the song a hundred times
over the intercom or you had a contest for five year-olds to do
their best rendition. I'm sure you had your reasons, all of them
stemming from ratings or advertising revenue, but it really doesn't
matter to me nor should it to anyone culling a check from the
federal government or certainly some shut-in house wife with a
valium jones and a Jesus fixation.
The
important thing here is that you NEVER SURRENDER. Put up the fight
of your lives or just be another stepping stone to the dark ages
revisited. Your time as "Magic Radio" playing all the hits is
over. This baby is CNN quality news now and since it reached the
Reality Check News & Information Desk red-letter box, it has now
become a front-page First Amendment imperative. The term "lightning
rod" applies here. Time to take off the goofy radio banter hats
and strap on a fucking helmet, because it will get ugly before
it gets better.
Of
course you could pay the fine and let this thing die out like
your peers at a radio station in Madison, Wisconsin. Maybe lay-off
a few troubled souls and cut back here and there to save face.
You can ignore the fact that the right of the medium and the artists
it exploits is on the block right now. What are a few grand and
a spin monkey SUV giveaway contests to distract the locals really
going to do to affect the future of basic American freedom? That
would be easy, and easy is what puts money in the bank and keeps
the rotary club and church types from painting you all as back-alley
pornographers.
But
that is no option. Not for this fight or this right, and not for
these times. Lenny Bruce didn't get run through the courts for
nearly a decade so you can back down. Certainly those poor bastards
at Lexington and Concord didn't get blown to unrecognizable pieces
for you to slink into a corner and forget your duty. Remember
Berlin in the mid-30s' when putting the "right message" across
to the "right people" meant a wonderful playground for all who
kept walking the "good" path?
It
is time the FCC and the occasional frightened peon with too much
time on their hands become non-factors in the grand scheme of
democracy, and its time you make it happen. Do you want Colorado
to forever be known for John Elway and the home of unsolved mentally
abused child murders? Okay, so not many of us remember Elway much
anymore, but you get my drift.
It's
time to put your state, your medium, and every decent law-abiding
artist and listener on the map by simply telling these anonymous
trolls to take this weak-ass subpoena of the sublime and cram
it repeatedly up their collective rectum.
Then,
when you inevitably win the case in a sane court of law (anywhere
outside of Los Angeles) you can lead the brigade against this
insidious group of power-mongers who sit in judgment of free speech
like it was given to them from a lake in Camelot.
Put
yourself on the culture map. Show some guts. We're all behind
you over here in the hub of true journalism, where the weak are
sent whining back to the classroom and those hung up on following
rules are reminded that nothing worth a shit in any civilization
was achieved without the ever-dangerous maverick approach. And
nothing has ever been changed without a fight, and it is time
to get downright nasty with these sons of bitches. Make the government
reveal names and positions and give the American people a guideline
on free speech to debate and appeal.
Someone
has to do it, why not you people? Once, the pioneer spirit pushed
west and opened Colorado through heinous crimes against Native
Americans with illegal and violent activity. In that demented
spirit, let's ferret out the guilty and shed the glaring light
of reason on their sheltered heads. Fire the first blow in this
smoldering coup de tat by refusing to pay an illegal fine used
to separate us from our liberty.
Always On Guard,
jc
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