Anybody have any idea of what Gonzales means by "obscenity"?


Gonzales: I'll Prosecute Obscenity Cases
Feb 28, 9:26 PM (ET)
By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday he would move aggressively to prosecute obscenity cases, and he laid out a broader agenda much like that of his predecessor, John Ashcroft.

In his first lengthy address since becoming attorney general in early February, Gonzales said people who distribute obscene materials do not enjoy constitutional guarantees of free speech.

"I am committed to prosecuting these crimes aggressively," he said to a Washington meeting of the California-based Hoover Institution.

The Justice Department is appealing the dismissal of an obscenity case in Pittsburgh in which a federal judge said prosecutors went too far in trying to block the sale of pornographic movies over the Internet and through the mail. The case initially was prosecuted under Ashcroft.


FULL STORY HERE: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050301/D88HT6000.html

he is happy to pander to the "values" crowd that supposedly "won" the election for Shrub.  Welcome to Meese Commission, V2.0.

I believe it was Justice Lewis Powell who, in describing what is obscene, wrote "I know it when I see it".

Obscenity does ultimately boil down to a personal opinion, and its definition has changed over time.  But if it can be said in writing, in can be said in a videotapae.  These are simply alternate means of communication.

How many schools in our nation would still prevent students from reading "Lolita" or "Catcher in the Rye"?  The bottom line: certain  people simply find the ideas expressed in these books to be offensive.

So-- what is the idea being presented in the videos that are found offensive: freedom of human sexuality.  As we know so well, the right wing opposes sexual freedoms, and thereby wants to prevent these "bad ideas" from getting into the regular populace.  Rather, one should be sitting at home reading the new testament at night and learning "good" ideas.

In any revolution, the first things the revolutionaries go for are the television stations and the presses.  Suppression of ideas is crucial.  The right wing is continuing this practice as it pushes forward its agenda.

Orwell's points in "1984" as to what can happen to a society should be remembered here, and any effort to restrict free speech needs to be fought diligently.

On the "Best of Stern" last week, the term "anal sex" was censored in Howard Stern's old programs that the stations were re-running. Although this is an example of self-censorship by the Infinity Radio Group, it shows how truly out of control things are becoming.

And not to put too fine a point on it - it will certainly make things difficult in containing the AIDS epidemic if the words "anal sex" become verboten on the public airwaves.

-- Modified on 3/1/2005 5:37:50 PM