- The inanity, the puritanical hypocrisy, the blindness
to significant realities, the mass stupidity that characterize - indeed,
that are - America are all encapsulated in the brouhaha now raging over
the partial exposure of one of performer Janet Jackson's breasts during
Super Bowl 2004's halftime extravaganza February 1.
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- After refusing to lend Super Bowl airing to a MoveOn.org-produced
30-second spot critical of George W. Bush's performance as president, CBS
News crawled, groveled and apologized for more than 24 hours because viewers
of the Super Bowl halftime show may have caught a glimpse of one of Jackson's
breasts when co-singer Justin Timberlake intentionally pulled her scant
outfit down a bit in a planned finale as he sang, "I'm gonna have
you naked by the end of this song."
-
- "CBS deeply regrets the incident that occurred during
the Super Bowl halftime show. We attended all rehearsals throughout the
week and there was no indication that any such thing would happen. The
moment did not conform to CBS broadcast standards, and we would like to
apologize to anyone who was offended," CBS offered by way of a quick
apology.
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- And there is more insanity.
-
- Secretary of Defense Colin Powell's rotund son, Michael
Powell, head of the Federal Communications Commission, promised a federal
investigation of the nipple incident, according to AP.
-
- "Federal Communications Commission chief Michael
Powell said in a statement, 'Like millions of Americans, my family and
I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration
was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt.' He promised an
investigation..."
-
- A federal investigation, folks.
-
- And even the National Football League - prime purveyors
of violence and animality at all times - had to apologize to America's
Christian families, saying the NFL was "extremely disappointed"
in Jackson's performance.
-
- All of this feigned outrage from these unlikely hypocrites
over a harmless attention-seeking stunt of a few second's duration executed
by a mass media icon notorious for such actions.
-
- By way of inexplicable contrast, I read of no outrage
being expressed by any of these individuals or groups about CBS's cowardice
in pulling the MoveOn.org ad.
-
- Nor did I read of an apology from CBS that they lacked
the courage and fairness to run the ad criticizing Bush for his role in
destroying the economic viability of one nation and the very infrastructure
of two other nations in his three years of miscreant misrule in an office
he never won.
-
- Nor did I read or hear of any outrage from these self-righteous
Americans so shocked and indignant at the sight of a woman's breast that
their tax dollars have been used to murder up to 10,000 Iraqi civilians
in an immoral war of conquest - a war whose WMD justification has been
universally exposed as a bald-faced lie that was peddled repeatedly by
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
-
- Indeed, there has been no moral outrage from staid and
uptight sorts of John Ashcroft's stripe who blanch white and faint away
at the sight of a human female's breast, (even a sexagenarian bronze one),
but who were happy to see their nation launch an unprovoked shock and awe
blitzkrieg on Baghdad last March that killed thousands in a few hours.
-
- Where is the moral outrage at this nation's morally reprehensible
record among these so-called morally upright individuals?
-
- Sadly and deplorably, there is none.
-
- Baring a woman's breast or viewing a woman's breast is
not a sin and is hardly a newsworthy event. Ms. Jackson's publicity stunt
deserved minimal attention at best, but has received non-stop major coverage.
-
- On the other hand, murdering up to 10,000 innocent Iraqi
civilians in a brutal military campaign of imperialistic aggression that
continues to lack any justification whatsoever was and is a crime against
humanity that should receive wide and continuing exposure, until the perpetrators
are brought before an international war crimes tribunal at The Hague.
-
- But there is only silence among the media in these matters,
as they remain transfixed by what they see as a truly important news story:
Janet Jackson's nipple.
-
- The skewed value system of this sick nation of puritanical
hypocrites causes me nausea on a daily basis.
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- Copyright © 1998-2004 Online Journalô. All
rights reserved.
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- http://www.onlinejournal.com/Media/020504Haynes/020504haynes.html
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