The FCC and Violence on TV

Today I talked with Reason magazine's Nick Gillespie, who brilliantly deconstructed the FCC's new congressionally-mandated report about violence on TV and its effects on children. It's part of the ever-growing movement to have our Nanny Government regulate content because you can't control what your kids watch. And you know it's all about the kids. God forbid that adults be allowed to choose their own entertainment without government intererence.

Funny, my daughter's almost 13 years old and lives in a house with three televisions and two parents who watch hours of TV every week -- yet she's well-adjusted, smart, funny, and non-violent. How did that happen? Oh yeah, responsible parenting. That's something you can't legislate. In fact, you can't even bring it up. I would love to hear the FCC commissioners ask anyone who complains about the TV programs their kids watch, "why don't you accept responsibility for what you allow your own children to be exposed to?"

This is not what the vast majority of Americans want. This is political pandering to a small special-interest group that believes the First Amendment is optional. And they don't just want the FCC to crack down on the broadcasters, but also on the cable and satellite channels that are now available in 88% of American homes.

However, I'll try to be open-minded about this for a moment. If you support more regulation of television, tell me two things -- what current broadcast-TV show would you consider so violent that the government should censor it, and how do you define "too violent"?

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