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Censorship in arts 'healthy,' Pat Boone says
washington times ^ | 4 23 04 | Steve Miller

Posted on 04/23/2004 4:32:12 PM PDT by freepatriot32

A healthy society needs censorship to survive, 1950s musical icon Pat Boone said yesterday. He added that he would welcome strong content restrictions governing movies and other artistic works. "I don't think censorship is a bad word, but it has become a bad word because everybody associates it with some kind of restriction on liberty," said Mr. Boone, who is in Washington making the rounds as the national spokesman for the 60-Plus Association, a conservative senior citizen lobby.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: aclulist; anotherstupidexcerpt; arts; aynrandlist; boone; censorship; constitutionlist; govwatch; healthy; in; libertarians; noteworthy; pat; patboone; philosophytime; says
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To: freepatriot32
I agree to this extent. If the "artist" is tax payer funded then yes he should be limited in his "art". If the artist is self-funded then he can do what he wants. I think under those rules the "piss Christ" would have been relegated to a gay bathhouse where it could be better "appreciated".
81 posted on 04/24/2004 12:37:48 AM PDT by Texasforever (Will Rogers would slap John Kerry sensless.)
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To: kms61
You're a poltroon,armed with absolutely NOTHING with which to even attempt to refute me.

You threw in that "straw man" garbage, now the ad hominem stuff.LOL

WHERE ARE YOUR FACTS?

Don't come to a gun fight armed with a toothpick,kid.:-)

82 posted on 04/24/2004 12:40:26 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: little jeremiah
This needs a little work:

How on earth the libertarianconservative utopia would work with so many people addicted to various vices socialist schemes is hard to imagine!

When social (ooo, nice name) security collapses you may re-think the libertarian philosphy of limited government. When socialized medicine fails to deliver........aw what the heck, when SOCIALISM fails (again) you'll no doubt be singing another tune. The "Let's saddle our grandchildren with more debt" boogie.

83 posted on 04/24/2004 12:44:55 AM PDT by budwiesest (Unfriggin' believable. They call this a California Constitution.)
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To: budwiesest
It's really the Libertarians/Randists who need to rethink their stands.

A little knowledge of human nature,a whole lot more knowledge factual history,and a massive amount of looking at reality as it is,rather than as it is hoped for,would go a rather long way to help you all.:-)

84 posted on 04/24/2004 12:49:36 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: GSHastings
The "law stuff" is where things tend to get weird?

I was not talking principal, I was talking factual. Sort of like, abortion is wrong and should be illegal, but that law stuff says otherwise.

They get weird because they change, they get weird because despite one's best intentions laws make criminals, it makes ok to do what one does not think should be, but when all is said and done if the law is on the opposing side you don't really win until you have gotten it on yours.

My using the amish as an example was that when like minded people get together and agree they don't have the hassle of caring what the laws are in some respects, but when they do make laws it now falls into the legal realm which can cause really weird things to happen. The amish own most all of the land in Holmes county, if they make a law that says kids can pray in schools, well they have problems because their law affects more than just themselves. Should they be able to make such laws and be able to use the courts to remedy situations where someone violates those laws - now that is a different question altogether. Now they don't have to turn to the government and ask that they get involved, they settle things amongst themselves - and it is in that context i was using the term weird, the law can make things more difficult to accomplish the goals, it can be a hinderance.

The "law stuff" is what keeps the "weird stuff" away, and out of our lives.

what keeps it out of our lives is first ourselves, and then the law. Law has a place, but on personal moral issues it should be in last place - so as those that want us to teach our kids about fisting in schools we fund should not be able to do so. If they want their kids to have a sex education, that is a moral issue (outside of general reproductive science) and should not be allowed in schools we fund. A balanced law will keep things out while allowing you the freedom to choose what you want to bring into your personal life. TV is another example, pay tv - show what you want, public airwaves which can be picked up by the general public should be regulated by the public who is providing those airwaves for the use by television boradcast companies.

It is a balancing act in which the scales are often tipped in either direction depending on who is elected (not just to office of the president). The safest long term bet is self regulation, as it will always be more consistent.

85 posted on 04/24/2004 12:50:05 AM PDT by chance33_98 (Shall a living man complain? Oh how much fewer are my sufferings than my sins;)
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To: budwiesest
The answer would have been to have each and every person associated with this half-time production mortaging their homes to pay fines for their breach of faith contract that viewers expect from a professional sporting event.

Nothing less!

Federal government control and regulation of broadcast media is necessary from a purely technical standpoint.

Therefore, it is the Federal governments' responsiblity to insure that the only broadcast media available to the general public (because of that regulation), does not contain content which is known to be offensive to the vast majority.

The RULES where very clear. They were deliberately disregarded in order to be SHOCKING.

The punishment should be equaly SHOCKING.

86 posted on 04/24/2004 12:52:16 AM PDT by GSHastings
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To: nopardons
Perhaps the arc of the pendulum grows larger with time, sort of like the pangs of birth getting more instense as the time draws near to delivery. Jesus had it right all along.
87 posted on 04/24/2004 12:52:50 AM PDT by chance33_98 (Shall a living man complain? Oh how much fewer are my sufferings than my sins;)
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To: nopardons
Do you think there'll ever come a time when conservatism rises again? (the pendulum thing)
88 posted on 04/24/2004 12:54:19 AM PDT by budwiesest (Unfriggin' believable. They call this a California Constitution.)
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To: chance33_98
Well,perhaps;but,as bad as things are now,they aren't as bad as they have been,in earlier eras...yet.

If this topic interests you,I can tell you which eras and a books you might care to look at.:-)

89 posted on 04/24/2004 12:59:04 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: GSHastings
Federal government control and regulation of broadcast media

Well, no problem when the customer is getting shafted, not sure the feds are necessary but somebody should be the final arbiter in the case of fraud.

The key to censorship in a free society is to somehow put a brown wrapper on the product while still making it available and at the same time, not offending those who would be offended by it's presence. Not sure how this is done in radio.

90 posted on 04/24/2004 1:01:22 AM PDT by budwiesest (Unfriggin' believable. They call this a California Constitution.)
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To: budwiesest
It depends upon just WHAT you mean by Conservatism.

Cromwellian,Reaganian,other?

What I know for a sure and certain fact,is that the pendulum swings and has done since the beginnings of time.How long it takes,depends upon then people of each era.As far as I know,there is NOT any set period of time.Circumstances alter ever case.

People don't change;only technology changes.

91 posted on 04/24/2004 1:05:08 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: little jeremiah
How on earth the libertarian utopia would work with so many people addicted to various vices is hard to imagine!

BINGO!

I never could quite put my finger on exactly what it was about libertarians that make them seem to be conservative and liberal at the same time. But you nailed it. The don't like government primarily because the "liberties" they are most concerned with, are often vices rather than virtues.

92 posted on 04/24/2004 1:07:21 AM PDT by GSHastings
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To: freepatriot32
"I don't think censorship is a bad word, but it has become a bad word because everybody associates it with some kind of restriction on liberty,"

Has pat boone completely lost his freaking mind?

Of course not. His comments are perfectly rational coming from a man whose career was parasitic on censorship of "race music". Because many radio stations wouldn't play music by black rhythm and blues artists, white teenagers were stuck with Pat's atrocious covers.

93 posted on 04/24/2004 1:12:25 AM PDT by Stultis
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To: budwiesest
Federal government control and regulation of broadcast media

It's primarily needed for technical reasons. It's a bandwidth kind of thing. There is only so much "space" in the radio spectrum upon which broadcasts are carried. That space used to be much more restrictive, because the technology did not exist to reach the really high radio frequencies which are now common. And the technology was poor when it came to discriminating between two or more radio sources which were broadcasting very close to each other in frequency. The useable "space" is much bigger now, but the users are much more numerous.

Without government control, it would quickly become a battle of who was the loudest (wattage), and who had the best gear to "jam" the competition.

"The key to censorship in a free society is to somehow put a brown wrapper on the product while still making it available"

I think the key to a free and "healthy" society, is to make it unavailable. I think society has the right, and the responsiblity, to say, "if you want it, go somewhere else". That somewhere else might be a long, long ways away, and hopefully is.

94 posted on 04/24/2004 1:21:50 AM PDT by GSHastings
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To: nopardons
What I know for a sure and certain fact,is that the pendulum swings and has done since the beginnings of time.

Agreed, it's my 'wave' theory of life. No hot, no cold. No up, no down, etc. Without it, no life.

Having witnessed the collapse of socialism in our time (which is relatively short) I'm curious as to when we as a country will abandone it's vestiges and go on toward that which we might acheive otherwise. In science, education, health, etc. Unbridled or misdirected censorship may impede us on this path.

Perhaps the time has come to turn our public airwaves into the equivalent of our bland public parks where no threat of harm exists. Dam glad I didn't grow up playing in them. From my childhood, I should have been eaten by a black bear or mountain lion.

95 posted on 04/24/2004 1:26:56 AM PDT by budwiesest (Unfriggin' believable. They call this a California Constitution.)
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To: budwiesest
Public parks..."BLAND"? They never were and never shall be "bland",nor "safe",for that matter.But did you mean PLAYGOUNDS,perchance?Those aren't "bland",nor all that "safe" either, no matter WHAT they do to them.

But I too grew up prior to the NANNY STATE imposed helmets for everything,knee/arm/whatever pad rules,and played on CONCRETE floored playgrounds.Heck,I roller skated and rode my bike on city streets;even played games on them!But,I never heard any bad language nor saw any kind of porn either,back then,and could and did sing "popular" songs, without any fear of getting my mouth washed out with soap and/or getting a tongue lashing for using "dirty" words.

As to just WHEN this nation will back off from socialistic tendencies,which do not work,I have no idea.Neither do I know when the populaces will at last have its fill of trash,porn,perverted behaviors,etc.;but there WILL come a point that that'll happen.You and I might not be around to see it,but it'll happen...it always does.

96 posted on 04/24/2004 1:42:18 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons
You're right, playgrounds. My bad. I swang on some swings, talk about pendulums.

As you mentioned earlier some riske' stuff existed during eras when you'd least have expected it. I suppose we could institute harsher censorship, satisfy the 'marms' and expect those 'underground' or black market activities to flourish beyond what we're seeing today? Perhaps in a more artful way. Won't that be nice? Bring on the romance novels! (boring)

97 posted on 04/24/2004 1:55:07 AM PDT by budwiesest (Unfriggin' believable. They call this a California Constitution.)
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To: budwiesest
Harsher censorship really WOULD be a good thing,as far as movies,T.V.,and music lyrics are concerned'advertizing of all kinds too.And it just isn't to "satisfy marms" either,nor "for the children".

When every other word,in a song lyric,movie,cable show is an F word/obscenity, or worse,it inures everyone to the "shock value",debases the society and culture;not to mention making those words useless.

The in your face,everywhere you turn use of pornography removes the provocative stimulation,leaves little if anything to the imagination,dulls the senses,and turns sex and even lasciviousness into tedium;ennui inducing boredom, which leads to the need of more and more perversion,to titillate.

98 posted on 04/24/2004 2:10:20 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: nopardons
We're living in a male dominated world. You've just described it to a "T". After re-reading my last reply to you, I was struck by my mistreatment of romance, as in novels.

I don't think guys in general are drawn toward romance but toward more what you described.

My wife has been away for three days on work related stuff and I'm going to meet her tomorrow, in Las Vegas. She likes reading romance novels and I've never read one. But I've seen Gone With The Wind and upon arrival in Vegas, this is going to be all about romance. I'm gonna show her the town. My bags are already packed and my minds made up. Twenty three years of marriage won't stand in the way of a beautiful weekend. Hell, nothing will.

Censorship or not, seeing things from a woman's perspective just once in this world dominated with sexual explicitness has given me a new outlook.. Thanks for helping me put on these glasses. Wish me luck. And frankly, I do give a damn.

99 posted on 04/24/2004 2:30:53 AM PDT by budwiesest (Unfriggin' believable. They call this a California Constitution.)
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To: WhiteGuy
So Maplethorps photos of five year old girl, with their legs wide open, and genitals exposed, is a good thing?????
100 posted on 04/24/2004 2:43:42 AM PDT by BOOTSTICK
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