Free Republic

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED MARCH 24, 2004 11:25:38 ET XXXXX The nation's top TV show is at the center of a fresh decency debate after AMERICAN IDOL judge Simon Cowell gestured a one finger salute during Tuesday night's broadcast from Hollywood. The obscene gesture came during a heated exchange with fellow judge Paula Abdul. Cowell held his middle finger to his cheek as Abdul railed against comments made about a contestant. The image came close to being cut, a top FOX executive tells the DRUDGE REPORT. "We were not sure he was doing what he was doing, quite frankly,"...

Using the hand signal rooted in ancient times and popularly known today as "shooting the bird" may be rude, but it's not necessarily disorderly conduct, a Texas appeals court has ruled. At issue for the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin was whether Robert Lee Coggin incited "an immediate breach of the peace" when he allegedly gestured at a motorist with his raised middle finger two years ago as the former Lockhart resident tailgated a slow-moving vehicle in the left lane of U.S. 183. Coggin was charged under an obscure state law that says "a person commits an offense if...