Free Speech Follies

If you follow media in the U.S., you know that one the issues that has confounded commentators for years now is the FCC’s approach to indecency in the Bush years. In that time the Bush Administration has rolled back the clock on indecency standards, and has (some would say, deliberately) created a confoundingly ambiguous standard for what can be said on TV and radio, and what can not. How remarkable then, in this age of partisan Courts in the U.S., to see a Federal Appeals Court not merely toss out an FCC indecency ruling, but also generally challenge the FCC’s power to police speech in this way. And how wonderful to see the resulting elation on the part of media observers. And how predictable to see the FCC Chairman, Kevin Martin, get downright snippy over the whole thing.