This morning I turned on Howard Stern to find that his show was a conglomerate of clips and sound bites, without any interjections by him. While his show has always had plenty of sound clips taken from other media outlets, he is normally using them to make a point and backing them up with his own commentary. Apparently Howard has decided to make a point by taking a TRUE No-SPIN attitude in his recent commentary about the FCC and recent Congressional hearings.

While listening to the show this morning, I could not help but to have feelings of depression and melancholy as I listened to the Freedom of Speech slowly drift away on the words of our idiotic elected representatives. The show included clips of both supporters and detractors of Stern and his show, and it was made clear through their own words the reasoning for their stances. Allow me to add my own spin here and say that it sounds like the religious right-wing politicos in this country are trying to shove their own standards of immorality and indecency down my throat. By restricting what people can say on the airwaves of America, we are allowing the government to control our thoughts and restrict our ability to communicate.

Through satire and commentary, Howard Stern's radio program has for years communicated the idiocy of people in this country who harbor racist and sexist opinions. Satire itself is a political commentary mechanism that has been protected by the First Ammendment for over 200 years. What the censors in the FCC are doing is illegal and immoral. They are using the law to silence their detractors and oppose political change, against the wishes of the founders of this country.

What of community standards? The American people have long voted with their wallet. Howard's show has been at the top of the Arbitron ratings for 20 years. What makes capitalism so great is that if the people did not want to listen to him, he would have failed. Our capitalist society has proven that the majority are willing to support satirical programming through his voice. As a community, we have set our standard through support for his program throughout these many years. Communities in America have always voted with their money, and there are many individual communities where Howard's show does not air; not due to political pressure, but due to the lack of financial support from that community.