Politics of Porn: Justice Department Launches Long-Anticipated War on Obscenity

ABC News ^ | 9-28-03 | Jake Tapper

[gdani]

One of the confiscated movies, Forced Entry, features three graphic scenes of women being spat upon, raped and murdered.

Something you may have overlooked (ignored) in crafting your response.

Sounds like "The Sopranos" and Stephen King might be next......

[sakic]

"We're facing more time than the guy that they just arrested that was trying to sell the surface-to-air missile," said Zicari.

Welcome to the future. Never mind the stench.

Next time I'm trying to decide which is a worse act between making disgusting movies or trying to kill thousands of Americans I guess I'll be forced to choose the road towards killing thousands of Americans in order to serve a shorter prison term.

Let's just skip all these middle steps and have the churches write our laws.

Americans dying and these dips like Ashcroft and Bush want to stamp out a filthy moviemaker that no one has ever heard of. What a waste of government time and money. No need to pay attention to Americans dying when there's dirty films afoot.

P.S. How did members of the current administration come to the conclusion that movies are more reprehensible now unless they are watching them? Great job guys.

[gdani]

If 10,000 people watch one of these movies, and 5 of those viewers are "inspired" to go out and rape and murder a woman, is that a "fair price to pay" for defending the First Amendment?

Do you use that argument when "porn" is replaced with "guns" and "First Amendment" with "Second Amendment"

[gdani]

They have said that pornography is not protected by the First Amendment.

They have?? Then why does it exist?

[webstersII]

"The murdered part doesn't sound particularly
wholesome, though. "

Guess you haven't seen too many movies from Hollywood the last couple of decades. Ever see "Pulp Fiction"? If they want to ban something with overly disgusting violence, then that's a place to start.

[Common Tator]

The Supreme Court has tap danced around the issue of pornography for five decades

In a dictatorship one can do what ever the dictator permits. In a Representative Republic on a Democracy one can not for long engage in practices the public does not want done.

When the people of the USA thought Slavery was Ok.. we had slavery. When they thought abortion was murder, abortion was murder. When they thought it was not murder, it is not murder. When the public thought porno was a terrible crime is was a terrible crime. When they thought it was not so bad, it was no longer as much of a crime.

The supreme court tends to put on it's tap shoes when the public is divided on an issue..

Change public opinion to be solidly behind your view and it will not be necessary to do anything to get all three branches of government to do your bidding. We must take into account that Justices serve for life. It takes far longer to change the courts than it does elected officials. It may take a few of decades for courts to reflect the popular public view. But in time the courts always do exactly that.

We appear to be entering a more conservative fiscal and moral era. The Bush administration simply reflects the shifting of the political center.

[votelife]

the media would rather people only think of Christians as trying to "impose morality" a liberal feminist would never do that!

[webstersII]

"When Ted Bundy was thirteen years old, he discovered "dirty magazines" in a dump near his home. He was instantly
captivated by them. In time, Bundy became more and more addicted to violent images in magazines and videos. He got his sicks from seeing women being tortured and murdered. When he tired of that, there was only one place his addiction could go - from fantasy to reality.... "

Shouldn't Ashcroft head to Hollyweird, also? Looks like they had a hand in his going down the wrong path.

[semaj]

"To derive sexual gratification from images of rape and murder is obscene. Anyone who would say otherwise is delusional, or simply a contrarian libertine looking for an argument."

Or maybe they're just Demented!

[opusprime]

Exactly Gray, I'll even go a step further and say that once this guy wins his court case, his films will be more popular than ever.

[mvpel]

Don't you get it?

The fact that he was "instantly captivated" is a simply result of him being a 13-year-old boy. I myself was "instantly captivated" by the scraps of tattered paper laying about the "Playboy tree" in the middle of a thicket in a field behind my elementary school.

I didn't grow up to be a brutal serial killer, and I don't have sex with anyone other than my wife of 10 years.

The reason Ted Bundy became a serial killer is because there was something wrong with Ted Bundy. The notion that he would have grown up to become president if only he hadn't laid eyes on those "dirty magazines" at the age of thirteen is patently ridiculous.

[ConservativeStandUP]

Frankly I'm with you. What is it I am hearing from people in the forefront of the 10 commandments crowd? States Rights. Show me where it says in the Constitution that the FEDS have to do this. Let the states prosecute.

The next 911 may God forbid, will make everyone backing this feel a whole lot silly. Enough pandering to the snake handling talking in tongues crowd. Lets focus on the War on TERROR!

Ya know, Hamas and Islamic Jihad dont like this stuff either...

[Tempest]

The whole effort seems silly to me. Most people have interest in this material purchase it willing.

I don't think goverment should be legislating personal morals that do not hurt anyone or infringe upon others.

[swarthyguy]

>>>>>'Catcher in the Rye'

It is a terrible book to be forcing 16 year olds to read.

Talk about turning them off reading.

And it is BORING.

[swarthyguy]

>>>>>'Catcher in the Rye'

It is a terrible book to be forcing 16 year olds to read.

Talk about turning them off reading.

And it is BORING.

[Graybeard58]

"The fact that he was "instantly captivated" is a simply result of him being a 13-year-old boy. I myself was "instantly captivated" by the scraps of tattered paper laying about the "Playboy tree"

The "unmentionables" section in the Sears catalogue did it for me.

[semaj]

"The reason Ted Bundy became a serial killer is because there was something wrong with Ted Bundy. The notion that he would have grown up to become president if only he hadn't laid eyes on those "dirty magazines" at the age of thirteen is patently ridiculous.

Let's just suppose that there are a few thousand potential Ted Bundys out there just waiting for that push that sends them over the edge. You claim that porn has nothing to do with that, and others here are claiming just the opposite. If there is even the slightest possibility that it can send someone over the edge, what does that say about you and your tolerance for its prescence in our society and for the welfare of your neighbor?

F&$# you I got mine! Law of the jungle. Too bad so sad?

With moral attitudes like that, it's no wonder our country is in such bad shape.

[Mack the knife]

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. (For those in Rio Linda, this Latin translates into, "if it happened later, it must have been caused by it".)

Yeah, that's the ticket.

In the past 50 years, we have gone from "all depictions of the female body is illegal", hence a very small very expensive underground market for porno, to pictures of coitus and stories of every conceivable variety available on the internet for free; it is so prevelent that Penthouse has lost 90% of its readership. The number of people exposed to such materials has gone from perhaps 1% to (let's be generous) 50% of the population of young men.

If your thesis was correct (i.e., that viewing porno CAUSES men to act out their rape fantasies,) then we should be overrun with rapists. Check the statistics - it hasn't happened. Your thesis has absolutely NO statistical evidence supporting it. Anecdotal evidence should not be sufficient for making public policy.

Preach and try to convince others as you wish, and I will applaud you. Even shun those who do not believe as you do, and I will support your right to do so.

But remember -- Jesus said for each individual to seek first the Kingdom of G-d. He was even criticized for eating dinner with tax collectors and prostitutes, to bring the message of salvation to them.

But at no time did he advocate using a sword to punish those who did not "love others as yourself". And Paul in his letters denounced sexual excesses, but never advocated punishing those who indulged in them.

Advocating the passing of laws for police to use guns to enforce them is not consistent with those writings.

[montag813]

Ashcroft is a real S.O.B...he's got the FBI going after your MP3 files and people who put naked pictures on the internet. But he's got his head up his ass when it comes to the enemy invasion across our borders and the Earth Liberation Front.