We live in a frightening world. A world whose authority figures believe its population would be far safer if it did away with honesty, traditions and community.Censorship plays a far stronger role in societal norms than ever before; the mere suggestion of bodily functions as natural as spring water is forbidden by most conservative media (not liberal as the conservatives decree), that is most media that holds a gun propped against its head in order to “make nice” to a general population.
Watching the Super Bowl last night with a group of friends showed me just how much we as citizens of this great nation could be affected by such nonsense.
Hell! Even the advertising executives at Budweiser got away with “the streaking lamb” commercial and yet, The Rolling Stones get a word censored from their lead-off song “Start Me Up,” which they performed at halftime during the big game, but oddly enough their last song, “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was completely left alone. I guess Janet Jackson has everyone scared.
It’s not the first time they’ve been censored. Way back in 1967 during an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the lyric line from their song with the same title “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” was changed to “let’s spend some time together.” Whether or not it the lyric was censored, I’m sure it didn’t stop girls everywhere from having massive multiple orgasms, thinking about the Stones and “them.”
But then there are crazier ideas; crazy in the sense that tradition gets stamped out because it offends a particular group of people, even though the tradition has been around for decades.
I couldn’t believe my ears when the CBS News radio network reported much earlier this morning that some English (as in England) schools are getting rid of a long time favorite; hot cross buns. And why are they doing this? Well, they don’t want to offend all the Jehovah’s Witnesses that attend their schools. They’ve also asked portable vendors to stop selling them to schoolchildren as they emerge from the building when class is over for the day!
Of all the insane ideas! What’s going to happen next? American Jews decrying police personnel who wear badges that are shaped like the Star of David? Baptists boycotting BMWs because the car’s symbol looks like an upside down broken cross? Whatever happened to freedom of choice?
Now I understand why Al Capp was the way he was, he didn’t believe in the bullshit like most Americans sit and swallow every single day of their lives. Where is Al Capp's spirit when it is needed most?
