In a speech in 2002, Ashcroft made it clear that the Justice Department intends to try. He said pornography "invades our homes persistently though the mail, phone, VCR, cable TV and the Internet," and has "strewn its victims from coast to coast."
Given the millions of dollars Americans are spending each month on adult cable television, Internet sites and magazines and videos, many may see themselves not as victims but as consumers, with an expectation of rights, choices and privacy.
Ashcroft, a religious man who does not drink alcohol or caffeine, smoke, gamble or dance, and has fought unrelenting criticism that he has trod roughshod on civil liberties in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, is taking on the porn industry at a time when many experts say Americans are wary about government intrusion into their lives.
The Bush administration is eager to shore up its conservative base with this issue. Ashcroft held private meetings with conservative groups a year and a half ago to assure them that anti-porn efforts are a priority.
But administration critics and First Amendment rights attorneys warn that the initiative could smack of Big Brother, and that targeting such a broad range of readily available materials could backfire.
"They are miscalculating the pulse of the community," said attorney Paul Cambria, who has gone head to head with Taylor in cases dating to the 1970s.
"I think a lot of adults would say this is not what they had in mind, spending millions of dollars and the time of the courts and FBI agents and postal inspectors and prosecutors investigating what consenting adults are doing and watching."
The law itself rests on the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Miller vs. California, which held that something is "obscene" only if an average person applying contemporary community standards finds it patently offensive. But until now, it hasn't been prosecuted at the federal level for more than 10 years.....
It ain't Bush's business what consenting adults watch in their own home. He needs to mend his own fences before he presumes to mend everyone else's.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
I won't hide it from anyone, but I despise Ashcroft. I had to defend one of his arguments in my political science class and I must admit that he strikes me as a total goon. To be frank, I'm more scared of him than I am terrorism. Anyway on with my reply. I feel that pornography is an evil in society, but I don't see any logical way of cronfronting it or eliminating it. The people who post the stuff on the net are often in different countries, and are way outside of the US juristiction. To try and eliminate pornography on the net or otherwise is like burning marijuana crops only you don't get to arrest the dealer or the grower afterward.
Posted by T. Analog Kid (Member # 381) on :
this isn't a serious threat... like with the marriage amendment, this is just Bush shoring up his base...
you will see a flat tax before either of these things... and while I think it is a good thing that there's no hope of this or the marriage thing, I have come to ignore politics largely because of nonsense like this... color me pained and less likely to vote every day.
Posted by Alexa (Member # 6285) on :
They shouldn't be attacking the porn industry, they should be attacking spammers and prosecuting sapmmers. True, they are making inroads, but not enough. DO you think spamming can be stopped?
Posted by lcarus (Member # 4395) on :
I'm with those who think spammers should be castrated.
(Though the evidence on whether or not this prevents spamming is mixed, I hear. Spamming, as they say, is not about advertising, but about the power to be obnoxious. But I say, castrate 'em anyway.)
[ April 07, 2004, 12:51 AM: Message edited by: lcarus ]
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Pornography (or erotica) has been around for a loooong time. How does he hope to do anything anyhow? Everyone else is doing fine with porn/erotica around. It must be one of those "We must be different" things.
Spammers should be placed out in the street and shot.
Posted by Daedalus (Member # 1698) on :
Thank god someone's finally doing something about this widespread problem of people watching recordings of other people having sex. Phew. Now, to pay my overpriced rent. If only that mugger didn't take my wallet... If only I had money in that wallet...
But hey, Bush is taking care of the important issues.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
You know, I think we may have at last found the one topic that everyone can get behind--Down with Spam!