(Hillary) Clinton assails "epidemic" of media sex and violence

[jefferson_dem]

Sounding more and more like a pres candidate every day...

******

WASHINGTON New York Senator Hillary Clinton is calling for greater government and parental scrutiny of media children watch and play, saying kids are suffering from a "silent epidemic" from media sex and violence.

At a forum today hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the New York Democrat noted parental worries about the influence of violent video games, the Internet and sexually explicit television programs.

Clinton said the public health is threatened by increasingly raw media content.

Over time, she says, that media-driven desensitization teaches children -- quote -- "that it's OK to dis people because they're women or they're a different color or they're from a different place."

<SNIP>

http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=3053246

[bread_and_roses]

1. What about the violence of blowing children to bits in Iraq, Hillary?

You seem OK with that.

[pokercat999]

15. Hey Hill, first it takes a parent who

is not afraid to press the off button.

How about a live-able wage for all workers so one parent could be involved with their child's life enough to know when the "button" is in the on position, in stead of being a corporate slave?

[saigon68]

96. She loves violence and killing

She will do nothing to stop the Carnage in Iraq. she is a carpet bagger who will never be elected to anything more than she already has.

The average Blue Collar Male worker has a very low and unprintable %#T8@!* Opinion about her skanky personality.

[sasquatch]

2. Hey Hillary I have a word for you: "Joementum"

His ass is grass and we're the lawn mower. Just think about it for a while.

[jefferson_dem]

4. No shit. Joe's rightly done except for his token appearances as the

the "reasonable, moderate" dem on FauxNews and such.

Look at this passage for Hillary's slimy bedfellows...

"She and Senators Sam Brownback of Kansas, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania want the government to closely monitor the media impact on the development of young children."

YuK-A-Doooooo

[candy331]

3. Just a little more rightward leaning/shall I say posturing for 2008. n/t

[Sinistrous]

57. Yep. Looks the 2008 campaign is officially open. n/t

[Itsthetruth]

85. To Be Expected, Same Old Story

So far how right shall she go? I bet she won't catch up with whoever the Republican candidate is no matter how fast she runs or how might she may try.

[leftofthedial]

5. keep in mind, she was a Goldwater Girl

[bluedeminredstate]

21. innoculating herself

from the turbil librul slur. Sticks and stones.
It's too bad to witness. Vast Right Wing Conspiracy indeed...
:(

[devinsgram]

104. There is a thought I have had for quite a while.

As she ages, she is going backwards in thinking, not forward into progress.

[xxqqqzme]

135. so was I!

I just never bought N2 the DLC agenda which she helped shape. She will keep promoting that agenda right N2 futility.

Someone should tell her the DLC is dead and she needs 2 w/ the new/old message.

[lanlady]

6. with Rupert Murdoch's trash leading the way

My kids are home from college this week, and were watching Fox TV shows the other night. I couldn't get over the foul language that's allowed on the air--bitch, bitching, asshole--everything but the f*** word. And every medium from TV to AIM is obsessed with showing young teenage girls in halter tops. It's beyond belief.

[98geoduck]

7. Hail to the new Queen! God forbid that we become like Sweden.

and actually educate our youth and citizens.

[gizmo1979]

8. she's drank the Kool-aid

[deminks]

14. Exactly my thought.

When did this stuff start, when she went to Iraq? Before that? Has she become part of the "vast right wing conspiracy"? Not that she was ever part of the democratic wing of the democrat party. Not giving up on her, but I just don't understand yet. :shrug:

[ProfessorGAC]

123. She's Adopted Conservative Political Ideals

Governance is irrelevant; winning is everything.

She is proposing an idea that might help her win something, but can't really result in any meaningful policy that could be enforced.

She has learned that lesson from the conservatives, but i wish she hadn't.
The Professor

[IndianaGreen]

70. She didn't drank the Kool-Aid. She is making the Kool-Aid!

And the Big B*tch is expecting us dopes to drink it!

[bemildred]

9. You won't get elected that way Hil. nt

[Undercover Owl]

20. she WILL get elected that way

Hillary is making a beeline for the oval office.

[leftynyc]

113. First she has to get reelected Senator (nt)

[KurtNYC]

116. How many Senators have been elected President?

And how many women? How many female senators who impersonate Joe Lieberman... seems quite unlikely.

[obxhead]

26. isn't that how bush got re-elected

[iamjoy]

42. Welcome To DU

:hi:

[bemildred]

77. I thought it was other things.

The "values" shit is smoke and mirrors for the rubes (IMHO).
But opinions vary.

It seems clear at this point that there is a faction that is
going to try to shove her down our throats, and that faction has
gotten started on that project, and she seems to be taking a
DLC-triangulation sort of approach, as one would expect.

But the fact is: that this is what we got the last two times out
and we lost; and Big Dog, when he ran, did not run on any of this
drivel.

[Ms. Clio]

10. Man, I could go dig up quotes from over 100 years ago

Bemoaning how evil dime novels were corrupting pure American youth. Bring it forward a few decades, and it would be dangerous comic books.

I mean, this shit is really old.

[blue northern]

11. puhleez Hillary

Why do Americans seem so uptight about sex anyway?
I find gratuitous violence much more obscene than the odd nipple or four letter word personally.
It's a parent's job to monitor what their children are exposed to.
European kids seem to adjust to seeing boobies on the beach and billboards.
:shrug:

edit:spelling

[shirlden]

12. Hill lost me when she became

the head cheerleader for Bushitas Iraq war game. Does she have any support left among the "grass roots", meaning folks like us at DU?
Just curious. I can't think of any good reason to support her for Prez. I was a big supporter at one time. MY, my how times change.

:bounce:

[Undercover Owl]

30. Moderates win.

This is a "moderate" move.

[delhurgo]

43. I think thats wrong, and a misreading of what 'moderates' want.

And this is something that can be very dangerous for democrats. Not because moving to the center isn't the right strategy. It is. The danger is in choosing the wrong issues to move to the center on.

What swing/moderate voters like about Republicans is lower taxes and a strong Defense, they don't really care for their 'religious right' stance on civil liberties. Thats something these swing voters depend on democrats for.

The swing vote then essentially wants "socially liberal/fiscal conservative" policies. Thats the way you move to the 'center' and win, IMO. You don't do that by continuing the tax and spend philosophy and adding censorship on top of that, thats a loser for sure.

[Undercover Owl]

53. is it wrong?

It may very well be a winning move. Hey, I'm not saying it's a good move, I'm just saying it seems like a "winning" move.

A lot of mainstream people seem to be irritated at the 'loose morals' they see on TV, whether or not they practice 'loose morals' within their own homes. These mainstream TV watchers are the same politically-uncommited people who "swing" the vote either way.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

60. Completely wrong.

Is our current "President" a moderate?

Case closed. Book 'em, Danno!

[Undercover Owl]

64. huh?

"Is our current "President" a moderate?" Duh, no.
Did our current "president" actually get elected?

Hold on, I don't know what your argument is.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

66. What?

:shrug:

[Undercover Owl]

72. I seriously didn't get it!

Please don't address me like a f*cking idiot.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

75. "Moderates win."

The current pResident is not a moderate. Kerry made a concession speech. Not to mention that Kerry is also a moderate. Edwards, Clark, Dean and Graham were also moderates. Dole and Kemp were moderates.

I'm refuting your contention that "Moderates win."

I'd put it this way: "The candidate with the most Juice wins." Juice can be money, media, personality or any combination thereof; although it's usually the first two. People don't elect politicians, Juice does. Hillary has Juice but it has nothing to do with moderation.

Got Juice?

[Undercover Owl]

76. thanks for clarifying.

Okay, but, the candidate should at least have some appeal to mainstream America, so that their "win" or "loss" will be somewhat believable. Hillary is a politician, and I think she's a fairly sharp politician. I personally don't support her media/TV/etc clean-up rhetoric, but a lot of people in the US would support this idea.

I know, I know. It's all just futile.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

82. No doubt that Hillary is sharp.

No doubt that many would find her palatable.
And, alas, no doubt that it's all just futile (until the inevitable reorganization that occurs every couple of generations- e.g., 1776 and 1932)

Until then, cheers. :toast:

[sendero]

106. If everyone is so against this material...

... why is there so damn much money in making it?

Americans are either the most egregious hypocrites on the planet, or the folks who actually are against this sort of stuff are merely a vocal minority.

Probably both.

[benny05]

101. Agree and

Most of us moderates are for free speech, non-Internet filtering in libraries, and pro-family responsibility, which means families should be stepping up to the plate to see what their children do and watch, not the government.

[leesa]

111. This is right wing and it's wrong to do and say stupid things just to win.

[bleedingheart]

114. yeah...that Moderation just worked wonders for Kerry...

[bilgewaterbill]

88. Lost my vote, too. nt

[Squeech]

13. Tipper and Al Gore

believed this crap too, and Frank Zappa had to tell them off.

If any Democrat should mention it, (s)he should immediately blame the other side of the aisle: "You guys must be okay with all this smut and horror, because it's produced by the Blessed Free Market!"

[jefferson_dem]

18. Comparisons to the Tipper-led and Zappa-squashed PMRC come to mind.

‘Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.’

- Frank Zappa

[XemaSab]

132. That was the only thing I didn't like about Gore

His wife trying to censor some of my favorite music.

(Turns up the Nine Inch Nails)

[Malva Zebrina]

16. How about assailing the romantisizing of the military

the Gi joe dolls that have a title on the box, of those who defend iour "freedoms" while all the while it is about seeking empire and killing innocent people inorder to get what they have that we want?

How about assailing those who would diminish the rights of women re abortion and not hug those who would not?

How about not muddying up one's position by playing to both sides in the hopes that it will one an election?

Sorry--can't see this approach and lose respect for this woman who is playing a game that is already outdated and old. She, after four years, is already tied to belt way politics and we need more than that in any candidate.

[HockeyMom]

17. I voted for her

She keeps talking like this and it will be a cold day in hell before I vote for her again for EITHER Senator or President.

[tx_dem41]

125. Have fun with Senator Rudy, then.

Please note that I won't listen to any complaints from you then. Now, if you want to vote against her in a primary, go for it!!

[WillyT]

19. Wow... I Didn't Realize It Was Triangulation Season Already !!!

Sorry Hill. I want a leader, not a positioner.

And I still
haven't found
what I'm looking for...

:shrug:

[TankLV]

94. Wow! Thanks for putting it into words.

I couldn't think of the proper terms.

I may agree with her initial premise, but there are soooo many more important things we need to be focusing on.

Fight the proud fight. Fight for what we believe in.

I am sick and tired of this "strategizing" and "triangulating" and figuring out "ways of winning" as an end or goal in itself, instead of just running on and enunciating and communicating our core principles and winning by convincing people we have better ideas and stand for better ideals and principles.

[gort]

22. Is this all Sista Souljah's fault again?

Hey Hillary:

The bullets and the sex on tv are fake.

War is real.

Gort

[bluedeminredstate]

23. Wait until the Puritans

hoot and howl themselves silly as they talk cigars, blues dresses and the like. Bad move for one of many reasons.

[Inland]

24. Christ, what is WRONG with you people? State the obvious and get flamed!

This is exactly the same position that the Clinton adminstration took in putting the V chip in--that media and corporate interests sell to children using violence and sex, and modern parents have difficulty raising children in the manner they desire in the face of the commercial onslaught. Golly--ya THINK?

So the reaction is that Hillary is against education, drinking the Kool Aid, and a suggestion that pro military stuff be addressed as well.

And suggestions that she is just being political, as if she didn't mean it. Murdoch, MTV and American Tobacco would have made the same attack on her integrity, and I understand their interests in doing so. What's with DU?

[mourningdove92]

28. I agree. What exactly is it about her comments

that so many here find objectionable????

[Warren Stupidity]

52. what is wrong with it is the subtext

That gummint should increase the censorship and control of mass media. They have put the clamps down on broadcast and they are turning the Evil Eye of Sauron on cable and satellite. It seems that we will not be safe until the naked girls in the Badda Bing Lounge are all wearing pasties and thongs and Deadwood is bleeping the fuck out of their cocksuckingly bad language.

That is what is wrong. If you don't want your kids watching sax and violins, turn the fucking tv channel. What the fuck is wrong with people?

[sendero]

107. It is pure pandering..

... and you know it.

[KurtNYC]

117. Hillary has no shot at the Oval office and we can't afford another

ego trip candidacy.

[CitySky]

143. that she's focusing on this

INSTEAD of raising holy heck about:

1) election fraud
2) campaign finance
3) our continued and bloody occupation of Iraq
4) lack of reasonable access to affordable health care for MOST Americans, if we get truly sick
5) Bush budget designed to futher squeeze the poor and preserve the wealth of the wealthy
6) bankruptcy bill designed to even further squeeze the poor and preserve the wealth of the even wealthier
etc.

The above poster who said "I want a leader, not a positioner" hit the nail on the head. Some of us want Democrats to stand up and start yelling about DEMOCRATIC issues first.

[bread_and_roses]

34. Her amoral hypocrisy is "what's wrong" with me

Support dismembering and incinerating small children in Iraq and then try to tell me she cares about what kids see on TV? Some priority.

[Inland]

36. Yeah, I guess I missed the part where she supported killing kids.

If she had supported incinerating and dismembering children, then she wouldn't be a hypocrite. She would be a monster. But she doesn't. At least, I wouldn't expect a democrat to say so. Ann Coulter, sure.

It's the "isn't there really something more important to be talking about" critique. But there she is, speaking at the Kaiser Family whatever, and part of what she says is about what concerns parents. I guess I'm an asshole for having two posts today on economic matters while our military dies in Iraq too, but it's a big world and there's lots to talk about, and nobody complains when we walk and chew gum at the same time.

[Warren Stupidity]

55. so she has announced her opposition to the illegal attack on iraq

that has resulted in 100,000 or so dead Iraqis, including numerous children? She is calling for withdrawal of our troops? Did I miss that speach?

[Inland]

67. You are certainly missing something.

I think you are missing the point that a failure to meet your standards on opposing the Iraq war doesn't disqualify her on what ads should be directed to kids.

[Warren Stupidity]

102. Nope

And I am not alone here thinking that there is massive hypocrisy and pandering going on with Hillary's 'deep concern' over tv sex and violence doing damage to our precious children while she is massively indifferent to the plight of iraqi children. Obviously you think differently. We disagree.

[Inland]

120. Yeah, you aren't alone. That's a problem.

Like the righties who hate her, there is always going to be an assertion that any reasonable statement is made illegitimate because of the source, that moderation is a ploy, that merely saying something obviously true and correct is pandering for elections.

It's the way things are today, because the criticism is deserved of some, it gets whipped out daily for every issue and non-issue. Which wouldn't bother me, if it wasn't intra party and leaving us with nobody except Kucinich or someboy else unsoiled with the possibility of actually popular.

[KurtNYC]

119. Here since you missed it...

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "fully supports" President Bush's Iraq policy, her office said last night - on the eve of her visit today to an upstate arsenal that makes military hardware like mortars and howitzers for U.S. troops.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0303-13.htm

[Inland]

131. That's it?

"Sen. Clinton fully supports the steps the president has taken to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction," said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines. From a statement in March 2003, when lots of people actually thought there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Looking for the pro-dead-child position. Missing it.

If you don't like clinton, or the issue, you can say so. But don't slander her, and treat me like someone who can't read.

[Betty]

35. I don't know what's with DU

but with me, it's that I don't think it takes much political courage to state the obvious, and what she's saying is definitely designed to convince people that she's not too "liberal". And I am tired of Democrats giving any strength to the fallacy that liberal =bad.

I would rather see politicians who put principals ahead of winning votes by trying to not piss people off. And I know that a lot of people voted for that toad bush not because they agreed with everything he said but because they admired his "resolute" ways. They liked the fact that he said something and then stood by it, as ridiculous as that may seem. I think it's pathetic that the message doesn't matter as much as the way in which it is delivered. I would like to see what would happen if the Dems delivered their message in the same manner, as our message is so much better than theirs.

[jefferson_dem]

37. Well said! This is cheap political pandering at the least or shameful

demagoguery at the worst. Either way, we should expect more from "our side"...!

[WillyT]

48. Great Post Betty !!! - Right On !!!

:yourock:

[Betty]

50. Thankyou.

Now I am going to watch South Park while it's still legal. I think there's a new episode on tonight.

[Inland]

71. Apparently it does take courage to state the obvious

since doing do simply gets one labelled as being political and only saying things to get elected. What's even more amazing is that stating the obvious is somehow republican or a betrayal of liberal ideas, as if simple, good policy is by nature conservative, or somehow beneath the efforts of a legislator.

When Hillary says addresses the concerns of parents raising children, it is pedestrian, not "our" message, and designed to position her. It's too bad, really, that DU is so far removed from the concerns of everyday life that wanting to make it better detracts from our message of....what was the principle we were for, if not to make the lives of Americans better? It was something that wasn't very obvious, so I forget. At any rate, if it is winning votes, there must be something wrong with it.

I'm not ashamed that a legislator takes a moment to voice the concern that is obvious to you and me and parents but the government hasn't acted on. The list of things that are obvious and go wanting is as long as my arm and getting longer every day. Maybe getting the trash picked up and the kids raised wins too many votes to earn the respect of DUers, who have turned losing and minority status into a badge of honor, but I see those nuts and bolts items and winning votes as part of government.

[American Tragedy]

83. And her proposed solution is "greater government scrutiny"

which translates to me as more bureaucracy, more censorship of media and film, and more public funds wasted on government intrusion in our lives. Sorry, not interested.

[Inland]

118. Ruling out gov. interference with business practices? Do tell!

Really, that's what it's about. Big corporations are directly marketing to and communicating with other people's children. There isn't any freedom or censorship involved, unless it's the freedom of corporations to influence your kids.

[sendero]

108. Ok I listened to your nonsense..

... so now here is some simple reality for you.

Fox makes those shows BECAUSE PEOPLE WATCH THEM. If parents do not want their kids watching them - they should TURN OFF THE FUCKING TV - it is not the government's problem that you SUCK as a parent.

I am looking for a leader who will USE THEIR BULLY PULPIT TO TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT, THINGS THAT MATTER.

Let's do a laundry list:

A pointless war.
Handing our country over to the rich via unaffordable tax cuts.
The coming economic collapse and plans to do something about it.
The obvious bias in our news media.
The health care crisis in our country.

It would be easy to go on and on. Bottom line, I'm sick of Clinton's style of politician and I'm tired of trying to shoehorn ambitious but uninspiring politicians into the presidency. There is no one in Washington more hated by the rank and file than Hillary. Even considering her for the nomination is the height of idiocy. The fact that she is just another pandering, triangulating pantload that stands for nothing is just icing on the cowpie.

[Inland]

115. Nothing like siding with corporations against parents, and blaming them

for it.

Yeah, its pretty uninspiring, isn't it, when all those sucky, crappy parents come to the government for help when Fox and MTV and game makers get more time raising their kids then they do. Why should she take one evening's speech to an organization for families to pander to the things that families think are important, when she should be pandering to the things you think are important 24/7?

How could a legislator actually address more than the select number of things you pick out, like, for example, the health care crisis which we all know Hillary hasn't taken a single stand on. "Just when is Hillary going to say a peep about health care?" Of course, only Clinton has had the honor of the right wing NAMING a comprehensive health care proposal after her, but hey, it didn't make the papers this week, so it doesn't count. How silly you sound for bashing her for thinking about TOO MANY issues.

Shortsighted, self righteous, dismissive and insulting. Well, don't worry. No democrat is going to win an election and dirty up the purity of the party.

[sendero]

122. Guess what...

... self righteous? That is really funny. What is self-righteous is the "for the children" bullshit that gets trotted out every time someone doesn't have a valid point.

Parents should not let their kids watch stuff they find objectionable. Those same parents should not be able to restrict what everyone else gets to watch because they cannot or will not do their jobs.

You position gets no sympathy from me, a father of 3 early teen sons.

As for HRC, I'm tired of talking about her for today.

[Inland]

128. So we get to address whether the point is valid or not? No we don't.

After flaming Hillary for pandering, for being republican, for triangulating, for ignoring all the much more important issues, we get to finally address whether or not she had a point.

But then again, you are done talking about Hillary, so we just leave it with your declaration that she was just trotting out bullshit, even putting it in quotation marks just to let us know she really doesn't give a crap about children. AFter all, when did she ever take an interest in children's issues, this woman whose book title became the butt of conservative jokes in the same manner of dismissing her as a political animal only.

Don't worry. No democrat is going to win shit for the next twenty years and spoil the good times we got going.

[sonicx]

49. "greater government and parental scrutiny of media"

doesn't sound good to me.

[Inland]

73. "of media children watch and play," was the author's take on it

And it does sound good to me. Fox and MTV don't have a privileged relationship to sell and communicate to your kids.

[sonicx]

84. The problem isn't the media...

it's the kids and parents. Scrutinize the parents.

[leesa]

112. Why can't these easily offended people turn thei damn teevees off? Why

don't they block the offending channels. You don't see anything wrong with the government dictating what we watch??

Why can't parents be responsible?

[bpilgrim]

25. what about killing 100,000 civilians in an ILLEGAL WAR?

i canceled cable over the BS on the so called news channels.

what about talk radio?

deal with them first, please.

peace

[Township75]

27. Way-to-go shit for brains!

You make this appeal to appeal to the center, right and beyond, and they in turn will clobber you with clever soundbytes about sex, affairs, sexual assualts, and your husband. Good move to sellout for nothing in return!

[Inland]

31. "Sellout"? Selling what? To whom?

Who is she selling out to by siding with parents against Fox and MTV and recording labels on what their children see and hear?

Anybody who brings up Bill's affairs is making the same idiot mistake as the DUers in this thread--confusing the right of parents to control access to their children with being a puritan anti-sex fundie. It's stupid.

[Skip Intro]

29. Is she stealing issues from the repukes?

This could make sense, what she's doing here. I don't like some of the things she's said recently, but looking at her words here, and knowing the climate, and that (I pray) we are using different tactics than we have recently, this could make sense.

Take their issues, when we can. And if adults have the right to make special laws with respect to children, I don 't have a problem with keeping images of rape and murder away from young minds, as much as that is possible. That surely shouldn't be something that is marketed to children.

I want no censorship for adults, tho. No limiting of free speech among adults.

And with Hillary keeping company with the likes of Lieberman and Santorum, I hope she knows were watching.

[proud2BlibKansan]

32. Ok, go ahead and flame me

but I agree with her.

I teach elementary school. Kids are more and more desensitized every year. It is a growing problem. They also seem less able to tolerate differences among human beings and some show zero empathy. That really scares me.

Yes, I know there is an off switch and a channel changer on every TV but too many parents just do NOT monitor what their kids watch on TV.

Video games are increasingly violent. Kindergarteners and first graders are playing Grand Theft Auto! What possesses parents to buy these games for their 5 and 6 year old kids? As much as I detest govt intrusion into our private lives, someone needs to protect kids from inappropriate images and if their own parents won't do it, then whose responsibility is it?

[Inland]

33. You are right, because it isn't JUST about government intrusion.

In fact, it is also about corporations marketing to other people's children using violence, sex, and just plain vulgar life.

Clinton is talking about siding with parents, helping them control the connection between their own children and the corporations.

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. But too many parents

pay no attention to this. How do we force them to monitor what their kids see? I hate to even suggest it, but it really IS a very serious problem.

[Inland]

54. Can't, and shouldn't, force parents.

But giving them tools to help if they want to take control, is the point.

Parents have to be empowered to contest the control of the corporations over their children.

[proud2BlibKansan]

59. And those who choose NOT to take control?

What about their kids?

[Inland]

Kids are stuck with the parents they have.

That might not be a happy fact, but short of abuse, parents do a better job than governments. Some parents have standards for TV watching and media that I don't approve of, but they tend to want what's best and know what's best for their own families. I give the Amish and the cool dad the same benefit of the doubt, mostly because I can't think of any better way.

I am more concerned with the parents who want to intervene but who can't compete with the profit motivated corporations.

As long as the parents can decide, I believe the govenrmnet has done what it can.

[proud2BlibKansan]

121. Unfortunately

we all suffer when parents don't do their job.

[Warren Stupidity]

65. that is their business, not yours (nt)

[proud2BlibKansan]

127. It becomes my business

when I am teaching their child and he lacks self-control, which causes him to disrupt the classroom or assault another kid.

Several years ago, we noticed a rash of problems on our playground every Wed. Kids were jumping on each other, tackling each other, and one kid picked up a kindergartener and held him up over his head, as if he was going to throw him down on the ground. Fortunately, a teacher was not too far away and was able to stop the kid before he hurt the kindergartener.

Turns out wrestling was on TV every Tues night and the kids were imitating what they had seen on the boob tube the night before. So our principal sent a memo to the parents and banned all wrestling t-shirts and other merchandise at school. It took a couple months, but our playground finally calmed down on Wed.

Did we want to get involved in this? No. But we also have an obligation to keep kids safe while they are at school.

[Warren Stupidity]

56. every recent TV is equipped with a 'V chip'

and if you want to block reception of everything to do with sex or violence, you can do so. Why exactly do you think you have the right to control what I watch?

[proud2BlibKansan]

61. I don't want to control what YOU watch

but someone has to control what our kids are seeing. Not every parent uses that V chip.

[Warren Stupidity]

62. why do you think it is the governments responsibility

to control what your kids are watching?

[proud2BlibKansan]

148. It's not the govt's responsibility

to control my kids and the media they are exposed to. It is mine.

But too many parents don't control what their kids see or the video games they play. That's the problem. And if it wasn't an increasing problem, I wouldn't have brought it up.

[blue northern]

38. what you are describing is a nanny state

If their own parents won't shield kids from what you deem as inappropriate (not something illegal as defined by law), I say, respectfully, that it's not any of your business.
The problem lies with the parenting decisions made, and toning down media is a cop out, and rubbing against free speech.
You can't legislate morality.

[bpilgrim]

40. i agree too but why ignore the lies of the M$MW, TR and ILLEGAL WAR

i fear that is having a much greater impact than anything else.

peace

[Betty]

44. CAN it be anyone else's responsibility??

I agree that parents should be monitoring what their kids see. But if they don't, I really cannot think of who or what entity should take over. It's a slippery slope. Once you are sure that kids are provided with adequate food and shelter, and aren't being abused, what more can you legislate that a parent has to do? I mean, obviously, there is so much more that a good parent does, but who's going to decide what else a parent is legally obligated to do? I think it would be hard to come up with a consensus on that.

I don't like the idea of the government being a nanny, not only to the kids, but to the rest of us. So for me, the answer to your question is, the only people who have a responsibilty to protect children from inappropriate images are the parents of those children. Not the best situation I agree, but the alternative is even worse.

[huellewig]

105. Why do assume these simple images are damaging?

I saw plenty of nipples on paper before seeing one in real life. I have never raped. I killed massive amounts of people playing Mortal Kombat. I have never hit anyone out of anger. I cuss a lot now, I got that from the Internet. I would imagine 99.9 percent of the kids are just like me. We know the difference between TV and real life.

The kid that rapes or kills after watching a TV show is going to kill or rape after seeing the McDonald's arches too.

[Kimber Scott]

46. Agree and it's not always that parents just aren't monitoring what their

kids watch, or play, or listen to. Sometimes they just can't. A lot of people have to work at jobs that don't pay enough to pay daycare for children old enough to stay alone after school.

Time appropriate programming and the V-chip are the most fair options I think. And, if people think it's wrong of Hillary to stand up for children, you should listen to a few presidential candidates from years past. I hate she's getting such a hard time here. If she runs, she's got my vote.

[Puglover]

103. So because some parents are too

lazy or busy to supervise their kids I as a childess person should be affected by government censorship? If their own parents won't do it then as far as I'm concerned the solution is better birth control.

edit spelling

[jefferson_dem]

41. More details here

...

Clinton called for:

-- a uniform content-based rating system that would apply across media such as TV and video games, with TV to show its programs’ ratings at least following every commercial break;

-- more public-service announcements about the effect media including TV has on children;

-- voluntary guidelines by the food industry on advertising unhealthy foods to children;

-- and more information for parents on using filters for Internet content.

Clinton said she and colleagues intended to introduce legislation later Tuesday calling for extensive federal study of electronic media’s effect on children, and on links between media and childhood obesity.

<SNIP>

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000835132

[bvar22]

130. voluntary guidelines by the food industry

Yeah, that'll work.

[Hokie]

45. If she is doing this to PO Rupert Murdoch I will give her a pass

Otherwise, she just lost any chance that I would support her for a run for president in 2008.

[Gyre]

47. Boy, she's saying all the right things!

Pushing for real election accountability, pushing this sex-obsessed, profit-motivated only culture back into the cellar where it belongs..

I'm hating her less every week.:)

Gyre

[leftofthedial]

51. she's already fallen into a Rovian trap

Now she is stuck with being a hawkish anti-media right-of-center ores candidate, else she face crowds of flip-flop-throwing wack jobs.

[paineinthearse]

58. If she truly wants to be effective....

...she should resign from the Senate and take a seat on the FCC.

[BiggJawn]

63. "Violence in the Media"? Oh, like on the NEWS?

Sorry, sweet-cheeks, but YOU voted for that mess over there in Eye-Rack. Deal with it, Deary.

[LTRS]

68. some of us pay attention to our kids....

... so no problem, Hillary.

She has now completed her transition to rethuglican. And by the way, that's why Bill is buddying up to Bush daddy as well.

Clinton fans, deal with it. He IS the guy who signed DOMA and fought for NAFTA, remember?

[IndianaGreen]

69. No, she is sounding like Tipper Gore and Joe Lieberman

Another black mark on Hillary's candidacy!

[undergroundpanther]

78. Kids violence

The V chip was a good compromise like the morning after pill was

But there are issues with some people with both compromises

On one side the Morning after pill you got Christian freaks that are not happy until they can meddle with and control everyones reproductive capacities..never mind kids after they are born what their lives are like...The hysterical fundie MALE shrieks ""muuurderr" even when it's 4 un -implanted cells..


The V chip.
Great idea. BUT who will give parents WAGES to have TIME to work with their own kids to figure out issues of what to watch? Who's gonna give parents time off when kids are home?


Re-thug solution: Stop abortion make the woman a domestic slave forced to stay home with kids and take care of the male"breadwinner".

There will be TV monitoring than.


Other solution:

Morning after, abortion whatever...sex is everywhere ,it's natural,it feels good it makes TONS of money..hey one day when Human beings are not so hung up on sex rape will be normal..One day it will be cute to molest kids..After all the market rules and morality is an invention of the church to control people..
Survival of the fittest is real life morality if you can't keep up with reality you might as well suffer.

Another Solution

Educate people,respect the hardships people have regarding societies conflicts of interest..Respect differences and how they may affect others,that it may be different than how it affects YOU. Civility is not about domination it's about creating a cultural environment that WE ALL can live with.

If violence and sex is all that is desensitizing people,in our culture I'd say you are not being thorough. I say, look at it but also look at all the OTHER factors in our culture that are desensitizing people like long work hours,domestic abuse,drugs booze addiction,rape,stress,emotional issues that are unadressed,a sick relationship to power and powerlessness ,mental illness,the fact we have to PAY some business for food that grows out of the Earth ,Or for a place to exist IN because we EXIST,The profit driven amorality,VS amorality in institutions that are hypocritically claiming to be bastions of morality,Look at different kinds off relationships nd how certain things increase conflicts of interest,how beliefs hurt,nutrition and environmental toxins,etc.


Profit (As much as cheaply as possible(business)VS a bit of freedom to live your life (as a worker) Are conflicting interests.

Business wants to make money cheap as possible,it sees workers as products. Products don't need time off.
Workers on the other hand are not products for business to consume
The business has to be made to give a little and it has to be dominated by interests that are not about profit alone,about issues of sharing a good quality of life...to do that,we'd have to change the ways we relate to each other and society.We'd have to respect each other AND ourselves at the same time.

Changing a culture it need not involve censorship from government if business was forced to NOT treat workers as consumables so that PEOPLE could actually be free of being manipulated long enough to figure out what THEY want.Business is already a nanny state,a sociopath nanny..A consumer oriented mindset that is miserable but very profitable creates this selfish "entitlement" attitude. If your future is to be led in a culture where everyone is entitled to consume whatever they can get and compete for every scrap tossed down from above or die than being a rude sexually violent asshole pays off..and nobody gets respected or are able to be vulnerable enough to feel any empathy or get any rest from the feeling of struggle of surviving ever.There will not be time to live if all we do is compete and survive while others dominate.This creates resentment and resentment that is ignored and provoked that smolders for years creates violence.

The TV Sexuality and violence is a mirror to the symptoms of what is sick in our society and in our culture and in our hearts.We will not remove the source of why sex and violence sells so well until we confront WHY it sells so well in our own lives,what void is this filling..what has been taken away?
Love,stability(financial? Fairness.a sense of community relationship and that our our neighbors were not strangers to us and hostile our own well being.. The idea of free time,to sit,to be idle,to PLAY to just do nothing and not feel guilty and unproductive for it.A time to just relate to other people without an AGENDA to do,Without DUTY,obligation or the feeling of hurriedness,A time out social without needing booze and loud music filling in for conversations?
Our culture is relationally unrewarding,emotionally overwhelmed and intellectually barren and the TV and our social institutions reflect that misery of the heart's lack that slavery and dreams unattainable creates in an unequal unbalanced unfair inhuman society...created by people..

[DavidMS]

74. Media has nothing to do with it...

http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/03/01/whatever/

The whatever culture
A new book says uncaring, punitive adults -- parents and professionals alike -- are responsible for an epidemic of checked-out, drug-taking middle-class teens.

<SNIP>

Currie's conclusions are based on in-depth interviews with over four dozen white, middle-class young people who are, as he puts it, "suffering through a desperate period of their adolescence, or looking back at that period from the vantage point of a few months or a few years later." Many came from a separate study of teens in treatment for substance abuse that Currie conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and others were students or former students of his. Currie feels that too much of our knowledge of adolescents come from adults, so in this book, he includes long, unedited passages in the teens' own words.

<SNIP>



The reason the media isn't in there is because the kids didn't talk about it. When I asked them about their problems, the media didn't factor into their response, and so I didn't push it.

<End of Exerpts>

Or in other words... by the words of troubled teens, media has nothing to do with it... bad parenting, bad school enviroments, and uncaring communities are to blame. Its a great interview and discussion of the book.

[iconoclastNYC]

79. Go Hillary!

I won't vote for her, but this is a smart move.

Nothing happens when she criticizes the direction TV is headed. All media is headed to Internet distribution, it will soon be all a moot point, people who dont like FOX won't get FOX, people who dont' like Fear Factor won't get Fear Factor.

She's talking the talk to fool the red voters in the swing states to like her. All she has to do is get them not to hate her long enuf to listen to what she has to say about what's wrong with the Republican agenda. Once they are listening, the left has won.

This is a winning strategy.

I'm going to vote for a true liberal in the primary. Not DLC Hillary.

But this is good news for the Democratic party! Try not to be so negative.

[burn the bush]

80. She's campaigning. I think that govt people should not be allowed to

campaign. They spend the whole damned time in office trying to make sure they get to stay. They need to make sure they stay by doing what the hell their constituants put them in office to do, rather than pander to the middle or right solely for votes.
The country is in crises. Pick your God damned fights. This is not important now. I swear her and Bill have worked a deal with the devils to get her in next.

[shugah]

81. in all fairness to hillary...

she is a parent who has a child that was exposed to some serious salacious media sex content. sometimes i wonder what chelsea thinks about her parents. what the media reports, and what i glean from what i read, chelsea is doing okay, and seems like a decent soul.

so, what i have to say to hillary: the proof is in the pudding. did hillary "v-chip" all the bj and cigar stories for chelsea? did she think she could shelter, for all time, the fact that bill was a cheat? what lesson did hillary teach chelsea by staying in the marriage? i would guess that hillary talked to her daughter about all of these things - something a v-chip or censorship cannot do.

regarding her quote about "dis"sing people - in this day the media teaches that it is "okay to dis people because they're democrats or their sexual preference is different, or they're a different religion."

i don't know... the more hillary speaks in her own voice, the more i think she and bill made an agreement - him first, and then her turn. bill was always "my prez!" in my entire up and down life, the best years were when he was president. but, i turned on the tv to a news channel the other day (something i rarely do) and i saw bill with bush I and bush II chatting up with them, and it really kinda turned my tummy... so, hillary supported bill, and now it's his turn... and just like he is, he doesn't do it halfway. christ! he slept on the floor so bush I could have the downe and silk!

i am not now convinced that hillary has ever given up her early republican leanings. i have no faith in her sincerity, and it's probably the fulfilling of his obligations to hillary that is causing bill all the heart problems. yeah, he isn't a saint, but at least he had a heart.

[American Tragedy]

86. There is nothing I hate more than this mushy nanny state pandering.

No Hillary, we do not need "more government scrutiny". We do not need more bureaucracy, more censorship of media and film, and more public funds wasted on government intrusion in our lives. Sorry, not interested. Let people raise their own children.

I strongly hope that this is not the general direction of the Democratic party.

[Gloria]

87. I feel like I'm in the middle of a "Hillary epidemic" for God's sake...

this is excruciating...

[Enraged_Ape]

98. No kidding. You'd think the 24/7 full-court media press for Hillary...

would make some here suspicious. All Hillary, all the time. And with the next selection more than 3 years away.

The mainstream media are NOT our friends, people. What will it take for you all to learn this?

[Carolab]

89. What an obvious play at the "moral values" vote, Hill. n/t

[NNguyenMD]

90. oh dear, she's been liebermanized

I have a suggestion for parents, if you dont' want your kids watching violence on television, don't let them watch TV, or better yet get rid of the TV and videogames!!

Its your house after all

[zann725]

91. She IS "sounding more like a Prez candidate" that I will NOT vote for.

That, and her husband playing golf with Poppy Bush.

Thanks, but no thanks.

[TeddyKGB]

92. Taking a page from her hubby's playbook

Can you say Sistah Souljah?

Sad, how Americans are so dumb that they have to be pandered to.

[TankLV]

93. I often feel the same way and think the same thing. It's a race to the

bottom.

There is too much sex and violence on TV.

It's the fault of the media idiots who are in positiions of control who decide what to put on TV, etc. that are to blame. They are the ones who have people pitch ideas to them all the time, and they are the ones who choose penises and vaginas and blood and gore and such over something else more uplifting and positive. "Screw the idea of behaving like Ladies and Gentlemen in public - lets all see what we can get away with!"

Just because we have the freedom to do something, doesn't mean we should do all the idiotic things some can think up.

I have enjoyed watching porn - but in the privacy of my own bedroom! - I cringe when I see it in mixed company and plastered all over the place - there's a proper time and place for everything.

Just as I am not ashamed of my body, I would be mortified to find myself standing naked in the middle of a shopping mall. There is a proper time and place for everything, and we as a society have seemed to lost sight of this fact.

Just because you can do or say or show something, doesn't mean you should ALWAYS do it!

I bemoan the lyrics of music and what is offered up to watch.

I wish people all acted like Ladies and Gentlemen.

But until people stop watching it, it will give them what they want.

Besides, I think it all fits nicely into the repukes plan to give the masses the distractions they want to keep them from seeing all the criminal activity they are doing.

Just like the Roman Colosiums.

End of rant.

[Kitsune]

95. Hooray, more reason not to vote for her.

Not that I would anyway...

I am so sick of people beating this dead horse.

[Skittles]

97. this from someone who voted for IWR?

yeah sure, Hillary, whatever.

[BR_Parkway]

99. Well then, make it illegal for parents to buy video games, internet

connections and cable tv - The gov't doesn't need to do the parents job. And make it illegal for parents to take their kids to church - there are plenty that are desensitizing kids into thinking it's ok to hate gays.

When you pander to the voter, they don't vote for you - it's a matter of respect and you are quickly losing what people felt about you. We want someone to represent us and our values, not someone who tells whatever group whatever they want to hear.

[truthisfreedom]

100. she's right.

if she runs, i'll vote for her.

[livinginphotographs]

109. Hillary is really getting old.

Bill did a lot things I didn't like, but I at least respect the man.

Hillary just looks like she's sucking up. It's pathetic.

[leesa]

110. I am REALLY disliking old Hillary these days.

She LOVES war and its violence but doesn't want it on teevee.

[Spinoza]

137. Hillary knows

that many progressives HATE what she appears to be standing for since the election. However, she is gambling that, once she is the candidate, the desire to beat the Repugs will be so great everyone on the left, liberal and progressive, will support her. Just like Kerry.

She is probably right. As upset as many people at DU are, who will you campaign for? Who will you vote for? Clinton or Guilliani?

[Heidi]

124. Yeah, well what about the epidemic of . . .

dishonesty and gutlessness in the news media? I've always liked Hillary but geez . . . censorship is best left to families and individuals.

(Edited for grammar.)

[Snivi Yllom]

126. this makes me laugh

This is so politically transparent and whorish it make me physically ill.

[fujiyama]

129. Is this a joke?

Is she making a parody of herself?

There's a war going on halfway around the world, which she allowed the authorization of and to this day believes was justified.

There's legislation here that pretty much keeps people in perpetual debt, caused partly by health care costs skyrocketing.

And she's talking about the equivilant of "pimps and hoes" on TV.


And polls show her to be the front runner for '08?

Please tell me these polls make as much sense as those that had Joe as the frontrunner two years before the primaries....

[pelagius]

133. Our family's response to the "epidemic"...

...is to turn off the TV. In fact, we liked the TV off so much we've had it off, unplugged, and on a shelf in the garage for 2-1/2 years.

So, Hilary, don't bother passing restrictive legislation on behalf of my kids. (After all, we do all this stuff "for the children", don't we?). My wife and I are taking care of our kids just fine, thank you.

[MAlibdem]

134. Uh...

danger, madame clinton, you husband was blamed for things no less sinister

[Spinoza]

136. Get ready.

Dean won't like it, buy Hillary WILL be the dem candidate in 08.

[The Witch]

138. Hillary said the word "dis"?

She must be trying to out-"cool" Laura Bush, who is now the gang violence poster child somehow.

(first post! please be gentle!)

The Witch

[jefferson_dem]

140. Greetings and Welcome "The Witch"

Great post to start things off...!

:hi:

[The Witch]

141. Thanks for the welcome!

Yay, thanks for the welcome!

My little rant'n'rave section of the blogosphere: lastmidnight.blogspot.com :)

Visit or I turn you into a toad.
(just kidding.)
(sort of.)

[delilah]

139. Its not about the media

The problem isnt what is on TV or in games, its what kids are exposed to OUTSIDE of the home. There are alot of people putting blame on parents in this thread, while ignoring the fact that the majority of a child's waking hours, from age six to age eightteen, are spent OUTSIDE their homes, in schools.

Why arent we willing to spend more money to improve our schools? So many studies have shown that children given a wide range of after-school programs, be they athletic, academic, artistic or vocational training, are less likely to become involved in anti-social activities. Yet music, advanced academic, vocational and non-profitable athletic programs are being axed left and right. If you can't play football, yer screwed.

Why arent we willing to spend more money in our own communities, to provide safer parks, more social outlets, where children can go to socialize without drug-dealers and other criminals hanging around? My local park was the scene of a murder not 12 months ago. Thats safe?

We treat kids like a bill we have to pay, instead of like people. We treat them like idiots instead of talking to them like peers. We offer no alternatives, no understanding, and punish anyone who does not let us tell them who they are. And you wonder why we have a problem?

[napi21]

142. Why are you picking on Hillary? What she said is right.

She said "more government & parental scrutiny. I don't see a problem with that. I don't have parental control enabled on my TV;s because my hisband & I are over 60 and we can decide for ourselves what to watch. I will say that when my grandchildren (agos 8 &6) visit, I'm very vigilant about what they are watching. I have to admit, it pisses me off when I hear the hip-hop tunes talking about the bitches & the hos. I don't understand why all the women don't tell the men that love these songs to FO!

Ssure Hillary is stating this stuff because she's planning to run in 08, and I see nothing wrong with that.

I'm a Hillary fan, but not for President, but that's not going to stop me from agreeing with her when she's right.

[Emboldened Chimp]

144. As if Holy Joe wasn't bad enough, now we have Hillary the Pious

[Zerex71]

145. Playing along to win hearts and minds for '08.

Which, quite frankly, politics being the dirty business that it is, I can *understand* if not *stomach*. I almost have more respect for Chuck Schumer these days than I do Hillary.

[davidinalameda]

146. can she say this with a straight face

if it was anyone else, I would hear them out but since her husband ran one of the sleaziest administrations in recent history, she has no room to talk about sex in the media

how much did we hear about Bill, Monica and the cigar?


and speaking of violence, how about her votes that helped kill thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of Americans?

does she really believe what she's saying? she's slicker than her husband could ever hope to be

[d_b]

147. Wake me in '16