Slander-in-Chief To The Rescue

Here's a nice editorial from Time.com on how our illustrious leaders George and Dick (GAD) might have unintentionally played a part in the recent Appeals court ruling against the FCC. In that case, the Courth of Appeals ruled in favor of broadcasters, saying that the FCC's enforcement policy on fleeting occurrences of expletives was arbitrary and capricious. But then comes the good part:

"In recent times, even the top leaders of our government have used variants of these expletives in a manner that no reasonable person would believe referenced 'sexual or excretory organs or activities'"--the definition of indecency that the FCC and the courts have used. The decision cited Bush's remark to British Prime Minister Tony Blair last summer, in front of a live mike, that Syria needed to "get Hizballah to stop doing this shit," as well as Cheney's hearty invitation to Senator Patrick Leahy, "Go fuck yourself." (The court could have cited Bush's remark, later reported by TIME, from March 2002 when war in Iraq was allegedly still a last resort: "Fuck Saddam. We're taking him out.")

The fact that Bush sometimes curses may seem irrelevant, but the "community standard" is one of the most important factors in legally determining indecency. What's good for Dubya, the court ruled, is good for the debutante. And while the ruling immediately applied to "fleeting" profanities, it could have broad implications for the FCC's ability to limit naughty talk on broadcast TV and radio in general.

Thank GAD for something.