Rational Outrage

More than four years ago, I wrote the article below about the Justin Timberlake / Janet Jackson Superbowl fiasco. Sadly, I didn't know the half of it back then.  54 months after millions of  people  got a fleeting glimpse of Janet Jackson's breast (and then viewed it over and over and over again on their VCRs to beef up their righteous indignation), a three judge federal appellate court panel has thrown out the fines the FCC levied against 20 CBS-owned television stations—in a 102-page opinion.

 

Priorities of a Nation (February, 2004)

     In a world where more than 8 million Americans are unemployed, 21 U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq committed suicide in one year, and state programs for gifted and talented education are being decimated, it's good to know that we as a country can unite in protest when something really important happens.  I speak, of course, not of the recent grounding of several international flights due to terrorist threats, nor of the revelation that there was, in fact, no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but of something really significant:  the baring of Janet Jackson's breast on national television.

     Both CBS, which broadcast the Superbowl halftime show where Justin Timberlake exposed Jackson's breast, and the NFL were deluged with calls protesting the display.  It isn't only the American people whose priorities are misplaced, though. To the contrary, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell announced an immediate investigation, and he wasn't alone in his outrage.  In a show of moral solidarity, Commissioners Abernathy, Copps, Martin and Adelstein were all quick to issue statements condemning the display and supporting Powell's announced investigation.  That's the whole Commission.  A single brief release marked the discovery of more than 4,000 violations of the new wireless portability regulations a week earlier, and another the commencement of Caller ID provisions for telemarketers.

     Janet Jackson's breast isn't the only issue that the Commission has unanimously spoken out about, though.  Recently, within a few days of the wireless portability violation and caller ID announcements, two other incidents brought statements from all of the Commissioners.  Both involved violations of indecency provisions.

     From the average guy watching television with his family in the Midwest to high-ranking government officials, the nation is appalled-and we should be.  The appalling thing, though, isn't a fleeting glimpse of a pop singer's breast.  Rather, it's the idea that, with more than two thousand American soldiers who have recently returned from overseas waiting for medical care, with approximately 44 million adult Americans lacking the basic literacy skills required to find and keep suitable employment, we as a nation swarm together with an outraged battle cry when some tacky entertainers…well...act tacky.

     On the day after the Superbowl, a white powder was discovered in a Senate office building.  Early tests indicated that the powder was ricin, a deadly poison.  Employees on the floor where the substance was found had to be decontaminated before they were allowed to return home, but the story was largely eclipsed in the press by news that Jackson had admitted that the incident was planned, though claiming that she hadn't intended to expose quite so much.

     This isn't to say that ripping off critical pieces of a woman's clothing unexpectedly during what is generally considered to be family programming is appropriate.  Far from it.  However, it is difficult to understand the degree of passion surrounding this particular protest.  Immediately, internet and email solicitations were flying through cyberspace, urging citizens to make their views on this important issue known to CBS, to the NFL, even to the FCC (in case they weren't already taking it seriously enough).  

     Thankfully, the President of the United States had little to say on the issue, but even his tongue-in-cheek comment that he'd fallen asleep before halftime and missed the whole thing raises a burning question:  Why is the President of the United States being asked to comment on the exposure of a woman's breast during halftime at a football game? 

     On the day that we, as a country, rally so forcefully around issues like providing medical care to the troops who have served us overseas, making sure that our adult population can read and write well enough to be self-supporting, and protecting the American consumer, we will truly have accomplished something.  On the day that cuts in education funding raise the kind of public outcry-and generate the kind of news coverage-that the baring of a musician's breast does, we will be well on our way to achieving the true potential of this great nation. 

     Until that day, we are doomed to pinning medals on the chests of men for whom we cannot provide medical care and sheltering the eyes of children we cannot properly educate, like a shipbuilder painting lovely designs on the outside of a boat without noticing the water seeping in below.

While we haven’t heard much about this case over the past four years, here’s what’s been quietly going on behind the scenes:

 - The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a letter of inquiry to CBS

- CBS provided the requested information

- The Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability and determined that CBS was apparently liable for a forfeiture penalty of $550,000

- CBS submitted its Opposition to the Notice of Apparent Liability

- The Enforcement Bureau issued a forfeiture order over CBS’s Opposition

- CBS petitioned for Reconsideration

- The FCC rejected CBS’s challenges and reaffirmed the forfeiture penalty

- CBS filed a Petition for Review of the Reconsideration Order in the 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals

- The Court received briefs and heard oral arguments

- The Court issued a 102-page opinion striking down the forfeiture

 
The Court’s order lists 12 attorneys of record; 12 attorneys of record means a battalion of associates and paralegals and secretaries working under those attorneys, slaving away for more than four years to address the fact that America saw Janet Jackson’s breast on network television for 9/16 of a second.

 Foreclosure crisis, anyone?