This is the very first thing that came up in NetNewsWire this morning. How interesting that it involves the evertard Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and a topic I have argued with my stepmother about on previous occasions.

“Washington — Fed up with raunchy, profane and obscene programs, some members of Congress are pressuring cable and satellite television operators to offer more family-friendly shows.

Because any government attempt to regulate the content of cable and satellite television would raise First Amendment issues, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wants cable and satellite companies to clean up their programs voluntarily.

“I am hoping for a voluntary solution,” Stevens said in an interview, adding that it would be “very difficult” to pass legislation governing the content of cable and satellite television because of constitutional considerations.”

Correct, Senator Stevens. So stop acting like a thug.

“Stevens is convening a forum in Washington on Tuesday to bring together family groups that are demanding the right to buy family-friendly packages of channels suitable for children.

His goal, Stevens said, is to copy the success of Jack Valenti, former president of the Motion Picture Association of America, who held more than 100 hours of meetings with community leaders, religious groups and government officials that led to the voluntary movie rating system adopted in 1968.

Cable TV operators have another idea.

Brian Dietz, vice president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said the industry already is running a $250 million public service ad campaign to educate Americans about parental control tools, such as the V-Chip, a technology built into television sets sold after 2000, which allows viewers to block out certain channels with a remote control or menu keys on television.

“It’s easy to use,” Dietz said. “Television and satellite offers the means to block unwanted channels.”"

Exactly. If you, as a consenting adult, want to have channels that show adult content, and you have children in your house, then you can VERY EASILY turn off access to those channels, though this is no substitute for taking responsibility for the upbringing of your brood.

“The government has no constitutional right to regulate cable, Dietz said, because it is invited into the home by the consumer, not sent over the public airwaves.

“It’s a private service not subject to federal regulation,” he said.

Dan Isett, director of corporate and government affairs for the Parents Television Council, which seeks to shield children from indecency on television, said the solution is for cable operators to sell individual channels rather than bundling packages of channels that mix children’s entertainment with adult programs.

Isett’s group insisted that cable subscribers should be able to buy programs a la carte, rather than being forced to buy a package of channels that includes programs they find offensive.”

The Parents TV Council is generally annoying and thuggish. They spend too much time telling people what to do. I do, however, agree wholeheartedly that everyone should be able to purchase individual channels. I have no interest in sports. None, whatsoever. I do however watch a lot of shows on premium channels, and the channel bundling always means I end up with a lineup of sports channels that a football loving fratboy would sell his soul for.

“Some senators who are parents said they are concerned about the problem but indicated that solutions are elusive.”

No. It’s not elusive. Any monkey can use the parental controls on a television. And any responsible parent should be closely monitoring the media their child consumes.

“Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the father of two young daughters, said he is worried about research by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing that the number of sexual scenes on television — cable, broadcast and satellite — has doubled in the last seven years.

“I’m not a Puritan,” Obama said. “My concern is not the volume, but the context. There seems to be no sense of meaning or importance to casual intimacy.”

Obama said he thinks the best solution “is to turn off the TV set and make sure you are with your children when they watch TV. The more we can empower parents, the better off we are.”"

I look forward to this man running for president. He is concerned about his family. Instead of asking the government to be responsible for the children he chose to bring into the world, he is happy to take responsibility for their upbringing.

“Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said that she pays more than $100 a month for an expanded cable package and still can’t find “any set of programs available that my children can watch.”

She said she would like to see a children’s network or see cable offer “a basket of options so there is appropriate programming.”"

Gibbering, drooling, nonsense again from this woman. I don’t understand why these viciously pious and nosy people choose a career in legislation instead of health care, child care, or even a church. These positions require that you have opinions about people who are incapable of protecting themselves - namely children, or the infirm. When you meeting the expectations of your job, suddenly you aren’t working against the stream. People are grateful that you are doing your job, rather than deriding you for trying to deal with things that are simply none of your concern.

“Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., sponsor of a House measure to stiffen penalties on traditional broadcasters, said he fears any attempt to regulate cable and satellite television might derail his drive to stop smut on the public airwaves. That could happen, he said, if Congress moves legislation that would treat cable and satellite services the same way over-the-air broadcasters are treated.”

ok bored with this topic.

So, the shitlist for today:

• Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska
• Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas (**)
• Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.

** = second shitlisting