NationStates Jolt Archive

Usually the Republican party in the United States likes to think it has the market cornered on "family values" Well, this Canadian believes they have forgotten what freedom is really all about. We hear them talking the talk, how often do they ever walk the walk?

Lets take for example this past "Veterans' Day " and ABC pulling the movie "Saving Private Ryan" from 1/3 of it's market because of fear of what the FCC might say or worse, do!

I mean lets face it, war is a reality, but no one likes to see it. Think of the children!!! Yes, the children, all those children you shelter from knowing what war is really all about. Thus, they mindlessly sign up for the army, or pick your division.

Freedom, a word often used, seldom understood!

From a Canadian perspective....

FAMILY VALUES (http://members.rogers.com/zeppo_marx2/images/mov/ricks_rant.wmv)

*Shakes Head* :headbang:

Ahh, Steph - thanks for providing that link. I watched Mercer's show tonight and thought, wow, if only I could figure out how to link to his rant clip...I'd wanted to link to the bit with Pierre Berton a few weeks back to illustrate a point on pot smoking.

Good stuff as always from Mr. Mercer, thanks again for sharing...!

Thanks for the link. It's sad when I have to get my news from foreign sources because the American media won't do it's job...sigh.

I wish we could get Walter Cronkite back on the evening news as anchor every day. *dreams wistfully of a media willing to do some investigative journalism*

Is this person the Jon Stewart of Canada or something? Unfortunately, we don't get Canadian TV in Missouri.

Sadly Dobbs , common sense is lost on many.... ;)

What an odd thought.... that Veterans Day should have been about... veterans.

I especially like the part where Rick alludes to the fact that people died to prevent just this sort of censorious bullcrap from ever coming about here.

Time warp, anyone?

I especially like the end, when he exposes the shole rant as one big bigoted anti-american turd. Fox News just got apporved for Canada. No censorship going on there now, right. :rolleyes:

I especially like the end, when he exposes the shole rant as one big bigoted anti-american turd. Fox News just got apporved for Canada. No censorship going on there now, right. :rolleyes:

LOL

He didn't 'expose the whole rant as one big bigoted anti-american turd', as you've so colourfully described it. What video were you watching?

Fox News did indeed just get approved for digital cable distribution in Canada. What of it? We've had many different news channels available here for any number of years, including:

CBC Newsworld
CTV NewsNet
RDI (Reseau D'Information)
BBC World
CNN
Headline News
CablePulse 24

We've got national/international coverage with a center-left slant (Newsworld), national/international coverage with a center-right slant (NewsNet), national/international french-language coverage (RDI), international coverage (BBC), Two outlets for American coverage (CNN & HN), and local (Toronto) coverage with CP24.

Hell, there's probably one or two news channels I've overlooked (ROB - Report on Business television comes to mind, as well as the plethora of multicultural news reports appearing nightly on Omni 1 and Omni 2, such as the South Asian News, The Italian News, and the Chinese News programs).

Does that REALLY sound to you like Canada is unduly censorious? We're even going to include FoxNews, known for taking partisan slags at our nation. How censorious is that, Areyoukiddingme?

Just because FoxNews wasn't immediately picked up by Canadian cable distributors from the get-go doesn't mean any damn thing. We have a body here known as the CRTC, whose mandate includes finding a balance between foreign content and Canadian content. You might not understand the reasons for this, it has to do with retaining our national perspective in spite of the fact that we are constantly bombarded with foreign broadcasts from a very large superpower immediately to the south of us.

That means that there is a process involved where foreign broadcasters are concerned. Process equals time spent waiting. You may not personally like it, you may choose to ascribe some sort of censorious, leftish conspiracy to prevent the American Right unfettered access to the Canadian collective consciouness, but, like most things, it's just a case of waiting for the paperwork to be done.

Personally, I don't think FoxNews is necessary - two American media outlets should be more than sufficient for Canadian TV, as CNN and HN are both so hopelessly right-wing anyway. I can't watch either of them for more than a few minutes at a time BTW...they always mix news items together, so that they'll talk for thirty seconds about Iraq, then cut to some fluff about toy sales, or who's the celebrity with the hottest manicure, or some equally vapid topic. Do I really want more of the same, or worse? Do I really need the unofficial mouth organ of the GOP berating me in my own country, and obfuscating the truth through intentional misinformation?

I think not.

However, the CRTC is allowing it in. No censorship there, pal. Not like the travesty we witnessed on November 11th. Not at all alike.

i have to wonder if the ‘family values’ campaign to keep saving private ryan off abc affiliates had less to do with concern for the violence/profanity/whatevah and more to do with the idea that if young people get to see what war is really like, it’s increasingly difficult to recruit them. it seems like we’re kind of in need of fresh 18 year olds for that mess in iraq…

i dunno, maybe that sounds too ‘conspiracy theory’ ish?

i dunno, maybe that sounds too ‘conspiracy theory’ ish?

To be honest, I hadn't thought of it from that angle...nice fit, though. Thanks, Korarchaeota.

i tried to find a listing of the 66 markets where the abc affiliates didn't show it, but i couldn't find a complete list. it'd be interesting to see...

(my condolences that you now have fox news. i suggest watching it only when you're in the mood to shout obscenities at someone.)

I don’t want to rain on your "Republicans have their knickers in a knot rant," but a Democrat currently heads the FCC.

(my condolences that you now have fox news. i suggest watching it only when you're in the mood to shout obscenities at someone.)

LOL

Thanks, Kor. Luckily, it's slated to appear on digital cable, not standard. That means you'd not only have to pay for a digital descrambler, you'd have to pay a nominal monthly fee to unblock the signal. Really, it's totally market-driven (something that should please the elves around here), so in all honesty, I'd expect it to dry up and blow away...well, except maybe in Alberta, where they have a fetish for the sort of neocon drivel FoxNews is infamous for.

Alberta. The sort of place that's so funny the uptight stiffs living there never seem to crack a smile.

I don’t want to rain on your "Republicans have their knickers in a knot rant," but a Democrat currently heads the FCC.

That doesn't mean too much, though. So a democrat caved in to external pressure instead of a republican. What's your point? This isn't about democrats and republicans, it's about censorship and November 11th.

"when it comes to freedom and family values, the wheels are off the bus in america. and let's face it, it was a pretty short bus to begin with."

is it the short bus comment that someone was saying was an anti-american rant?

did it ever occur to any of you that rick mercer is a comedian?

"when it comes to freedom and family values, the wheels are off the bus in america. and let's face it, it was a pretty short bus to begin with."

is it the short bus comment that someone was saying was an anti-american rant?

did it ever occur to any of you that rick mercer is a comedian?

Evidently 50% of Americans share the same (lack of a) sense of humour as many Albertans...LOL

I don’t want to rain on your "Republicans have their knickers in a knot rant," but a Democrat currently heads the FCC.

for those who might not know michael powell is chairman of the fcc. colin powell's son.

michael copps, who is a democrat, is a commissioner, and serves under him.

for those who might not know michael powell is chairman of the fcc. colin powell's son.

michael copps, who is a democrat, is a commissioner, and serves under him.

I still don't think this is about political parties, per se. Thanks for the heads-up.

www.rense.com for real news