But first an apology for blogging mid-week and not before. Certain sports broadcasts have commanded my time and attention over the last few days, namely those involving my alma mater. It went down in the history books last night and we’re waiting for what I hope will be a combined victory parade. Know what I mean?
Another celebration: Times Square reaches its 100th birthday. Natch, everybody’s celebrating — The Times, Newsweek (I think I linked to this a couple of weeks ago but look for the photo gallery), NY Daily News, and even my local newspaper. Even though author James Traub and his book are getting a lot of mileage with the anniversary, things look pretty pedestrian as I write this, though. Guess the party hasn’t started yet. But what I wanna know is: Will the naked cowboy leap from a giant anniversary cake?
Speaking of pedestrian, Ashcroft’s Justice Department is escalating its fight against pornography. It shouldn’t surprise any of us, given Ashcroft’s moralist nature and the concerted pressure various anti-porn group have placed on the department. It represents a regrouping of the troops who in the 1980s gang-banged a number of pornographers and sellers of erotic materials, most notably Adam and Eve. I suggest you get a copy of The Government vs. Erotica: The Siege of Adam & Eve, read it to see how those strategies worked, and get indignant. Because — as the Baltimore Sun’s article claims — “Nothing is off limits, they warn, even soft-core cable programs such as HBO’s long-running Real Sex or the adult movies widely offered in guestrooms of major hotel chains.” It’s your porn. Protect it.
Think about it: If Paul Reubens can get nailed for “possession of obscenity,” then we’re all at risk. Why? Because the mere attempt to broaden the definition of obscenity will mean any and every porn consumer can be bankrupted simply by being charged with a crime. Sure, the porn industry itself has the big bucks to fight Ashcroft — and bully for them! — but if Ashcroft has any success, then local police departments could on an Ashcroft yoke and come after local citizens. Think it can’t happen? It already did. Better bone up on Comstock law and vice societies. Frankly, I think Ashcroft would be delighted to return to those days, as would the rest of the extreme right.
Hey, when we start trotting out George Carlin to talk about freedom of speech issues, you know the culture war’s seeing renewal.
In one last karmic effort to piss off the extreme right today, let me point you to Tokyo Godfathers, a Japanese anime feature that remakes John Ford’s Three Godfathers, but in a love-makes-a-family way. Its protagonists are all homeless — an alcoholic, a runaway, and a transsexual — yet they stick to their goal of finding the mother of an abandoned baby they find on Christmas Eve. I saw it over the weekend and left the theater smiling and with tears in my eyes, a mark of a wonderful movie if ever there was one. Best of all, I’ll get to see it again soon — it’s coming out on DVD in another week.
