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The F-Bomb is Now OK

TheBigA said:
So tonight the president is speaking at a rally in Florida and in the middle of his speech he lets the "bs" word fly. There were a lot of kids in the shot. And the crowd applauds. I saw this on TV. Is this where we're at now? Is this now OK by the FCC's standards? If so, a lot of TV stations should demand refunds from fines they were charged. Howard Stern should demand an apology. Twenty years ago, he couldn't say that word on the public airwaves. Now the president says it, and a crowd applauds. Shouldn't stations bleep the word? Shouldn't the FCC fine stations that air such language? Or is it now OK since it's being done by the president? I can't even post this word on this site because it violates the TOS, but the president can say it on TV. Splain this one to me.

I want to know about this from a legal & media perspective. How do you deal with a president who has no filter? This might happen during a debate. This might happen during the State of the Union. This might happen when you least expect it. Is it censorship? I want to know.
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How many network stations air these speeches live? Cable is free to swear like sailors if they want.
 
Don CT said:
Cable is free to swear like sailors if they want.
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Obscenity is not protected speech, so it is still prohibited on cable. Profanity is not prohibited on cable by the FCC. However, we're talking about news coverage, not dramatic presentation. Unless we're characterizing these speeches in a different way. Rap singers use profanity all the time, yet those words are edited by MTV and BET, and they're now edited from the VMAs and other live awards shows. I still hear the occasional "fleeting expletive" on live sports, and the announcers are usually startled by it.

Here are the FCC rules:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts

I doubt they ever anticipated the president to be cited for such things.
 
TheBigA said:
Obscenity is not protected speech, so it is still prohibited on cable. Profanity is not prohibited on cable by the FCC. However, we're talking about news coverage, not dramatic presentation. Unless we're characterizing these speeches in a different way. Rap singers use profanity all the time, yet those words are edited by MTV and BET, and they're now edited from the VMAs and other live awards shows. I still hear the occasional "fleeting expletive" on live sports, and the announcers are usually startled by it.

Here are the FCC rules:

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts

I doubt they ever anticipated the president to be cited for such things.
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If obscenity was not protected speech Trump would stop doing these stupid rallies. These are the most obscene things on TV.
 
From the link
What about cable, satellite TV and satellite radio?

Because obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment, it is prohibited on cable, satellite and broadcast TV and radio. However, the same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services.
 
A lot depends on the channel. IFC is a commercial channel on mid or upper range cable packages, but they advertise that they don't edit movies. Last month they showed the Steve Martin/John Candy movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, which could be a PG movie, except for the car rental scene, which is loaded with multiple F-bombs, and was rated R because of it, which I already knew. IFC showed it complete with the F-bombs. I've also heard the S-bomb on other channels at times. Even TCM shows movies that were rated R when they came out uncut. Granted nothing I've seen or heard runs the extreme of what is on pay channels, but the rules are definitely looser on cable.
 
Still what we're talking about here isn't a movie or an entertainment show. We're talking about a speech given by the president.
 
TheBigA said:
I still hear the occasional "fleeting expletive" on live sports, and the announcers are usually startled by it.
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It happens a lot on boxing telecasts between rounds, when a live mic is placed in the corners of both fighters so we can hear what the trainers are telling them. I always laugh when the announcers sound surprised -- especially the color commentators, who are usually retired boxers and/or trainers, and would certainly know what kind of language is commonly used to get across to a boxer who's losing just what, exactly, he needs to do to turn the fight around.
 
TheBigA said:
So tonight the president is speaking at a rally in Florida and in the middle of his speech he lets the "bs" word fly. There were a lot of kids in the shot. And the crowd applauds. I saw this on TV. Is this where we're at now? Is this now OK by the FCC's standards? If so, a lot of TV stations should demand refunds from fines they were charged. Howard Stern should demand an apology. Twenty years ago, he couldn't say that word on the public airwaves. Now the president says it, and a crowd applauds. Shouldn't stations bleep the word? Shouldn't the FCC fine stations that air such language? Or is it now OK since it's being done by the president? I can't even post this word on this site because it violates the TOS, but the president can say it on TV. Splain this one to me.

I want to know about this from a legal & media perspective. How do you deal with a president who has no filter? This might happen during a debate. This might happen during the State of the Union. This might happen when you least expect it. Is it censorship? I want to know.
Click to expand...

Trump himself should be fined for swearing during his speeches. He is obviously one of the most un presidential presidents in history and I believe history will regard him as such. Would not be suprised if it is his speechwriters and advisors that are telling him to speak like this to keep that kind of rhetoric going and keep him controversial because they think people like that for some reason.
 
Syfy said:
Trump himself should be fined for swearing during his speeches. He is obviously one of the most un presidential presidents in history and I believe history will regard him as such. Would not be suprised if it is his speechwriters and advisors that are telling him to speak like this to keep that kind of rhetoric going and keep him controversial because they think people like that for some reason.
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If a pro athlete cusses and badmouths his team or game you could bet that they would be fined well Trump is working for the United States so why couldn’t he be fined just the same?
 
I remember when Joe was VP when said big f deal when the healthcare bill was signed into law in the spring of 2010. Nothing new for politicans to swear not that big of a deal.
 
Megatron said:
I remember when Joe was VP when said big f deal when the healthcare bill was signed into law in the spring of 2010. Nothing new for politicans to swear not that big of a deal.
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Biden said it privately to Obama, not directly to an audience that was being broadcast live on the TV. Nixon & LBJ used raw language all the time, but privately, not while on TV.

My point isn't about the language. He can curse all day. Just not on TV or to an audience filled with under-18 kids.
 
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was doing a radio interview, and used the exact same word that the president used during his rally a couple weeks ago. I can't use the word here, but I can tell you it starts with "bull." The radio station apparently has some software that drops a caller if he uses profanity, and the call with Jones was dropped before the word was heard. Not the case for TV stations that carried the president's rally.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys-jerry-jones-testy-interview-cursing

If a football owner can't use this word on the radio, why is it OK for the president?
 
Great comic George Carlin must be happy in today's world of media ...VIPs are no different then us like they think they are . No need for cursing on the airwaves when kids could tune in .I have zero tolerance in cursing in front of kids and woman. My parents never use the curse words in front of my sisters and me.God forbid if one of us curse back at them.We will get a beating....They don't even do that today.
 
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