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Originally Posted by Paul Markham
Just a moment while I go get my tin foil hat.
Why are Americans so scared of everything that goes bump?
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I'm not scared... I'm APPALLED, and the "noisemaking" about pornography is just one of many threats to my constitutional rights, particularly those guaranteed under the First Amendment, that I find untenable.
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They have no intention or chance of getting rid of porn, they know that and so do most the people campaigning against porn. Because the number of votes they gain would soon be countered by the number of votes they lose.
Do you think the millions of Americans surfing the Net and buying porn are going to vote Republican after they closed their porn shops and sites?
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It would seem you underestimate the unabashed hypocrisy of these people, and their ability organize. That same guy who's paying $24.95/month for access to a porn site is likely to be contributing much more than that on an annual basis to a right-wing politician or organization pandering to the religious folks. People fall all over themselves to show their piety in public ways while privately breaking all sorts of commandments that they claim should be the basis of civil law.
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Yes they will make a lot of noise which will scare some, yes they will take out some who are on the edge of porn.
But in 6 years how much have they actually achieved in shutting down porn?
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The problem is that the "edge" can be redefined over and over again in obscenity prosecutions. Today it's Extreme Associates' content; tomorrow it might be interracial, gay/lesbian, BDSM or twinks. Where does it end? Regardless of the nature of the content, there are plenty of people more than willing to hound the government into passing more laws "for the good of the children!"
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Originally Posted by Grump
This is another attempt to do what they can't do with new laws. As you (Paul) pointed out above, no law banning porn would pass yet they can make it almost impossible to stay in business and be legal.
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Exactly. It's an end-run around the First Amendment, and we should fight it at every turn.