I, for one, would like to see Clear Channel get themselves a backbone. They certainly have enough money to buy one, perhaps they could do that and get it surgically implanted. They are walking on eggshells and cringing in fear of the FCC, and now the NAACP. Some shock jocks on a show called The Monster in St. Petersburg, Florida have now said some offensive things on the air and Clear Channel is running with its tail tucked between its legs again. Apparently their list of offenses includes the use of the words “spic," "nigra," "jigaboo" and "fag."

Sure, those words are offensive to those derided by them, that goes without saying. But political correctness has gotten way out of hand these days, and I don't recall seeing the right not to be offended in anything penned by the founding fathers. But despite that, after complaints from the NAACP, the hosts of the show are being pulled until July 19th so that they can attend sensitivity training. What's even worse, according to this story, is that “Part of the retraining might include an on-air talk upon their July 19 return with civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.” That should have read “civil rights extortioner” but that might just have been an editorial mistake.

This is a free market society, and I myself am a big fan of “change the channel if you don't like what you're hearing.” If enough people are angry with what these people are saying, they will quit listening to the show, or the station altogether, and call the advertisers and complain, which is what happened to Whoopi. Once enough listeners have tuned out and advertisers have dropped off, the problem will fix itself because the station will either be forced to realize that the offenders are costing them too much in revenue and will fire them or go out of business. It's as simple as that.

It's at the point now where Clear Channel seems to be in such fear that some poor radio host is liable to get fired for just burping on the air. What really scares me, and this one of many issues I have with the Bush administration, is that the FCC is now looking for a power grab. They want to have jurisdiction over what happens on cable, satellite television, and satellite radio. I certainly hope that does not happen. I can fully understand government regulation of what goes out over public airwaves, but people have to pay for cable and satellite, and part of the reason they pay for it is so that they can see things that you wouldn't be able to see on FCC-regulated stations. That could well mean the end of shows like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and South Park. I've been a huge fan of South Park since the beginning of that show, and although I'm not fully versed on any legal battles they may have had to wage, they've pretty much offended anyone out there who could be offended, and are still finding new ways to offend people. They haven't let someone like Jesse Jackson bully them into quitting or taming down the content of their show.

Perhaps Clear Channel could hire Matt and Trey as consultants.