June 30, 2011 - Issue 433 |
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The Court Has Lost
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The
Supreme Court has lost your mind…once again. For all of those “family
values” conservatives, you’ve been shucked! On
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a The people
of The law, adopted in 2005, has never taken effect because of the legal challenge. It defines a violent video game as one that depicts "killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." Retailers who sell or rent a violent video game to a minor could be fined as much as $1,000. The law
was challenged by video game publishers, distributors and sellers. This
is all about the money; you owe it all to capitalism. You see, the nation's
video game industry makes about $10.5 billion in annual sales. More than
two-thirds of Remember Columbine? Eric Harris and Dillion Kleibold made a video for a school project that showed them pretending to shoot fake guns and "snuffing" students in the hallway of their school as Hitmen for Hire. The video is also known for its swearing scenes, in which they yelled at the camera lens and said violent things - much like these video games. I do understand that Harris and Kleibold made those videos. They both displayed themes of violence in their creative writing projects for school; Harris' teacher said of a Doom-based tale, written on January 17, 1999 by Harris, "Yours is a unique approach and your writing works in a gruesome way - good details and mood setting." Why is that relevant? Because the High Court said video games are art, and they deserve the exact same First Amendment protections as books, comics, plays and all the rest. Some art doesn’t need to be protected. Six other
states have adopted similar laws, and all were struck down in court…so
much for States’ Rights. I wish southerners would quit it! The Supreme
Court rejected It is
a baseless rationale driven by video game publishers, distributors and
sellers, including the Entertainment Software Association. Its members
include Disney Interactive Studios, Microsoft Corp., Electronic Arts and
Sony Computer Entertainment…big boys on the block. These neo-con judges have not only lost your mind, they’ve lost theirs. In another court, a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice is accusing another one, Justice David Prosser, a conservative, of trying to choke her during an argument two weeks ago. Ann Walsh Bradley, a liberal, is doing her job and this conservative is angry as hell about what he wants…to destroy other people’s lives! Prosser is well-known for surviving a re-election campaign earlier this year that became a proxy war over the state’s collective bargaining legislation. He denied the accusations, or course and the local sheriff is investigating the incident. But I digress…as a practical matter, one honestly has to ask themselves, “What redeeming value is there in allowing my child to partake in mindless violence,” even if it’s a video game? I don’t see any, but what I do see is a whittling away at “liberties” (a euphemism for social justice and quality of life) won through decades-, some centuries-long, battles. This Court is “losing it.” I’d like to think the Court reflects the evolution of a civilized society - you and me. What conceivable good can come of this decision. If you can come up with a sensible answer, then you ought to be doing magic. More than anything, if you can come up with a sensible answer, then you may have lost your mind. BlackCommentator.com
Columnist, Perry
Redd, is the former Executive Director of
the workers rights advocacy, Sincere Seven, and author of the on-line
commentary, “The
Other Side of the Tracks.” He is the host of the internet-based talk
radio show, Socially
Speaking in
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