Court to FCC: Your Policy is Sh*t So F**k Off

We all know that the holier than thou Federal Communications Commission has been a little stringent in their policies regarding profanity on the airwaves. They've even gone as far as raising the fine ten fold, to $325,000 per offense.

But here's the ruling laid down by the New York Appeals Court:

"We find the FCC's new policy sanctioning 'fleeting expletives' is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedures Act for failing to articulate a reasoned basis for its change in policy," the court wrote in a 2-1 opinion.

"We are doubtful that by merely proffering a reasoned analysis for its new approach to indecency and profanity, the commission can adequately respond to the constitutional and statutory challenges raised by the networks," Judge Rosemary Pooler wrote. "Nevertheless, because we can decide this case on this narrow ground, we vacate and remand so that the commission can set forth an analysis. While we fully expect the networks to raise the same arguments they have raised to this court if the commission does nothing more on remand than provide additional explanation for its departure from prior precedent, we can go not further than this opinion."

The kicker is this: If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words in similarly fleeting contexts.

So if Bush can tell Blair to "get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit" and Cheney can tell Sen. Patrick Leahy to "Go fuck yourself", then why should a government agency be able fine a broadcasting company for an expletive that isn't previously planned? They can't.

Score one for the First Amendment.