The FBI Nannies Are Watching Your Porn Instead of Terrorists

For oh-so-many reasons, one of my all-time favorite flicks is "The People vs. Larry Flynt". Maybe it's Woody Harrelson's and especially what's-her-name's nearly flawless depiction of people who genuinely love sex and drugs dragging the not-yet-primetime buffoonery of Christian hand-wringing moralists into the bright light of day and simply put, pissing on it.

I think I've seen the darn movie at least six times and every time, at the end, find myself wondering what would have been the court's decision in that landmark case were it more conservative (as it now will be).

Well, the laws protecting consenting adults the right to view whatever the-hell-floats-their-boat pornography are still in place but given the recent prioritization of AG Gonzales, who knows what will happen; seems he thinks porn is as dangerous as terrorism:

When FBI supervisors in Miami met with new interim U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta last month, they wondered what the top enforcement priority for Acosta and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would be.

Would it be terrorism? Organized crime? Narcotics trafficking? Immigration? Or maybe public corruption?

The agents were stunned to learn that a top prosecutorial priority of Acosta and the Department of Justice was none of the above. Instead, Acosta told them, it's obscenity. Not pornography involving children, but pornographic material featuring consenting adults.

-snip-

"Compared to terrorism, public corruption and narcotics, [pornography] is no worse than dropping gum on the sidewalk," said Stephen Bronis, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in Miami and chair of the white-collar crime division of the American Bar Association. "With so many other problems in this area, this is absolutely ridiculous."

But not everyone agrees. With the rapid growth of Internet pornography, stamping out obscene material has become a major concern for the Bush administration's powerful Christian conservative supporters. The Mississippi-based American Family Association and other Christian conservative groups have pressured the Justice Department to take action against pornography. The family association has sent weekly letters to U.S. attorneys around the country to pressure them to pursue the makers and distributors of pornography.

"While there are crimes like drugs and public corruption in Miami, this is also a form of corruption and should be a priority," said Anthony Verdugo, director of the Christian Family Coalition in Miami. "Pornography is a poison and it's addictive. It's not a victimless crime. Women are the victims."

And from a WAPO article:

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

I am way, WAY over the Republican Behemouth Government that engineers policy to repay its biggest players. How do you like that folks? Your air, water and forests sold to industry, your national security sold to Halliburton and now the last bastian of your privacy--the right to party in your mind with the images of whatever-the-hell-turns-you-on--sold (along with your reproductive rights) to the Moron Majority (has anyone else noticed that everything fanatic Christian's want to control is related to sex?).

Damn, and I thought all those FBI spyware cookies on my computer were related to political activity...