How's This For Tolerance?

Is it suprising that this happened inOklahoma?

After showing her class the 2002 film adaptation of The Laramie Project, about the hate crime killing of Matthew Shepard, Debra Taylor's high school class wanted to film scenes for a class project. A few weeks later she was fired. Students say it's because the community is homophobic.

Censorship is "Everybody's Policy"?

I'm sure that you've heard songs on the radio - for years - that have language in them that, if recorded by current "artists", would be censored.

For example, there's "Life In The Fast Lane" by The Eagles. Great song. Of course, this was back when they actually had some talent to spread around. If you've heard their latest offering, you'd know exactly what I was talking about.

Regardless of how the mighty have fallen, the song contains this line:

We’ve been up and down this highway/ haven’t seen a goddamn thing.

From Birmingham Weekly:

If you’re one of the 16 million people who bought the Eagles’ album Hotel California, or if you’ve spent any portion of your life somewhere other than the underside of a rock, you’ve heard the song, “Life In the Fast Lane.” And probably you like it: 33 years after its release, it remains a standard on classic hits radio stations like Birmingham’s Eagle 106.9 FM.

Unlike the vast majority of radio stations, Eagle 106.9 censors the song.

That's right, the station's name is "Eagle". Kind of ironic, isn't it.

The station manager, Ray Nelson, defends his station's policy of censoring the song by stating:

It’s everybody’s policy

I would suppose then, that Nelson's station doesn't play "Jet Airliner" by Steve Miller or "Legs" by ZZ Top - as both hit songs have the word "shit" in them. But, who knows.

You Can't Talk To Them Either

Maybe we should take a look at who we "can't" talk to in order to get a good idea of who we "can" talk to.

CLEARWATER -- Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?'' and turn the person around.
When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.

source

So, the press can listen to Palin talk, but not ask any questions. I mean, if a woman that has a Journalism degree and is a governor can't even answer the question of 'what do you read', then she probably can't answer anything.

Now, we are to believe, her supporters can't be questioned either. That's going to make exit-polling very interesting next month.

Clear Channel : Another Arm of the Republican Party?

It would appear that the monopolistic - and devoutly conservative - Clear Channel has pulled billboard advertisements for comedian/actor Harry Shearer's latest project entitled Songs of the Bushmen



You may not recognize the name, but you may know him as the voice of Flanders on The Simpsons or as Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap. He has been in literally hundreds of film and television programs and is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

The cover of the album apparently has angered Clear Channel's advertising agency. Shearer explains:

"Their tone turned from genial salesperson to angry schoolmarm - 'This is unacceptable,' "

Of course, this isn't the first time that Clear Channel has opted to favor more 'conservative' and even 'fringe' interests rather than provide equal time for all parties interested. Last October, they pulled an ad for VoteVets because it:

would conflict with the listeners who have chosen to listen to Rush Limbaugh."

Read more atThink Progress.