Image via D A Photography, blogged previously by me here.
In my column this week: I explore, via some excellent and largely unreported liveblogging by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com about Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey’s confirmation hearing — and how he was grilled about (and swore to) prosecute “mainstream obscenity.” Mainstream obscenity? WTF? I got razor-sharp comments from a First Amendment lawyer and went the distance, making a very crucial point about ideology and American public policy. You will laugh and cry, I promise. After turning in the column, I caught this sickening applause for Senatard Hatch from those family values folks (“Thank Sen. Orrin Hatch for making it clear to the attorney general nominee that obscenity prosecutions are a vital function of that office.”). Snip from my column:
“Show us your ‘wide stance,’ Senator!”
That’s the catcall I heard Saturday night as I walked the Castro with a friend who was dressed as Sen. Larry Craig – complete with foam-core bathroom stall strapped to his back, a trail of toilet paper and “for a good time call” graffiti added every time he stopped for a photo-op. His constituents were showing, indeed. But everyone knew who Craig was, his busted hypocrisy catapulting him into the arena of conservative, fallen-from-anti-sex-grace fame. The “LarryCraigslist” jokes were rife, from 18th to Market and back. Last week, another conservative Senator showed his party-line’s tease-and-denial obsession with what adults do for healthy skin-on-skin entertainment. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch pushed his anti-porn agenda into the realm of dementia last week during the questioning of Department of Justice nominee Michael Mukasey. Obviously unappreciative of the cinematic cultural relevance of titles such as “Edward Penishands,” Hatch pressed Mukasey to prosecute “mainstream obscenity.”
Over at Salon.com, Glenn Greenwald liveblogged the Mukasey confirmation hearing, reporting:
“The Senate Judiciary Committee today begins its confirmation hearing for Michael Mukasey, the Bush administration’s nominee to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General … As he always does, Sen. Hatch makes clear that – even as we battle the Global Epic War of Civilizations against Islamo-fascism – his primary concern is that the Department of Justice is not doing enough to battle the evils of what even he calls ‘mainstream, adult pornography.’
“Hatch explains that ‘pornography and obscenity consumption harms individuals, families, communities.’ Unfortunately, Hatch said, the DOJ has a ‘terrible record enforcing adult obscenity law’ – such enforcement stopped during the Clinton administration and there is not much more to show for it during the Bush administration.
“The problem, Hatch explained, is that the DOJ is prosecuting only ‘extreme’ obscenity – not what he calls ‘mainstream obscenity.’ Since most consumers only access ‘mainstream obscenity,’ not ‘extreme obscenity,’ this strategy is misguided – it prosecutes ‘too narrow a range of obscenity.’ Also, warned Hatch, there are far too few FBI resources being devoted to ‘mainstream obscenity prosecutions.'”
Of course, the trouble with “mainstream obscenity” is that there is no such thing, just like there is no such thing as “fat-free ice cream.” According to First Amendment lawyer Julie S. Turner, “The very definition of obscenity depends on the standards of the community. If a pornographic work is ‘mainstream,’ then by definition it has been accepted by the community. After all, that’s what ‘mainstream’ means.” However, a quick glance at Sen. Hatch’s public statements on First Amendment rights and “sexual privacy,” tells us that, never mind torture or terrorism, Senator Hatch clearly knows his double-anal scenes from his First Amendment. (…)
Link.
