October 21, 2006
It's the home stretch to November's mid-term elections, and candidates can't seem to churn out the negative ads fast enough.The Associated Press reports on a new, 30-second TV spot in Indiana which exploits the video game violence issue to slam a former Congressman for a seven-year old vote.
There, Republican Mike Sodrel is clinging to his place in Congress in the wake of a challenge from Democrat Baron Hill. Hill is trying to win back the seat he lost to Stobel in 2004.
The Sodrel ad features a stark, black screen, as described by the AP:
"The text is white against a black screen. The sound is the electronic warbling of a video game. But in this political ad, the message is in the faceless voices of cheerful children engaged in mayhem."
"Hit the hooker with the tire iron!" "Steal the old lady's car." "Shoot her first!"
The ad, which broadly accuses Hill of voting against restrictions on video game violence, refers to a 1999 amendment to a juvenile crime bill which would have blocked the sale of violent and sexually explict games and movies to teens. The amendment, which 92 Republicans also voted against, failed over concerns about First Amendment issues.
Comments
Not only a bill that was unconstitutional under several ammendments, including the First Amendment.
Not only a bill that was voted against by a great many individuals.
And not only a bill that has no real factual scientific basis.
But a bill that violates Parental Rights.
And an ad that fails to point out that retailers ALREADY have policies setting age limits.
AND an ad that fails to point out that the FTC has been following up with studies on the success/failure of those policies and that the studies show a steady decline in the failure rate of those policies since 2000.
But let's face it, politicians who want video game legislation DON'T want to educate individuals because then the individuals could make up their OWN minds. This ad only shows that this politician wants NOTHING to do with educating individuals about the facts because there is a clear lack of The Truth, The WHOLE Truth, and Nothing But The Truth.
nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Mike Sodrel produced a campaign ad saying that Baron Hill did not try to ban a violent video game which did not even exist.
@bayushian
I've seen how that sort of question gets answered. The general format goes something like this:
"Well, that's a very important issue, I think, and of course we all understand that free speech is a vital part of the constitution and of our way of life. At the same time, though, I think everyone understands that there are limits. We don't let people issue death threats against people for the color of their skin, or publish works involving the sexual exploitation of minors. So you have to understand that when speech becomes a matter of public safety that sometimes there are other concerns that have to be addressed..."
Games haven't come up here in Colorado's 4th district (Dem. Angie Paccione vs. Rep Marilyn Musgrave), probably because they're too busy accussing one another of cheating on taxes, dishonesty, killing puppies, stealing candy from babies, and so on. I have to decide between filing a spoilt ballot or supporting the reform party candidate. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the former.
Any congressperson who votes for a law that is later overturned as unconstitutional should at a minimum be ejected from office as incompetent, and if forethought and foreknowledge of the unconstitutionality of the law can be proven, charges of treason should be levied.