Responsibility or the lack thereof

The noise started with the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the Superbowl 38 halftime show. It continued through the premiere of "S ex and the city" on basic cable. It went on through the premiere of Desparate Housewives on network television.

In the guise of defending "family values", right-wing groups have gone up in arms over the supposed degradation of television and about how unsafe it was for families and kids. Oh la la..what a discovery..what a concept..noble in precept, no doubt.

But here is where I have the biggest issue with the whole issue - whatever happened to the responsibility of the families themselves? Whatever happened to families taking responsibility for the way their kids grow up?

MTV is being criticized for peddling smut on television..the Parents Television Council got into this act this time, claiming that their shows contained n number of sensual acts per hour and (n*n) utterances of foul words per hour...wow..I never knew that...now I sure must check out MTV...

What these rightwing groups are doing is telling you how to live your lives...God or no God, these groups don't want us to be independently thinking folk...hey, if we can think, then we can question, and if we can question, then they hold no control over us, and if they can't control us, we cannot be the zombies who would buy into their "my way or the highway" theory.

And what is pitiful is that parents buy into this, and that causes the biggest issue of all - shirking responsibility. Parents, instead of being in control of their kids' viewing habits, and taking responsibility for it, turn around and accuse the television channels for the content...I would think that you do not need a self-proclaimed champion of family values to tell you what is right or wrong for your kids.

Maybe they still have not heard of the cute little things called parental controls...or an even better thing...don't have cable...but no, they need to have cable, cuz most parents, especially dads need to watch the cable sports and news channels.

It is wonderful to try and have it both ways, but for once, it would be great if parents took the challenge/responsibility for their kids in their own hands, and stop shopping around for reasons and excuses....

On a fair note, I do realize I am ranting especially against these religious rightwing groups who claim to work for the families, and go on incessantly about television shows...hey, pipe down loudmouths...if you want to improve family values, promote the parental controls, promote the concept of families..promote the move away from rampant materialism that has seized the people.

Do not mistake my rant...I do not appreciate the deterioration in quality of television programming as well, but what I do not like, I do not watch and if I had kids, I would not let them watch as well. I do not need some third-party organization to tell me that.

But hey, maybe I do not get it. Maybe I am shouting at the rain..what do I know...I just rant.