TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: joe lieberman

  • Big Brother Joe is watching you

    Big Brother Joe is watching you

    My bone of contention today is from my favorite Senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman. He has co-authored a bill with a $90 Million price tag that will try to figure out whether kids’ favorite TV shows, movies, and video games are actually bad for their health.

    There’s a good use of taxpayer money, huh? Even Lieberman’s own censorship squad, the Parents Television Council, say this is a bad idea. How about this Joe? Why not do a study on why people stopped parenting their kids. Joe even admits as much…

    Lieberman says parents need to play a more active role in what their kids are watching.

    “You can’t put it all off on the entertainment industry,” he said.

    Then what is the point of this bill? If it’s so obvious, then why do you need $90 Million? Lieberman has very pro-censorship leanings. I feel like this is his way of trying to disguise a “well-meaning” program that’s actually an Orwellian dream for him.

  • Video game violence…again

    Video game violence…again

    Sounding the alarm on video game ratings:

    It seems that our good friend Senator Joe Lieberman has his panties in a bunch about video game violence again. He even admits that the ultra-violent, sexual laden video games are a minority of the products out there.

    According to the article, Lieberman said a new round of congressional hearings may be necessary to raise parental awareness of the issue. Why would there need to be congressional hearings to raise parental awareness?

    The video game industry has the right to make whatever game they want. It’s up to the parents to be informed of what content is in their kids’ video games. For example, my 15-year-old son is begging me to let him play Grand Theft Auto 3. But, being the excellent parent that I am, know that in GTA3 you can have sex with a hooker and then beat her up to get your money back. That game has no chance in hell of ever being in my house. But Senator Joe thinks that Congress needs to inform parents of the violence in video games. Like congress doesn’t have other things to worry about.

    Personally, I think M rated games should not even be sold to anyone under 17, but parents need to take the responsibility to know what games their kids are playing. Yet, as we all know, no one is responsible for their own actions anymore.

  • Meet the new boss…

    Meet the new boss…

    Gore out! Lieberman in?:

    The Good news is Gore isn’t going to run in 2004. The bad news is Lieberman might. To me, there really is no difference between the two. They’re both about censorship. Think about it. Al’s wife Tipper was all about censoring music with the PMRC back in the 80s. Al was 100% behind her.

    When Gore was running in 2000 he constantly spoke about how the entertainment industry needs to tone things down or face government reprisal. Yet, he took most of his campaign money from Hollywood bigwigs.

    Lieberman is a member of the PTC. A group with similar goals to that of the PMRC, but more interested in television and video games than music. His group basically thinks they know what’s best for everybody and what programs everyone should be watching.

    They were most recently in the news protesting the Victoria’s Secret special that was on. If Lieberman runs, I’ll do everything within my power to see that Bush gets re-elected. I don’t want the government telling me what I can and can’t watch.

  • Video Game Violence

    Video Game Violence

    So my friends at The Washington Post are at it again. No, it’s not about me this time, but you’ll see the connection if you’ve been reading this site. (Yeah, right.)

    I read an article run in the daily newspaper that was run in the Post on 8/12/2000. The article was an opinion piece about how video game manufacturers are marketing their merchandising for M rated video games towards pre-schoolers. Now I thought it was just another article saying that the government should be the watchers of our children and not the parents until I saw this quote concerning ratings…

    “More concretely, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) have introduced a Uniform Ratings Bill and are planning to hold hearings on it after the FTC report comes out. This bill would mandate an end to the current hodgepodge of rating systems and require that Hollywood, the video game industry, and music industry work together to create a single rating system. If the industries fail to come up with such a system, the FTC would be authorized to establish one.”

    Notice a familiar name in there? That’s right kiddies. Our fair senator from Connecticut is not only concerned about pro-wrestling, but he seems to be meddling in the affairs of one of my other loves, video games.

    Again, I say it is the parents’ responsibility to know what games your children are playing. Just like you should know what TV shows they’re watching. No excuses. And don’t give me any crap about how you’re too busy. You should always have time for your kids.