Quote of the Day

"We should all be deeply disturbed that a game which now permits the simulation of lewd sexual acts in an interactive format with highly realistic graphics has fallen into the hands of young people across the country," - Hillary Clinton in a letter to the head of the Federal Trade Commission.

I post that in the spirit of fairness. I'm supporting her for President in '08, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything she has to say. To this day, I'm pissed at Bill Clinton for DOMA, and "don't ask, don't tell".

You have to make certain compromises to get elected President in this country, at least in an outward sense. My top choice would be Dennis Kucinich, but he's unelectable (he supports gay marriage). The idea is that while we know Hillary is sticking her finger in the air at times, we understand a certain amount of that has to be done to get elected.

If you constantly lose elections on principal, your principals will never become something you win elections on. It's all about the direction of the country, not taking the whole political game in one fell swoop.

Anyway, back to the game. Granted, if a game contains explicit sexual content, it should be rated for 18 and above. GTA is rated 17+. My point was that it was completely undeserving of the BSC-fest it got.

Ratings are simply suggestions, and if a parent wants to buy any kid of any age whatever game they want, that's fine with me. The government needs to stay out of the business of trying to legislate morality.

If, and I mean a big -IF-, the government insists on pushing a moral in entertainment, they need re-evaluate their priorities. The Christian right wing drives the determinations of what is moral and what is not, and they've got it skewed quite a bit.

For instance - you can get a video game that is incredibly violent (you should, they are really fun). I see really young kids playing Counter-Strike, and Battle Field. There are tons more playing console variants of the same strain. Militaristic violence (simulated combat) is quite okay for the youngsters apparently. Sex, on the other hand, is supposed to be a secret we keep from the kids.

The United States Army actually created and gives away a video game that simulates a battle. It's a recruiting tool for pete's sake. How strange is that?

What kind of message does that send? It's backwards. Death and destruction should be the most discouraged behavior. Sex, if done safely, is a fun and positive thing.

Me, I like my violence simulated, and the sex real - not the other way around.