POLITICAL BEDFELLOWS
Porn is an easy election-year target, and along with the $495,000 Clear Channel/Howard Stern fine that was announced by the FCC this week, the Baltimore Sun reported that the Justice Department is gearing up for a crackdown on the industry in this election year. But it may not be the ACLU and free-speech types who lead the defense this time around. The article points out that porn is a $10 billion a year business with profits that flow to many Fortune 500 companies, including Comcast, whose Hot Network channel streams porn to hotel room customers at $12 a pop. And a number of Comcast execs, including CEO Brian Roberts, are major Republican National Party contributors and organizers. “Good luck turning back that clock,” the article quotes Paul Rodriguez, a spokesman for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, as saying about Ashcroft’s latest endeavor.
Desktop computer artists have launched their own Ashcroft counteroffensive. For those over 18 waiting for his 9/11 Commission testimony this week, check out this photo mosaic of Ashcroft, made up entirely of tiny porn people.
