How soon we forget how lethal anti-abortion political media can be. Following the death of Dr. Tiller, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow ran a special called The Assassination of Dr. Tiller which described the history and developments leading up to the tragic events.
One main high profile media attacker of Dr. Tiller was (and still is) Bill O’Reilly of FOX News. His relentless attacks are well documented in many places including Salon.com, Wikipedia, and the New York Times. As expected, Bill O’Reilly retaliated against the “left wing loons” by claiming he was just reporting what others were saying, which PolitiFact and Media Matters rated as False.

Indiana University School of Journalism – 2007 O’Reilly study generates national attention: Professor Mike Conway looks at the situation systematically, dispassionately.

Crooks & Liars: Rachel Maddow Show: Frank Schaeffer on How Hate Speech Leads to Violent Acts

Democratic Presidential Candidate Randall Terry using Tim Tebow to promote extreme anti-choice ad: “Defend Tim Tebow: Give to a Pro-Life 2012 Super Bowl Ad’ Campaign Begins“

Three years after Dr. Tiller’s assassination, we have the 2012 presidential election. Anti-choice Operation Rescue founder and convict Randall Terry, a fake Democrat running against President Obama who Terry says is “slaughtering children”, wants to show graphic anti-abortion ads during the Februray 5, 2012 Super Bowl XLVI that will apparently show aborted fetuses (see low quality video below). Because it is political and not a commercial advertisement, the FCC has a 45 day rule banning censoring political ads ahead of an election, including primaries.

Wikipedia: Activist Randall Terry has said he is planning to run an ad featuring graphic photos of aborted fetuses during Super Bowl XLVI. It is unlikely that Terry will be allowed to air the ad, given that the networks have a policy under equal time rules to reject all political and issue related advertising during the Super Bowl.

To be honest, it is unclear if there is anything that can be done other than to raise our voices in protest. Perhaps purchase airtime to promote gay marriage showing two guys kissing… that would be enough to generate massive outrage, but accusing the president of slaughtering children and showing abortions? Just what the Doctor ordered!

Ever wondered what happen to Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s Nipplegate? Well it seems it’s finally all said and done, everything was eventually thrown out. But an interesting side note: according to Wikipedia, “The media watchdog group Parents Television Council (PTC) issued a statement that same day condemning the halftime show, announcing that their members would file indecency complaints with the FCC and the council supported the FCC’s decision to investigate the halftime show immediately.” That group, Parents Television Council, is one of the conservative media watchdogs founded by L Brent “Obama looks like a ‘skinny, ghetto crackhead‘” Bozell. If FOX News had a rabid activist hell bent on destroying all things liberal, it would be Brent Bozell. Bozell works with many media activist groups, including the Catholic League, ForAmerica, FOX News, and Media Research Center that Bozell founded: The Media Research Center operates on a self-reported $10 million annual budget, using what it calls “the most comprehensive media monitoring operation in the world” to track major televised broadcasts and print news with the goal of “documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.”.

The question is, will Bozell’s right wing media advocacy group Parents Television Council file FCC complaints against an aborted fetus like they did about Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction? Is their definition of “decency” limited to only right wing decency or does it represent all decency? Is a dead baby more decent than a nipple?

Washington Post: Going, going, gone: NBC sold out of advertising spots for February’s Super Bowl

It’s perfectly clear to this observer that Randall Terry is not running a serious campaign for presidency. The primary goal seems to be an anti-abortion attack on the President so Terry can broadcast and “normalize” his message that President Obama is a “baby killer”. Not to mention cash in on the lucrative “anti-abortion industry” as well as further his group’s goal of denying women the right to their own bodies, and preaching intolerance against homosexuality. This kind of emotional attack of gruesome imagery of abortions and extremely disturbing thoughts can impact the viewer or listener in very traumatizing ways. This reaction can lead to stochastic terrorism in unstable individuals such as Scott Roeder, Dr. Tiller’s murderer. It wouldn’t be the first time that extreme anti-abortion imagery in the media caused someone to become violent enough to terrorize and murder people. The pen is mightier than the sword and when vitriolic words combine with audio and disturbing video, those ads become an army of sword wielding soldiers coming into your living room to terrorize your children. If it was a gay male orgy campaigning for a candidate, there’s no way it would be broadcast. It shouldn’t. Neither should such a controversial issue as abortions during a time when children are guaranteed to be present.

Advocate: 31 year old adopted gay son of anti-choice and anti-gay activist Randall Terry dead in car crash.

After seeing such an obscene ad, the parents will likely need to explain to their children what abortion is and how the ads can say things like “Romney and Obama are slaughtering children”. What can be done? A parental advisory sticker before the ad? Can’t the Super Bowl just reject all political ads? I guess we’ll just have to get used to it, unless you would like to join us and let your voice be heard:

Company	Website	Facebook	Twitter	Phone and Other Info
2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl XLVI				Super Bowl Address: 425 West South Street, Indianapolis, IN 46225
National Football League (NFL)				NFL Mailing Address: 280 Park Ave. 15th Floor, New York, NY 10017. NFL Phone (212) 450-2000 NFL FAX (212) 681-7599
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Click Here to File an FCC Decency Complaint POSTAL ADDRESS: Federal Communications Commission Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Consumer Complaints 445 12th Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20554				From FCC: PHONE: Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL- FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY

Sign the Change.org Petition to Chairman, Federal Communications Commission: Forbid the airing of a graphic anti-choice ad during the Super Bowl

Sign Activist Blogger Lynn Hamilton’s Care2 petition on facebook to Get Dead Fetuses Out of the Superbowl!

In this observer’s view, this is not about the freedom of speech, but is very closely shaving the edge of it. It’s about simple decency during family programming, which doesn’t even apply to all cable or satellite channels. Yes, we must always be very careful about what we determine is “indecent”, but the Super Bowl is not the place for controversial politics, it is the place for Families and Children to get together and enjoy an all-American sport, in this observer’s humble opinion. Some politics are way too toxic at this point for viewing by minors. Injecting some of the worst toxic imagery into our already unraveling social cohesion could have very lethal results. Just ask Doctor George Tiller.