War On Porn

When Sunday morning rolls around here, it's time for TV's talking heads. Today, George Stephanopolis and Tim Russert and the gang are all fussing about Harriet's Supreme Court nomination and the impending possibility of indictments from the Special Prosecutor's office -- all important news, but there's another bit of news that is under the radar for most people I guess. Alberto Gonzales, is waging a War on Porn. Backed by the Religious Right, with their enormous influence on this president and his administration, a law which was intended to protect children from the pornography industry, is being turned on those of us who have nothing at all to do with child pornography.

If you read very far on the blogs, you've heard about it as NCSF gets involved, and the highest profile names in the lifestyle begin to pull the plug on their websites. That's because "They" are coming after "Us" simply because they have enough political clout to do it. They've extended the definitions of obscenity to include just about any mention of just about every kink one can imagine, and are determined to apply the law to any an all text and image occurrences of what is, by their definition now, pornography. That's us, friends.

Back in the dark hours after the election last November, I remember feeling fear that the country I'd known and loved my whole life had suddenly become a place that was now scary and unwelcoming -- a place where I was no longer safe. That sensation has now come to fruition. My government is now actively engaged in prosecuting people like me, simply because of how I live and think. The reality is that there is nothing about my lifestyle that is harmful to anyone. I live and work and contribute in my community as a responsible citizen. I do not harm anyone, nor does my lifestyle. The attacks that are being launched by my government are the result of a determination that my "way of life" is unacceptable, even when that way of life is not imposed on or even visible to anyone else (unless they actively choose to look).

I am honestly afraid. I don't know how far these people might go in prosecuting this stuff. I fear they might go as far as they can get away with. I know that, should they choose to take it to the limit, I don't have the means to fight them. They surely could destroy me and mine. How much of a risk should I take? Should we take? Ours isn't the "juiciest" blog out here, but we have surely talked about our BDSM lifestyle. There's plenty here, if someone wants to make an issue. Sigh.

I do like this letter from Carnal Droog's site. I found it compliments of a link from Danae:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/carnal_droog/7365.html
Time to make some decisions I guess...

swan