I’m not a regular reader of James Lileks’so I wouldn’t know head from tail the ends to which he wrote today’s bleat, especially his rant regarding Howie Stern’s suspension from air (definitive info from Jeff Jarvis, although I really find him very, very cranky on this topic). Says Lileks:

Look: this isn’t cable, which people choose to receive. This isn’t a satellite radio channel, purchased with full knowledge of its contents. We’re talking about the public airwaves here, and that means there cannot be any standards whatsoever. If you admit that there should be some standards, well, whose standards? Ned Flanders’ standards? Right, like we’re going to hand that over to some God-bothering Churchy LeFemme. (Do you realize that you could get fired today for a 6 minute on-air rant about wanting to engage in watersports with the Virgin Mary? I’m serious!) Do you want to give control to some Clear Channel exec who’s worried about losing the moms-in-cars demographic? Spare me. We live in a puritan age; anyone entrusted to sets the “standards” will be too cowardly to greenlight a show where snarky nihilists sit around and snigger about “n-ggers” and anal sex. So WHAT if you have a kid in the back seat? Don’t hit the scan button, moron

Truth be told I am upset, way upset, that Stern’s on-air trash parade has been taken down. I think this is way over my head to go into a discussion about the causes and effects of this issue, but when public broadcasting (and I don’t mean Commie Radio) is screened “for our own good” I get suspicious.

That’s what I am complaining about. I want the freedom to change the station; I reserve the right to turn away. With this taken away from us by a Republican-leaning broadcasting entity, the Left’s accusations of creeping fascism — an accusation that I find distasteful — gain ground among more easily-convinced minds.

UPDATE: Instapundit makes it clear that Lileks is totally sarcastic.

(Lileks link courtesy of Inoperable Terran.)