What’s it all about? Al-bie?

This might be a hard one for some to read. I know its not exactly a popular topic. What’s really been irking me lately though is the latest off course veering of the Bush administration. Namely, going hog wild over porn, or so it seems.

In the interest of full disclosure I should probably mention that am I involved in the adult industry. I sell adult products, not videos, oriented towards the SM market, through my web site. As the principle photographer, in the eyes of some I might be a pornographer. I am also probably the biggest Bush supporter out there.

Attorney General Albert Gonzales seems to be trying to put together an enforcement unit within the FBI to prosecute pornography distributors. Not child porn or anything like that, but simply regular old porn, specifically porn with Sado-masochistic themes. Now obviously I have a vested interest in this matter but to me this waste of resources is astounding.

With a backdrop of no end in site to the war on terror, a war me must win, can we afford this use of FBI agents time? Somehow we have no resources to pursue something the country is virtually united on as a major problem: illegal immigration. No will to follow up on things like the Able Danger revelations, or put any serious dent in drug trafficking. However we do have resources to put together a squad to make sure no one sees an image of large breasted women wearing handcuffs or cracking whips. It is one of the Attorney Generals “top priorities” quotes the Washington Post. We somehow have money to prosecute obscenity, something that for most people is hard to even define let alone say exactly when it becomes criminal.

Now I know some of you might not like porn. I know how annoying it is to get constant Spam about Debbie’s teen fantasies and the like. I get them to and they are certainly annoying. However I do feel that the excuse of “Im worried about my children, I don’t want them seeing that crap on the Internet and whoa is me they know so much more about computers than I do” is wearing a little thin. Frankly I think if you provide your child with a computer it is up to you to supervise your child. If you cant figure out how to check the “no adult content” box in your Norton Internet security, then don’t let them have a computer. If you are not up to the task of figuring out this stuff then you have no business getting your kids a computer. If they need it for school and you cant take five minutes, or half a day, to understand how to turn on the parental lock, then that is a case of laziness and nothing more.
I know more than a few people wished that pornography were banished from the planet. That it didn’t exist. That it’s a vice or degrading or whatever. That’s fine. However you don’t have a right to not be offended. I can promise you, I am every bit as offended by people who come to my door or accost me on the street and insist that I am somehow morally deficient because I do not subscribe to whatever religious sect strikes their fancy. That doesn’t mean that I try and ban religion. It doesn’t mean that I am allowed to run around saying anyone who is involved with religion is trying pervert my kids. It means it is another obnoxious aspect of life and I have to deal with it. It’s the same thing with porn. There is a reason why virtually every hotel out there now features it on pay per view: a sizable proportion of adults like it from time to time. There is also a reason why you teach your kids that they are not allowed to call down to the front desk and order a movie or two. Most people accept that responsibility and don’t freak out that there is a TV in the room capable of showing naked people doing it. Same thing with your computer. Figure out the child lock and use it. It’s your responsibility. It is not societies responsibility to move everything down to the level of a child.