Congressional Hypocracy - or, a Rant on Video Game Violence.

[Evil Dr. Reef]

I've been doing a report for my Government class for the past week, and the final part of it was to choose a bill that interested us, and to write a letter/e-mail to the Senator that sponsored the bill. I chose to write to Sen. Joseph Liberman about Senate bill #792, the Media Marketing Accountability Act of 2001. Here's the letter, which pretty much sums up my feelings on the bill:

To Sen. Liberman-

Since this e-mail will probably be responded by with a genre-specific form letter, I'll be blunt and quick. I'm writing to you as per a required U.S. Government assignment, about Senate Bill 792, the "Media Marketing Accountability Act of 2001," a bill you proposed around a year and a half ago. Since there's been no action on the bill in all that time, I take it that it's been "pigeonholed," as you Government types call it. It's a shame, because I am a supporter of this bill. "Wait," you say, "how can a teenager support a bill that limits the media targeted at him?". Well, it all boils down to the fact that with a bill like this in place, it might call off some of the heat placed on the Media industry. I think that it's very ironic that a group of people (I.E., you Congressmen/Congresswomen) can complain about how a morally disgusting video game like "Grand Theft Auto 3" is released to an underage audience (and it was, even I agree with that), but when the bill that would stop all such occurrences in the future comes along, a Senate Committee kills it before it's even debated. You piss and moan about how the youth of America are being "corrupted" by the horrible things in today's media, and yet you Senators do nothing to stop it. I know it's not you personally (after all, YOU proposed the bill in the first place), but as a Senator, it's your job to see that when a bill that could put an end to something that you all complain about that it's taken care of. It just seems very, VERY hypocritical to complain about something and then not fix it when you have the chance.

- Matt Shea

Ugh. It's just depressing to me to think that our government blames all the ills of society on the media, yet when the chance for them to "stop the madness" comes along, they ignore it. I now know why some people are so cynical about the U.S. Gov't. Now, here's YOUR chance to give your two cents about this.

[Krayenhoff]

Actually, this complaint is unwarranted. The government cannot stop this practice at all, and you should not ask it to even try. Also, Lieberman is no longer interested in violence in the media anymore, so this isn't a surprise.

As for being cynical about the government, trust me, there's a lot more devastating instances than this. This is picayune compared to what else goes on. You should be glad the government isn't trying to interfere with this, so don't stir the you-know-what.

[gtracer72]

Have you ever thought that maybe the Senators can't do everything. When it comes to games and such, it is the parent's responsibility to oversee what their child/children buys. The Senators aren't there to take over the parents position.

[Outlander00]

Originally posted by gtracer72
Have you ever thought that maybe the Senators can't do everything. When it comes to games and such, it is the parent's responsibility to oversee what their child/children buys. The Senators aren't there to take over the parents position.

This is true, however, the politicians get involved anyway so that they can keep their constituents happy and, thus, assure their position in Congress.