Wal-Mart: The great American hypocrisy

The other night I jacked a biplane and flew low over the Las Vegas strip strafing the cars below with gunfire. After that, I helped a buddy of mine torch his marijuana crop before the Feds arrived, but when they arrived earlier than expected he and I took most of 'em out with our M16s before speeding off in a VW bus. This, of course, took place within the confines of my PS2 and TV screen. Man, oh man, was it cathartic.\nAccording to a review of the glorious video game I was playing, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," by a fellow IDS Weekend writer, these onscreen actions will "breed poor decision-making and illegal behavior" in me and will be "looked drastically down upon by family interest and church groups nationwide." So far, I haven't jacked anyone's car or come under fire from any local militant religious factions, but maybe that's because I'm 22, and the label on my game says it's meant for people age 17 and over.\nOf course, I suppose parents and guardians pay about as much attention to game ratings as they do to movie ratings. If they take their kids to see "Team America" and the youngsters aren't that shaken up by it, the parents probably won't bat an eyelash at buying those same kids "San Andreas," regardless of the ability to stealth-kill prostitutes and organize and participate in frequent and random drive-by shootings. This certainly won't concern the parents of middle America, who, for the most part, condone the obscenely unjust war in Iraq while STILL speaking out virulently against Janet Jackson's tit.\nThe place most of these security moms and NASCAR dads shop should clue us in to their relative mentality. America's own Mecca, Wal-Mart, has the most bizarrely discriminatory policy of entertainment sales of which I'm immediately aware. They do not carry parental advisory labeled CDs, but they DO carry R-rated films. They carry Mature rated video games, but only conditionally. Many Wal-Marts in Indiana refuse to carry "San Andreas," while all Wal-Marts carry "Halo 2." Both games are rated Mature, but apparently "Halo 2" has greater sales potential amongst Wal-Mart shoppers, and therefore it's sellable. Why expect more from a chain of stores that openly endorses Tim LaHaye's "Left Behind" books on its Web site as "important works of modern literature"? I guess the supposedly impending apocalypse is less of a threat to the fragile minds of kiddies than fake nude pictures of Supreme Court justices in the Daily Show's banned-from-Wal-Mart "America: The Book."\nOne has to look no further than the FCC, this era's own SS, to see why so many folks are spooked. Last week, in honor of Veteran's Day, ABC showed "Saving Private Ryan" uncut. The network had done this for the previous two years with no backlash. This year, 35 percent of the nation's ABC affiliates refused to show the film for fear the FCC would fine them. We've entered an era where veterans of the great war can't even be honored with a film screening because of a few curse words and a couple bullets to the head, but as the death toll on both sides rises in Fallujah, the flags come out a wavin.'\nOf course, all of these things fit nicely within this newly wrought four years of Bush's America. The air of selective discrimination and censorship in this country now is as heavy as I've heard it was in the late '60s, a time period seen as the low point in American history by Bush and his ilk, while the more historically savvy among us recognize it as a period of sticking a middle finger up to those in charge with only the best intentions.\nHoward Stern, long a bastion of liberal talk radio, has been virtually forced onto satellite pay radio due to excessive FCC fines and crackdowns. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh, the fuhrer of the airwaves, is free to saturate hundreds of AM radio stations with his own brand of conservative hate speech.\nSince my last state of the nation address, I've seen no improvement in this country as far as what is deemed offensive versus what is deemed safe for family friendly consumption. I'm not saying that whomever the sitting president happens to be is a determining factor on setting national tolerance levels, but in this case, I think a statement like that would have credence.\nSo as I drive around in my low rider with guns blazing and hydraulics bouncing, heading to one of my five girlfriends' houses for a date and subsequent screw, I realize young children should not be playing the same game I am. Later, when I turn on the news only to see our soldiers firing their rifles and Iraqis firing rockets back at them, I get a clearer perspective on what should truly be deemed offensive.