Slog
News & ArtsMonday, April 23, 2012
2012 Mitt Romney Wants Every Computer to Have "a Button" to Control Pornography
Posted by Paul Constant on Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 3:26 PM
BuzzFeed found two 2007 clips of Mitt Romney promising that President Romney would install pornography filters on every single computer sold in the United States:
Romney (the 2008 version) was way more interested in social issues than Romney (the 2012 version). In fact, this video is a striking reminder that the entire 2012 Republican party is avoiding what-about-the-children-mode. Unless they're in the womb or about to get vaccinated, conservatives don't give a fuck about kids. Until the economy improves, of course. Then it'll be all perversity, all the time.
30
Why do Christians even use computers? They don't believe in science or evolution and progressive thinking, and yet they let their kids onto the internet. If they were truly faithful, they wouldn't own computers. They would be living in log homes in the countryside farming and chopping wood while singing hymns. Their kids would be busy learning to milk cows, braid hair, and do other godly things, leaving the porno to the rest of us logic-science-and-boobies-loving Americans.
29
I definitely agree with tkc that lazy or careless parenting is part of the problem, even if boys will be unfailingly resourceful in getting some porn. But it's so seductive to think that you can skip all the parenting by pushing a Big Red Button. It's like the idea that you can lose all this weight by taking a bunch of pills.
28
@24, @25, didn't you learn anything from the DMCA? It doesn't matter if the mechanism is completely ineffective, they'll just pass a law making it a crime to circumvent it. Problem solved! 13 year old boys shall obey the porn button or go to prison.
27
It'd be quaint and or amusing if they didn't have considerable power. Some pretty awful legislation is bubbling away in D.C. And D.C. isnt as bad as many a power center.
Also, please remember at this point an awful lot of the people who built the computer infrastructure are no longer young.
Also, please remember at this point an awful lot of the people who built the computer infrastructure are no longer young.
26
Rmoney must have learned everything he knows about computers and the Internet from Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens.
25
@24, that was my thought too. It's so cute when old people who know nothing about computers start pontificating about regulating computers. *gafaw!*
24
i wish i had something more pithy, but all i can say is that willard's a complete dumbfuck who doesn't understand how computers work.
23
A button? Like, a single red button that instantly eliminates all the porn from your computing-machine? What a great idea! How come nobody else has ever thought of that?
21
@19 Yeah, if we get rid of the porn then 12 year olds will totally stop being mean to each other.
And Good. I'm glad the Seattle Library doesn't filter their internet. At last some adults are in charge somewhere.
I realize moral !OUTRAGE! is fun, and a fundamental cottage industry on internet forums, but if you guys can't actually prove a fucking thing you say beyond these hand wringing anecdotes, then it's impossible to take you seriously.
And Good. I'm glad the Seattle Library doesn't filter their internet. At last some adults are in charge somewhere.
I realize moral !OUTRAGE! is fun, and a fundamental cottage industry on internet forums, but if you guys can't actually prove a fucking thing you say beyond these hand wringing anecdotes, then it's impossible to take you seriously.
20
I also forgot that smart phones, iPhones and iPads are free for the taking at any street corner for any kid to pick up and immediately begin looking at oodles degrading dwarf porn.
God. The government just has to DO something about this. There is simply no other way!
God. The government just has to DO something about this. There is simply no other way!
19
@11,
Many libraries, including the Seattle Public Library, do not filter their online content.
@12,
Yes, because it's so hard to believe that 12-year-old boys are assholes looking to harass 12-year-old girls AND that they use what they see online to do just that.
Many libraries, including the Seattle Public Library, do not filter their online content.
@12,
Yes, because it's so hard to believe that 12-year-old boys are assholes looking to harass 12-year-old girls AND that they use what they see online to do just that.
18
@14 So you heard some kids saying something bad to a girl? Whoa. Well. That's all the proof I need that porn is responsible! It HAS to be, right?
Because no 12 year old boy has ever said a degrading thing to 12 year old girl before the advent of internet porn.
@17 I forgot that the internet is free, magic, and ubiquitous! Kids can just hop on anywhere, right? No routers, providers, or passwords necessary. Nobody pays the Comcast bill or anything. It's ungovernable anarchy and the poor parents of this world are defenseless!
Give me a break. Alarmist anecdote riddled horse shit.
Because no 12 year old boy has ever said a degrading thing to 12 year old girl before the advent of internet porn.
@17 I forgot that the internet is free, magic, and ubiquitous! Kids can just hop on anywhere, right? No routers, providers, or passwords necessary. Nobody pays the Comcast bill or anything. It's ungovernable anarchy and the poor parents of this world are defenseless!
Give me a break. Alarmist anecdote riddled horse shit.
17
@15: You're absolutely right, which contradicts those simpletons (@11) who say the parents should always be in the room when their kid is online.
16
@6:
Double-edged sword on "parental" responsibility: If one brings that up too loudly, conservatives will start doubling down on the "EVERYONE should be homeschooled so that parents can absolutely control everything that their children see and hear and learn about the world." Not so sure that's a great idea either.
Double-edged sword on "parental" responsibility: If one brings that up too loudly, conservatives will start doubling down on the "EVERYONE should be homeschooled so that parents can absolutely control everything that their children see and hear and learn about the world." Not so sure that's a great idea either.
15
The kids are laughing at the geezers who keep talking about "computers". In this tablet/smartphone world the word "computer" just seem kinda quaint to them.
14
@12: I'm an eye (and ear) witness. I've listened to hysterical 12-year-old girls tell me what boys have said to them, and asked the boys where they learned it.
Frankly, I don't give a shit if you choose to take the convenient road and dismiss it. Doesn't make it any less real.
Talk to any middle school guidance counselor.
@11: Yes, there's always a simplistic answer. Yours reminds me of similar ones, like "Just Say No" and "Abstinence Works."
Frankly, I don't give a shit if you choose to take the convenient road and dismiss it. Doesn't make it any less real.
Talk to any middle school guidance counselor.
@11: Yes, there's always a simplistic answer. Yours reminds me of similar ones, like "Just Say No" and "Abstinence Works."
13
There are already ways to prevent porn. Shit, my computer tries to shut off the porn all the time. I just have to slap the keyboard with my dick a few times and it stops. The computer, not my dick.
12
Your honor, the prosecution is presenting facts not in evidence and without material proof.
You should hear some of the degrading things these kids say about (and to) 12-year-old girls, stuff I guarantee they're learning from online porn.
Your honor, the prosecution is presenting facts not in evidence and without material proof.
11
It's called an OFF button.
Don't want 12 year old boys looking at porn online? Password protect the machine and router and don't give them the god damn password. How hard is this?
There is ZERO reason any kid under 16 should be online without an adult home and supervising. None.
If you can't be home to supervise your 12 year old when they need to do homework online then send them to the library that has the kind of infrastructure in place to filter adult material.
This kind of stuff is only a problem because parents are lazy and make ridiculous excuses for themselves.
Don't want 12 year old boys looking at porn online? Password protect the machine and router and don't give them the god damn password. How hard is this?
There is ZERO reason any kid under 16 should be online without an adult home and supervising. None.
If you can't be home to supervise your 12 year old when they need to do homework online then send them to the library that has the kind of infrastructure in place to filter adult material.
This kind of stuff is only a problem because parents are lazy and make ridiculous excuses for themselves.
10
Can the "No Porn" button fit on the keyboard right next to the "GUBBAMINT OUTA MY PERSONAL UHFAYERS" button?
9
@4, as I understand it many of the common tools like Net Nanny or CyberWatch rely on a multilayer strategy that includes such things as a) having responsible porn sites voluntarily put themselves on a blacklist and b) scan the greater 'net for potentially objectionable words and images. The latter, of course, also tends to block sites that offer useful STI- and pregnancy-prevention, and cancer-detection, information.
Take it away, Mormons (who are at ground-zero of the highest porn consumption zone in Utah).
Take it away, Mormons (who are at ground-zero of the highest porn consumption zone in Utah).
7
@5 - No mocking; there's all sorts of stuff out there too rough for a 12-year old, for sure. I'm not downplaying the resourcefulness of a 12-year old boys, but if their parent's choose not to implement the myriad of existing ways to keep that content out of their own homes, then that's their deal.
6
@4, "personal responsibility" only plays well to conservative audiences when it's about welfare and medical care. Trying to invoke PARENTAL responsibility just makes people defensive and angry.
5
I'm not sure of the answer, but as one who works with young boys have easy access to some pretty awful, degrading porn (at home when the parents are working, at friends' houses, etc.) I wish there were a better way to control it.
You should hear some of the degrading things these kids say about (and to) 12-year-old girls, stuff I guarantee they're learning from online porn. Yes, they should be getting better guidance from their parents, but the fact is they're not.
Yes, I know I'll be mocked by the "What about the children?" crowd, but I doubt you live in the world I'm seeing. It's pretty ugly.
You should hear some of the degrading things these kids say about (and to) 12-year-old girls, stuff I guarantee they're learning from online porn. Yes, they should be getting better guidance from their parents, but the fact is they're not.
Yes, I know I'll be mocked by the "What about the children?" crowd, but I doubt you live in the world I'm seeing. It's pretty ugly.
4
How, exactly, would that work? As far as I know there is no Internet "porn" or "not porn" tag.
If he's so worried about porn, then he should have the computer in the living room where he (or his wife) can watch what his sons are looking at.
If he's so worried about porn, then he should have the computer in the living room where he (or his wife) can watch what his sons are looking at.
3
Ridiculous. Now, if there's a anti-Caps Lock/Insert key platform out there somewhere, I'm on board.
Also, I'd like to see the Esc key renamed "Abort."
Also, I'd like to see the Esc key renamed "Abort."
2
I don't know about a porn button, but I'd be happy with a porn switch, provided it could toggle between 'more porn' and 'less porn' settings. I would find that very convenient.
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