Demagogue

Which is more damaging to the principles of the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause:

1. An aside by a fictional character in a television program.
2. A threatening letter from the House Majority Leader to a television network concerning the content of the network's programs.

Props to Dick Wolf for not only making excellent crime dramas for more than a decade without getting stale but also responding to DeLay's hissy fit in the proper fashion.

"Every week, approximately 100 million people see an episode of the branded Law & Order series. Up until today, it was my impression that all of our viewers understood that these shows are works of fiction as is stated in each episode," he said. "But I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

And although I can't give the idiots behind Fear Factor any congratulations for perpetrating their art, I must admit that their format would lend itself to some interesting programs if they were to take up this suggestion.