Demagogue

Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" has sparked a controversy in Kentucky and the show was temporarily removed from the airwaves due to "offensive" content. As absurd as that may sound, the story iteslf is chilling.

WUKY-FM, based in Lexington, canceled the show in early August. The daily spot runs a few minutes and features Keillor noting important milestones in writing history, after which he typically reads a poem.

Recent poems had included words such as "breast" and the phrase "get high." Another included suggestive sexual content, according to WUKY General Manager Tom Goddell.

He said there were no listener complaints, but station officials had worried about recent moves by the Federal Communications Commission to crack down on language it considered obscene. [bold mine]

"There's been something like $18 million in fines in the last year," Goddell told The Associated Press. "That's enough to get our attention."

Self-censorship driven by fear of government censorship (and exorbitant fines) is by far the worst censorship of all.