:30:01
to make itself felt
in America,
:30:03
[crowd applauding]
:30:07
(Hopper)
Before Deep Throat
was even shot,
:30:09
politics and pornography
were on a collision course,
:30:13
In 1968,
the government launched
a scientific commission
:30:17
to determine if pornography
really was harmful,
:30:21
Jungle Boogie
:30:23
Jungle Boogie,
Get it on
:30:26
[machine beeping]
:30:27
[moaning]
:30:29
Get it on
:30:30
(Howard Smith)
Well, today, the final results
were published,
:30:33
The presidential commission
recommended doing away
:30:35
with most of the laws
that cover pornography,
:30:38
because they don't
seem to be doing much good,
:30:40
and because pornography
doesn't seem to do much harm
to the adult mind,
:30:45
(Georgina Spelvin)
For one brief shining moment,
it did look like
:30:49
society was going to become
:30:51
a little more adult
about their sexuality.
:30:55
(Hopper)
But committee member
Charles Keating,
:30:58
appointed by President Nixon,
:30:59
fought to dismiss
the findings,
:31:01
Obscenity does indeed effect,
:31:04
The effect it has
is detrimental to society,
:31:07
Charles Keating was
a notorious censorship bug.
:31:11
Later on, of course,
we discovered he was
a good deal more.
:31:14
He was a swindler
and went to prison.
:31:17
The president said today,
''So long as I am
in the White House,
:31:21
''there will be no relaxation
of the national effort
:31:23
to control
and eliminate smut, ''
:31:25
(Hopper)
Then Nixon persuaded
the Senate
:31:27
to reject the report,
suppressing its findings,
:31:31
Everybody forgot about
:31:33
the President's commission
on pornography,
:31:36
because they--they
didn't come out
:31:37
with the answer
they were looking for.
:31:40
lnstead, Nixon got reelected,
:31:43
after being declared
politically dead,
:31:46
and the forces of repression
came in,
:31:48
in a huge, huge way.
:31:53
(Gore Vidal)
He knew all the buttons
to press,
:31:55
Sodomy...
:31:56
[crowd clamoring]
:31:59
[exclaiming]