While we were all busy fattening up babies for sacrifice to our pagan deities on the eve of the solstice, the U.S. Appeals Court in the Second Circuit (New York) took a peek at the indecency issue. Attorneys for the FCC and the Fox network argued their respective positions regarding the 2002 Billboard Music Awards broadcast, during which Cher said "Fuck 'em" in reference to her critics, and the 2003 Billboard Music Awards, when Nicole Richie explained that it wasn't "so fucking easy" to get "cow shit out of a Prada purse."

This court hearing was the moment I had been waiting for ever since the FCC's 2004 post-nipplegate freak-out: finally a group of federal judges are examining the FCC's unjust manner of assessing broadcast indecency.

Check out the expletive-laden testimony via streaming video right here on C-Span's site.

I was raising my fist in the air, yelling "fuck 'em!" at my computer, as I watched Judges Pooler, Leval, and Hall lay into the FCC's counsel pretty heavily, questioning everything from the commission's decision reversal a few months back to their repeated assertion that the V-chip is useless, despite the FCC's ongoing endorsement of the parenting tool.

The Second Circuit court did not announce when it would come to a decision on the case, but if this hearing is any indication, first amendment junkies like myself might be pleasantly surprised. Another exciting appeals case looms in the future: the Third Circuit Appeals Court will examine the 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction incident. I'm at the edge of my seat.