The Linda McMahon/WWE campagin still can’t shake those old images, like pictures of a raunchy college party forever preseved on Facebook. They’re not the McMahon/WWE of today. But they’re part of the history that we’re supposed to be evaluating, aren’t they?
In a miscalculation of astounding proportions, Team Linda/WWE has decided to pick a fight with the media over exactly what all that wrestling playacting really was. The company says that was the old and the new WWE is 100 percent TV-PG. Maybe so, but that doesn’t make the raunch off limits.
In the wake of new threats of legal reprisal against Journal Inquirer editor Chris Powell, I asked Republican Chris Shays, McMahon’s opponent in the August GOP primary, what he thought the old WWE was. He urged me to decided for myself.
So decide for yourselves.
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34 Responses to What Is Porn? You Decide
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I had never watched WWE programing before and seeing this clip disgusts me. I am shocked and horrified on what they allow to air. I have had a little respect for Linda McMahan prior to watching this, and I must say that despite all else, if she and her husband has no respect for the people who she employed, what makes me think that she will have respect for the people of this state whom she wants to serve? I am a democrat by the way, and I can say that knowing the people who work for democratic candidates this year, every democrats nightmare is Chris Shays getting the nomination. If his campaign were to run just one ad with 30 seconds of this clip, the nightmares of all the democrats running for senate and the congressional seats will come true. Mr. Shays is honest, trustworthy, and does what he thinks is right and he has no allegiance to party or ideology, just to America. Although I support Murphy, what I can say is this video and the fact that WWE wants to sue reporters for expressing their opinion (which is their first amendment right in case the McMahan’s haven’t read the constitution; not to be highly critical of them personally, just their actions speaks louder at the moment) really leaves a bad first impression on the voters and they are just coming out of the convention. I feel like if the series of mistakes continue as they are, Mrs. McMahan won’t get the opportunity to spend $50 million more dollars after August 14th.
The CT Democrats are picking up on fellow Democrat Tipper Gore’s PMRC 25 years too late to be really cool.
I decided after just a few seconds of that disgusting filth. I also have become very fast on the mute button every time a Linda McMahon ad comes on TV. I have a very low tolerance for bull****
If the question is “is this Porn” then the simple answer is NO, and no amount of digital ink will change that fact. That’s factual, you know it, so let’s address the real topic here. You liberal CT writers want to ensure that Linda McMahon doesnt get elected, and your pathway to ensure that is to constantly trash and cyber bully the WWE. This is the SAME OLD clip and argument as last time. Here’s another fact– you can be held responsible for lies and slander. You don’t have to like WWE, but if you call it PORN and you know that is a lie, then you can be held responsible for libel and slander. Sure it’s admirable that every liberal CT writer wants to stick up for Powell, but the First Amendment doesn’t give anyone the right to slander a business or person. Quit whining about it– if he (and the rest of you) would stick to facts as any good reporter should, Powell and the JI wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.
I’ve seen more on daytime soaps.
Degrading? Yes.
TV? Yes.
It is entertainment, not everyone likes WWE or gets it especially if you never watched it and you look at these videos. I have watched WWE on and off ever since I can remember, I would go with my girlfriends to the shows in Hartford and laugh and I would watch with my brother growing up. We knew it was outlandish at times but it was something we could do to go and have a good time and not think about the real world for a few hours. WWE is entertainmennt just like you see on General Hospital, Survivor, Amazing Race, Criminal Minds, Jersey Shore, etc.
Simple answer to pornography question in my mind is no.
I thought our culture was smarter than this, but I guess not. How humiliating for young girls and teen girls who sometimes watch this stuff to see a woman treated like a piece of meat, but others thinking it’s OK all in the name of fun. Shame on all of us.
When do you begin focusing on the positive WWE impact in our state? We get it – you found an old youtube clip – How long will this “story-line” be your focus. Our state needs jobs + economic develpment + more jobs. WWE is a company that has a proven track record of creating and keeping good paying jobs in CT…..doesn’t that matter in the mess we are in? If you don’t agree with McMahon for Senate just put it out there. But leave the WWE out of this!
I agree with LauraC829! Today’s WWE is ALL TV-PG, and like Laura’s my family and friends also love to watch it. All this media attention on dated youtube clips takes away from the thousands of fans of the WWE, not to mention their hundreds of Connecticut employees. Fans like me and those employees don’t need to be dragged into this political argument.
Art, you can’t possibly leave out a candidate’s ENTIRE job history if you have any hope of making an educated decision about the kind of public servant they would make. Christopher Shays’s record is fair game, and that makes sense. Linda McMahon’s history is exactly the same: an essential piece of who she is that helps develop and inform an understanding of the type of senator she would be.
Jason– you are absolutely right! Wouldn’t you agree that the CT media have focused SOLELY on old WWE content and NOTHING else? As you said, you can’t possibly leave out a candidate’s ENTIRE job history. Completely slanted to say the this type of (OLD) content solely and accurately defines the WWE or Linda.
Does she have a job history beyond the WWE?
Let me clarify, thanks. I imagine there is much more to Linda’s experience as a CEO than this clip. Tons of community service (make a wish for example), 700 hard working CT employees, etc… An inclusion of ALL of her experience is the only fair representation of her and her former company. It’s typical, but unfair and slanted.
Are you saying that every single article and editorial about every single political candidate needs to encompass their entire career? Articles are bits and pieces; they’re far from whole pictures.
Re below, Jason– I’m saying that there is NOTHING being written about her career aside from these clips. Other candidates are afforded a more well-rounded assessment. Not Linda. The “bits and pieces” about her former business (WWE) are nowhere to be found because frankly the good stories don’t sell papers.
The only reason this story is back in the news is that the WWE has threatened a newspaper with a lawsuit. If they had simply let Powell’s column stand, no one would even be talking about this. However, like the actors who play bullies in the WWE rings, the company has engaged in trash-talking in an attempt to get its way. I have no sympathy for them at all.
As for the definition or pornography, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Powell’s characterization was an opinion, no more, no less.
If this is such a problem then why for the last three decades has the state let this “pornographic” company run its business here? Where were all the politicians and newspaper columnists like yourself calling for an investigation into WWE? Perhaps, simply because someone you don’t agree with politically is running for senate, the WWE should close its doors in CT and take all its jobs to one of the other 49 states that would take them in a heartbeat. Of course then you would blame them for doing so because the state would lose out on all that tax revenue that its making off of this so called pornography. I guess the state should not accept this dirty money , because that is what it is according to you.. Also, I guess we are going to have to shut down Toys R US because they are peddling pornography by having a section dedicated to WWE. We will also have to expand our court system to prosecute all the parents who allow their kids to watch this WWE pornography. I don’t have a horse in this race but it is so funny to watch the people, politicians and newspaper columnists of Connecticut try to destroy yet another successful business in our state. Nice job Rick!!!
Jay, I didn’t bring up WWE and Trish. The McMahon/WWE folks did. I don’t have a problem with WWE as a business, but why is it off-limits for discussion?
C’mon Rick– you NEVER brought this up before? “no, I’m just repeating what someone else said” is what you’re saying? The WWE didn’t bring this up. The media did, and they did so on behalf of Rob Simmons last time. Same deal this time. Linda’s experience at WWE should not be off limits. And the media should be held equally accountable for telling half truths at best. You all have been stretching the limits of the First Amendment to sell papers. It’s a sad state when the media start to earn the same reputation as ambulance chasing lawyers.
There is NO EXCUSE for Vince McMahon to treat women the way he treated Trish. I’m a republican and find it an outrage! I’m glad the content is not as offensive now, but it doesn’t excuse the behavior of the past.
It’s TV. People come back from the dead and they cure stage 54 cancer daily.
What I am saying Rick is that no one questions the motives of any of these politicians, and you don’t either. What you posted is probably the worst clip of the worst. Where was Blumenthal, where was Shays, where was Malloy, where was Weicker (WWF board member) They all represented Stamford and no one cried pornography..where was Chris Powell before McMahon ran for office? The ascertion is outrageous and that is what should be attacked Rick!
The Democrats are getting what they want. Talk about the WWE adn avoid the ‘Vacancy’ signs hanging from Chris Murphy’s ears.
I predict Bysiewicz in a third-party run wins the office.
Thank you for supporting Mr. Powell…..I must disagree with a few of the comments for I believe strongly in the first ammendment and the role of the press in the vetting of candidates.A person who runs for office must realize that everything they have done which has shaped their persona is fair game.No one forced Ms McMahon to run again
and surely they must have anticipated the blowback they are now receiving……I guess they never heard the phrase “don’t pick a fight with those who buy ink by the barrel…”
Continue the good fight for this is still what makes this country great!
While I can’t say for certain, one has to wonder if the pasts of the other candidates were televised and immortalized on YouTube, would we be asking the same questions about them?
I have been a WWE fan my whole life and this is just just pure entertainment. Its a reality that some people just don’t want to accept. Many people pay to watch porn, and derogatory movies and allow their children to see them too. Reality bites and just because WWE is free and says the truth and the men and women of the WWE steel the attention away from your loved ones is not their fault join in one day better yet buy a ticket and go to a live show you might just like it or better yet LOVE it. I know I do. I support WWE even though I cant be at any of their events. Their wrestlers are great role models for my boys, and the divas give me great hope and fashion sense…..THANK YOU WWE…..I LOVE YOU…..YANIRA CRUZ
The WWE like any other television show should be watched by an age appropriate audience. The local news is more graphic in it’s display of violence. Shows like Maury & Springer depicting real women that need to have SEVERAL men tested to see if they are the father are more pornographic. Parents should decide what they and their families view. That being said, stop smearing Linda. Arnold Schwarenegger became Governor after making Terminator and Junior. PLEASE PEOPLE!
Here’s my definition of porn: Is it women forced to view ultra-sounds before abortion? Or women on MediCaid using Planned Parenthood for ultrasounds and waiting until the 23rd week to determine the sex of the baby. If they like the ultrasounds then its a go.
Wrack up those Medicaid bills baby! It’s your right! Your entitlement!
All with the advisement of a Planned Parenthood counselor who admits to freely using late-term abortion as birth control.
To me, that’s porn. It’s a real issue. Not for the Democrats and Murphy of course. Murph the fluffster doesn’t much bother with morals or ethics. It would give him wrinkles.
To quote the Economist: it’s the era of technology driven ‘Malthusian Sex Selection’ as girl babies are perceived as having less worth to the women who would bear them–not to mention they would follow in their Mother’s footstamps and get pregnant young.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/06/sex-selective-abortion
Ultrasound porn. It’s the next thing. Better than baby pictures!
Oh look! The ban on sex-selective abortion is on tap for tomorrow in the US House of Representatives.
>> To date, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Arizona have all banned sex-selective abortion. Similar bans have been enacted in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, India, the United Kingdom and Vietnam <<
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/05/29/congress-votes-on-sex-selection-abortion-ban-tomorrow/
But wait! They are aborting worthless women! Why should anyone care? Hell, Democrats won't even vote for women! (Clinton, Bysiewicz, etc).
It’s not off limits for discussion, Rick, but for columnists like Powell and McEnroe to whine about their first amendment right to call something “porn” when the facts say otherwise is ridiculous. How dare Linda and the WWE threaten to sue someone for calling their company something it factually is not??!! In this country we actually have laws that govern what is and isn’t porn. If WWE were porn, than the FCC has missed the thousands of hours of pornographic programming the WWE has put on network and cable TV for the past 25 years and should go back and fine them millions of dollars. Where’s the CT DSS going after parents for bringing their kids to live WWE events that, in Powell’s view, is public pornography??? If Vivid Video moved into Stamford in the last decade and actually starting shooting what any person with common sense deems as porn, do you think Mayor Malloy would have stood silent and collected their property taxes? What about Toys ‘R Us selling Jenna Jameson dolls like they do WWE figures? I’m sure Chris Shays would be OK taking a tour of a Wicked Videos production studio like he did WWE headquarters in Stamford when he was a Congressman. All these examples demonstrate how absurd Powell’s assertion is and how Shays and the CT media are only up in arms about the WWE “porn” because it suits their needs. They are factually incorrect and should be held accountable.
Come on people, wake up. The clip with the girl is fiction. You can’t possibly beleive she is being abused.
Let me clue you in. She is an actress acting in a skit.
Is it porn? No it is not. It is simply a television show.
Don’t talk about how you built a small business up from nothing into a huge corporation without expecting some scrutiny of the steps you took along the way. It’s like Michael Corleone saying “the Corleone family will be completely legitimate” and hoping nobody will notice all the dead bodies piled up along the way to legitimacy.
I’ve known wrestling to be fake since I was about knee high to the gal in this video. Am I now supposed to think this clip is real life…? I’m neutral on Linda. Are all the chearing fans to be considered porn fans as well? Have any of the purist’s commenting here bought any wrestling memorabilia for their kids or grand kids? Are you now a porn supporter? I am having trouble with the delayed outrage as this stuff is old news…
Why is it that when Linda is talked about people always have to talk about the entertainment side of the WWE and not what they do for the community or their Anti-Bullying campaign? The WWE is entertainment ladies and gentlemen and as adults we are the ones who decide what our kids watch. I do. My son only watches what I deem fit for him to watch. How come no one has ever gone after Fred Thompson for being on Law and Order where the show murders, rapes and such? Because its entertainment and that is not what he is about in real life. Well the same goes for the WWE and Linda. They do more good for our state and kids all over the world than anyone else. Please stop the petty stuff that keeps coming out. Tactics like this show how desperate people get when the polititian they want may not win.