Okay, it's officially reached scary

Back on January 18, I said the climate of self-censorship among broadcasters had officially reached stupid because Fox had blurred the bare butt of a cartoon character. Apparently I underestimated: Even a sly reference to nudity that doesn't actually show any is also to be off-limits, as CNN/Money tells us.

Anheuser-Busch is pulling an advertisement planned for this year's Super Bowl that would have poked fun at last year's infamous "wardrobe malfunction...."

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the ad would have shown a stagehand using Jackson's outfit to open a slippery bottle of Bud Light, causing it to tear. He tries to fix it using scotch tape.

The newspaper said the halftime show is not shown in the ad. Instead, it shows the stagehand watching the show on television as the crowd reacts and a game announcer chimes in: "Wow, that's something you don't see every day."

But the newspaper says Anheuser-Busch pulled the ad after consultation with both the National Football League, which denounced last year's halftime show, and Fox, which is broadcasting this year's game Feb. 6.

"Why take the risk? All you need is one person to be offended," Bob Lachky, an Anheuser-Busch vice president, told the newspaper. "Some people don't want to be reminded of the incident." ... [emphasis added]

The newspaper reports that Fox has even changed the name of its cable hit from "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" to "The Best Darn Super Bowl Road Show Period," as the show makes a special broadcast appearance.

Thus, anything that might possibly offend even one person is to be avoided. And so as the Powells, father and son, take leave of their government posts, at least one of them can take pleasure in the accomplishments of a job well done.

Roy Orbison had it right for sure.