Oh, Say Can You See

In the old days when America and television were younger, the networks were frightened of sex. Dagmar had to caulk her cleavage with a doily, Elvis Presley was depicted only from the waist up. Today, TV censors are far more concerned about ideologies of the mind than exposures of the body.

The latest hassle involved a visit to CBS's Merv Griffin Show by Chicago Seven Defendant Abbie Hoffman. In mid-taping, the Yippie peeled off his rawhide jacket to reveal a shirt that seemed to be cut from an American flag. After consulting its legal department, CBS decided that there was "the possibility of violation of law as to disrespect and desecration of the flag." It edited the tape to blank out Hoffman's image for the 51-minute interview.

Sometimes it is difficult to understand the excessive solemnity with which Americans treat the Stars and Stripes. What matters, of course, is just who wraps himself in the flag. Uncle Sam wears a flag outfit, and so did Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on a recent television show. Indeed, on the very Griffin show on which Abbie Hoffman's shirt was censored, CBS's New York affiliate transmitted an auto commercial showing a salesman hawking his wares in a starred-and-striped Uncle Sam suit.

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