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The inanity, the puritanical hypocrisy, the blindness to significant realities, the mass stupidity that characterize--indeed, that are--America are all encapsulated in the brouhaha now raging over t he partial exposure of one of performer Janet Jackson's breasts during Super Bowl 2004's halftime extravaganza February 1.

After refusing to lend Super Bowl airing to a MoveOn.org-produced 30-second spot critical of George W. Bush's performance as president, CBS News has crawled, groveled and apologized profusely for more than three days because viewers of the Super Bowl halftime show may have caught a glimpse of one of Jackson's breasts when co-singer Justin Tim berlake intentionally pulled her scant o utfit down a bit in a planned finale as he sang, "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song."

"CBS deeply regrets the incident that occurred during the Super Bowl halftime show. We attended all rehearsals th roughout the week and there was no indication that any such thing would happen. The moment did n ot conform to CBS broadcast standards, and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended," CBS offered by way of a quick apology.

And there is more in sanity.

Secretary of Defense Colin Powell's rotund son, Michael Powell, head of the Federal Communications Commission, promised a federal investigation of the nipple incident, according to AP.

"Federal Communications Commission chief Michael Powell said in a statement, 'Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt.' He promised an investigation..."

A federal investigation, folks.

And even the National Footb all League--prime pur veyors of violence and animality at all times--had to apologize to America's Christian families, saying the NFL was "extremely disappointed" in Jackson's performance.

All of this feigned outrage fr om these unlikely hypocrites over a harmless attention-seeking stunt of a few second's durati on executed by a mass media icon notorious for such actions.

By way of inexplicable contrast, I read of no outrage being expressed by any of these individuals or groups about CBS's cowardice in pulling the MoveOn.org ad.

Nor did I read of an apology fr om CBS because they lacked the courage and fairness to run the ad criticizing Bush for his role in destroying the economic viability of one nation and the very in frastructure of two other nations in his three years of miscreant misrule in an office he ne ver won.

Nor have these self-righteous Americans who are so shocked and indignant at the sight of a woman's breast expressed outrage that their tax dollars have b een used to murder up to 10,000 Iraqi civilians in an immoral war of conques t--a war whose WMD justification has been universally exposed as a bald-faced lie that was peddled repeatedly by Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

And th ere has been no moral outrage from any of the anally retentive fundamentalists of John Ash croft's stripe who blanch white and faint away at the sight of a human female's breast, (even a sexagenarian bronze one), but who were happy to see their nation launch an unprovoked shock and awe blitzkrie g on Baghdad last March that killed thousands in a few hours.

Where is the moral outrage at this nation's morally reprehensible human rights record in Iraq among these God-fearing Americans who are apparently more offended by a nipple than by piles of de ad Iraqi children?

Sadly and deplorably, there i s none.

Baring a woman's breast or viewing a woman's breast is not a sin and is hardly a newsworthy event. Ms. Jackson's publicity stunt deserved minimal attention a t best, but has received non-stop major coverage for days.

On the other hand, murdering up to 10,000 innocent Iraqi civilians in a brutal military campaign of imperialistic aggression that continues to lack any justification whatsoever, was and is a crim e against humanity that should receive wide and con tinuing exposure until the perpetra tors are brought before an international war crimes tribunal at The Hague.

But there is only silence among the corporate media's talking heads and their pea-brained fol lowers in this matter of genocide in Iraq.

Janet Jackson's right nipple was bared before their very eyes February 1 and they and their wholesome children may have suffered irreparable moral degradation as a result of the exposure. This is the story of s ignificance to them.

The skewed value system of this sick nation of puritanical hypocrites causes me nausea on a daily basis..