Cardinal sees Super Bowl incident as disturbing sign of the times

Published: 2004-02-04

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The breast-baring incident involving singers Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake during the halftime show at the Super Bowl is just the latest example of "the decline and fall of a culture that made this nation great," Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington said in a newspaper column. "Am I exaggerating? I hope I am, but I see enough signs around me to make me really worry," the cardinal said in a column for the Feb. 5 issue of the Catholic Standard, Washington archdiocesan newspaper. "What is the most disturbing of all is that I see really wonderful young people falling for this pernicious anti-culture and losing their ideals and their values, with the resulting danger to our nation and our society," he added. At the Feb. 1 Super Bowl in Houston, Timberlake startled an estimated 89 million television viewers when he pulled off part of Jackson's top at the conclusion of their duet, briefly exposing her breast. Both singers have apologized for the incident. The Federal Communications Commission has begun an investigation into whether the show violated decency laws, and potential fines of up to $27,500 could be assessed against each of the CBS stations that aired it.

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