IN general I am uncomfortable with public expressions of crass indecency, but at the same time I would not coexist comfortably with the morality police.

The daily offerings on Ragashanti Live on Nationwide News Network (NNN) had more than a significant listenership and because my car radio dial was usually ‘stuck’ on NNN, I have listened to Ragashanti and his callers. His show was mostly about people describing sexual matters in a straightforward and, to me, quite crude and disgusting manner.

I adore sex like any other human being and I recognise that when the morality police pounce, it is usually because someone shouted ‘sex’ in a packed theatre. It is my belief that there is a place for public discussion of sex and sexual matters in a comical way, simply because much of sex is comedy.

Overload of crassness is, however, not just stupidly boring but is indicative of either a deliberate narrowing of the subject into its basest form or an inability to invite the broadening of the discussions on sex, its problems and relationships.

In the times that I listened to Ragashanti, where I became revolted, there were at least five or six other people who were lapping it up and enjoying it to the fullest. Everyone wanted to know what was being done to whom, who was up to it and whose pedestal became cracked at the base or deflated at the podium.

Much of the show was about people gloating over their sexual exploits or others joking about the failures of their sexual partners. What I found in listening to the show is that a snippet snapped for a 10-minute segment at, say, hour x would be almost a replica of another 10-minute snippet at hour x plus one. After numerous ‘swipes’ and ‘sort-outs’ what was there left but repetition?

Would I allow my child to listen to it? My 15-year-old stepchild was given the option and rejected it, quite possibly because she too was bored and revolted. And yes, she is a bright child.

The decision of the Broadcasting Commission to pull the plug on the show must now be sorted out between that regulatory body and NNN.

Let us face one hard fact. It was very obvious that Ragashanti had been pulling in significant sponsorship (read advertising dollars) for NNN. Nationwide has been Jamaica’s premier news-gathering agency and it has been consistent in breaking the big stories. In addition, in boss Cliff Hughes and presenters Emily Crooks and Carol Narcisse and others, the radio station has some of the most penetrating analysts anywhere.

Many, including myself, saw major incongruencies with that established reputation and the introduction of Ragashanti Live. To me, in the equation, E refused to gel with MC squared. But of course, with the best set of presenters and analysts, there would always be the pressing matter of paying the bills.

Is there a space for Ragashanti Live in the same dispensation and in the same time slot? The Jamaican people would have to answer that one. Personally I could not bear more than five minutes of it, but it was always my observation that the man at street level adored the show.

Who am I to deny him his desires?

The used-tyre doublespeak