It Takes a Village (and the FTC)

News that freelance programmers uncovered hidden explicit sexual content in the latest Grand Theft Auto game has finally reached Senator Hillary Clinton, and what is a senator in her position to do but make a federal case out of it:

In a letter she is sending Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission, Mrs. Clinton expressed concern over reports that anyone who used a free code downloaded over the Internet could unlock sexually graphic images hidden inside the game, called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Full NYT story here, including a priceless observation about whether or not Mrs. Clinton's posturing could have anything to do with Democrats' hopes of breaking into the family-values vote.

Gamespot, going a bit more in-depth than the Times, notes that Senator Clinton has

joined with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Rick Santorum (R-PA) to cosponsor legislation seeking $90 million over five years for research into how viewing different types of media (television, video games, and the Internet in particular) affects children's development.

It's always good to see partisan differences put aside for the sake of the children. And who knows: today, kids might only be able to download explicit content into their video games, but given a few years and a couple of leaps in technology, they might even be able to find hardcore pornography on the Internet.