Today was the last day for Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, self described advocate against violence in media, in particular, video games.
The senator made a name for himself in the early 90's, when he spearheaded a campaign against games like Mortal Kombat and Night Trap by leading hearings, which would eventually result in the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a self governing body that assigns age restrictive ratings on "violent" videogames.
Despite a perceived success with the ESRB's creation, Lieberman wasn't done yet. As the years went on, so too did Lieberman's crusade against violence in videogames.
After the shooting at Columbine High School in 1998, he, along with Senators McCain, Markey, and Burton, sent a letter to President Clinton, pointing the finger at video games as a possible cause for "what is causing our schools to become killing fields." The letter claimed that the "multimedia onslaught our children are exposed to every day is doing real harm, desensitizing kids to the consequences of violence, teaching them that gunplay is a reasonable way to settle disputes, and increasing the likelihood that life will tragically imitate art. Our concerns have been heightened by the pattern emerging from the recent school massacres, which indicates that the gunmen involved have been immersed in and fascinated with hyperviolent films, record lyrics, video games, or Internet sites in varying combinations."
He would express disappointment with the ESRB after the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' "Hot Coffee" scandal made headlines in 2005. As a result of this, Lieberman co-sponsored the Family Entertainment Protection Act with fellow democratic senator Hillary Clinton. The Act would have imposed fines or community service against those who sold or rented "mature" and "adult only" rated games to minors. It also called for the FTC to investigate the ESRB on whether they were properly rating games.
Speaking about GTA specifically, Lieberman called "on the entertainment companies - they've got a right to do that, but they have a responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect." FEPA was never enacted into law, and expired.
Lieberman would eventually applaud the ESRB a few short years later for their ratings summary strategy in 2008, claiming they provided "a greater level of detail about game content to help parents be even more prepared to make informed game selections for their children" and applauded "the ESRB for taking this proactive step to inform video game consumers."
After the recent shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Lieberman did acknowledge other factors that led up to the event, such as Lanza's mental faciities and easy access to guns, but still claimed media violence as a factor, saying, "The violence in the entertainment culture, particularly with the extraordinary realism to video games, movies, etc., does cause vulnerable young men to be more violent. It doesn't make everybody more violent, but it's a causative factor in some cases."
Lieberman described himself as "genuinely an Independent," who usually agrees with Democrats when it comes to domestic policy, and with Republicans in regards to foreign and defense policy.
He delivered his farewell address in mid-December, saying "Today, I regret to say, as I leave the Senate, the greatest obstacle standing between us and the brighter American future we all want is right here in Washington."
Chris Murphy took the oath to replace Senator Lieberman earlier today. At 39, he'll be the youngest member of the Senate. Whether Lieberman will continue his campaign against violence in games in his retirement remains to be seen. But what's for sure is that there are already others vying to carry on his work in the Senate.
