"We are talking about words"

Tumbledown.com recently posted this video of Frank Zappa on a 1986 episode of Crossfire, defending words and the First Amendment. It’s a relic from the culture wars of the ’80s, back when Tipper Gore was fronting the PMRC campaign to censor music.

The first 10 points Zappa makes: “We’re talking about words!”, which he says over and over. Once he stops repeating himself, he goes on to smoke the competition, John Lofton of the Washington Times.

To my mind the money quote is when Zappa is asked if he’s an anarchist, and replies “No, I’m a conservative.”