Before the Red Sox's first home game after the Boston Marathon bombings, David Ortiz grabbed a microphone to tell an emotional and excitable crowd that "this is our fucking city." This being our country, Americans immediately ran to register their disgust with the FCC.
Through a FOIA request, Deadspin has obtained the complaints, which can be found below. There were just as many viewers upset with the FCC chairman's implicit approval of Ortiz's language as with the remarks in the first place.
Ortiz's speech goes down as one of the indelible images of Boston picking itself back up after the bombings, which had occurred just five days earlier. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had been apprehended the night before. As a massive American flag was unfurled from the Green Monster, Ortiz addressed the crowd:
"All right Boston. This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston. We want to thank you Mayor Menino, Governor, Patrick the whole police department for the great job they did this past week. This is our fucking city and nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”
This aired live on radio and on local and national TV. Within hours, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, a Brookline, Mass., native, tweeted:
David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today's Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston - Julius
— The FCC (@FCC) April 20, 2013
We'd like to highlight some of our favorites from the complaints received by the FCC. First up, Palm Bay, Fla.:
Gardiner, Maine:
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.:
Carson, Calif.:
Note: This one was written by an FCC employee based on a phone call from a complainant in Harmony, R.I.:
Virginia Beach, Va.:
Lafayette, Ind.:
Charlotte, N.C.:
No location given, but this email came with the subject line "Does FCC stand for 'Hypocrite?'"
Davidson, N.C.:
No location given:
If you're keeping score at home, David Ortiz's "fucking city" falls somewhere between Beyoncé's gyrating vagina and Kevin Ware's shinbone on the American Outrage Scale.
Here's the full list of complaints. Happy fucking Fourth of July.