The U.S. Supreme Court has embarked on the 21st-century version of deciding whether to put skirts on piano legs and pants on dogs. It has accepted the Federal Communications Commission's appeal in a case involving its prohibition against broadcasting even "fleeting expletives" during hours when children might be listening.

The legal assault over a few dirty words spontaneously uttered on TV is an anachronism akin to washing a kid's mouth out with soap for cursing. There may be a role for government to play in protecting the sensitive ears of children from "indecent" utterances, but fining a broadcaster for failing to prevent the airing of a stray bleep or bleep isn't it.

The FCC levied fines against Fox Broadcasting for profanities uttered in 2002 and 2003 by singer Cher and actress Nicole Ritchie. This is a family newspaper, and like most publications, we use discretion when publishing material that readers might find objectionable. Government censorship is another matter entirely.

That said, it would be impossible for readers - or Supreme Court justices - to consider the alleged offenses without knowing the words in question. One rhymes with truck. The other ends in hit. Their meanings depend entirely on their context. In the case before the high court, neither utterance was used as a sexual reference.

Fox appealed its fine and won when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled that the FCC's rule was unreasonable and a probable violation of the First Amendment. The FCC then appealed to the Supreme Court which will rule on what constitutes offensive speech for the first time since comedian George Carlin made comic and legal history with his 1970s monologue on the seven words that can't be said on TV.

The FCC, under Chairman Kevin Martin, is on a crusade to clean up the airwaves. In its zeal it has fined a PBS station for airing a show on the history of the blues that naturally contained a smattering of profanity and caused artists and filmmakers, including New Hampshire's Ken Burns, to sanitize works broadcast on public airwaves.

We share the commission's concern over the coarsening of the culture, but government censorship, save in perhaps the most extreme cases, isn't the answer. Nor will it work. The genie floated out of that bottle long ago.

Foul language, off-color humor and nudity abounds on cable stations and satellite radio. Far worse material is a click or two way on the internet.

The tender sensibilities of children - which in truth are far less tender than most parents might want to believe - are best protected not by government but by parents. Watchdog groups like the Parents Television Council rate programs for children with green, yellow and red lights, and televisions now permit parents to block programs they don't want their kids to see. The high court should rule in favor of Fox, tell parents to do their job, and keep government out of family room.