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This is one of those controversies that clearly demonstrates the disconnect between Red America and Blue America, the Bible Belt and the U.S. coasts, Midwesterners and everybody else. According to today’s Los Angeles Times, a 30-second commercial spot for the animal-rights organization PETA has been banned in Houston, Texas. What’s the beef? The commercial finds 30-year-old actress Alicia Silverstone, “a well-known animal rights activists and environmentalist, ... swimming in a pool naked and talking about the beauty of a vegetarian lifestyle.”

Now, aside from a brief butt shot (which, as everybody knows, is hardly a novelty on cable TV these days), there’s nothing particularly revealing about the footage. I’ve seen more skin on many a public beach than the former Batgirl displays here. “As she emerges from the pool,” explains the Times, “her carefully placed limbs and some fancy camera work leave it all to the imagination.” Nonetheless, this ad has been “reportedly banned in that bastion of beef by Comcast Cable. ... Whether it was too saucy or too controversial is unclear,” reports the newspaper. “A spokesperson for Comcast did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. Neither did PETA.”

Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, even residents of the Lone Prude State can see the spot for themselves, right here.