The saucy language used by Cher and Nicole Ritchie in two separate instances during the 2002 and 2003 Fox Billboard Music Awards is being deeply considered by the Solicitor General of the United States. The Solicitor General, who argues cases before the Supreme Court, has not yet decided how he wants to proceed. Never has so much intellectual firepower been exhausted over such tripe. From Broadcasting and Cable:

''The Supreme Court has given the solicitor general an extra month to decide whether to ask for high-court review of the federal appeals court decision that the FCC has not sufficiently justified its crackdown on cussing.

''The solicitor general, who argues cases before the high court, is the one who will make the decision on whether to take the FCC's case to the highest court. The commission has already passed on appealing to the full Second Circuit after the three-judge panel's stinging rebuke in June.''

In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out that decision, calling the FCC ''divorced from reality.'' Kevin Martin, the FCC Chair, subsequently released this unintentionally hilarious press release, festooned with F-bombs and S-bombs he hankers to curb. Since the deadline for petitioning for a Supreme Court review is September 2 -- over the Labor Day weekend -- an extension was granted. Blame Bono's F-bomb after U2's 2003 Golden Globe victory for all this wrangling over ''fleeting expletives.'' Amazingly, the FCC did not bring up ''Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves'' in their arguments against Cher's integrity.