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My main question is if a TV exists that is widescreen, but that forces 4:3 content to always be 4:3.

No, the problem they're solving is the opposite of that. They're not sending a 4:3 picture. The channel is a 16:9 channel, period, they're sending a 16:9 picture.

The problem happens when they don't have true 16:9 content to broadcast on that channel. Then they have to choose how to fit the 4:3 show into that 16:9 frame.

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they are removing control from the consumer watching their station

No. The picture they're sending is 16:9 no matter what. It just happens to be a 4:3 show being shown on the 16:9 channel.

You can't stretch the 16:9 window any wider than 16:9, with any TV or receiver I know of.

They're not removing a choice, in fact, based on your next statement, they're giving you a choice where none would have existed before:

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Thankfully my unit does allow me to set 4:3 manually, thus returning the 4:3 content to a non stretched look.

Exactly. You can take that 16:9 picture and make it narrow. But if they'd done it the other way 'round, then you couldn't take the 4:3-pic-on-the-16:9 channel and make it wider, because the channel is already a 16:9 channel.

Get it?

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By what I can tell, the local FOX station broadcasts the proper aspect ratio and switches when the time comes. For example, during 24, I get a full 16:9 picture as intended. But when a commercial break comes on, I get the commercial in a pillar box format to ensure the 4:3 ratio is maintained.

I don't know for sure, but if I understand this correctly, what you're seeing is your Fox station putting up black bars on the sides. They're not changing the broadcast from 4:3 to 16:9 and back again. They're still broadcasting a 16:9 picture at all times, it's just that the sides of that picture happen to be black during the 4:3 commercials. They've made the opposite choice as your CBS station did.

And those, of course, are the stations that cause burn-in for me, because I can't make the black bars disappear. And I'll bet you can't either. Try it and let me know.

Now... Some very enlightened stations, I'm told, are doing gray bars instead of black. I wish the ones in my local area were.
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Tony Fabris