To the editor:
Scott Rothschild’s lead on the presidential debate story was right on target. Mitt Romney’s threat to shut down PBS resounded across the nation as the clarion blare of the Tea Party’s trumpet “We’re going to take the country BACK!” The devil is in the details. When all the honk and bluster of the campaign end, there will be a president in the White House who wants to lead the country forward, or one who threatens to take the nation BACK.
Friday’s debate between congressional candidates Jenkins and Schlingensiepen turned on Romney’s PBS statement. That’s because Romney’s PBS comment is a an unvarnished threat about where the right wing of the GOP intends to take the nation. There are no ifs, ands or buts. Congresswoman Jenkins reiterated that fact.
So Scott Rothschild got the lead right. Romney’s wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark. It was a naked statement of intention. Everyone should be guided by that fact.
Comments
JonasGrumby 7 months, 1 week ago
I found it odd that Tobias S. said he would defend Sesame Street with his life. I check his bio, and it lists no military service. So Tobias failed to defend his country, but he would give his life for 1 percenter Big Bird.
If Dora the Explorer can support herself without unconstitutional government subsidies, surely Big Bird can.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 7 months, 1 week ago
Ah, yes, we'll all be much better off when our only programming options are those selected for us by Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Bros.
Solomon 7 months, 1 week ago
You present a false choice, a typical ploy of the left.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 7 months, 1 week ago
Not false at all. Can you name ONE of the private networks that offers programming truly comparable to what's on public broadcasting? Programming that's available free to anyone with a cheap TV and an antenna, even in remote rural areas?
Eliminate public broadcasting, and we'll get nothing but the lowest common denominator crap that Rupert Murdoch's networks typify.
Wallythewalrus 7 months, 1 week ago
Right on! Even with cable TV and about 200 choices only PBS has intelligent programming.
westcl 7 months, 1 week ago
PBS has corporation and foundation support. Do they really need tax dollars?
Agnostick 7 months, 1 week ago
bozo... maybe as recently as ten years ago, I would have readily agreed with you. I think things are a bit different today, though.
You're exactly right: There are few programs on channels like Disney Jr., Nickelodeon, Discovery Kids etc. that come close to PBS staples like "Sesame Street," "Word Girl," or even the rebooted "Electric Company." I'm not going to say that those programs are the sole reason my 2nd-grade is reading at a 4th-grade level--but they've certainly helped.
So, if all those great PBS children's programs were suddenly having to fight it out in the marketplace, I'd bet that there would be a rush of companies--good companies--anxious to attach their names to these stalwarts of educational TV. A company like Subaru or Kashi would probably love to be associated with "Sesame Street."
Cutting funding to PBS would be like putting a couple of quarters towards this month's payment on your new Cadillac--Social Security and Medicare are the bigger sharks we need to worry about. But if it did come to that, I think a lot of programs would be snapped up by other networks, suffering little or no degradation in quality, content, etc.
It's not like anyone's tripping over themselves to support stuff like this:
scaramouchepart2 7 months, 1 week ago
Anyone remember the dark ages. The public dumbed down. Little education, no rights, no protections. More people living in squalor then in nice homes. PBS is educational. What next no history channel. It may not be funded, in part, by gov, but definitely is a source of education that will need to be limited to only a few. We have kids being shoved through the school system that are not ready to move to the next level, but the fear of lost dollars forces the school districts to move all kids on no matter if they are not ready for the next level. Student financial aid is on the chopping block. If you aren't one of the few then your kid doesn't have the right to an education.
There is a catch 22. Those who think they are one of the top 10% will find themselves also I limited from the elite. How? As we become less educated or poorer as our wages are lowered and our jobs no longer provide enough income to buy. We will buy less. It is already happening. Cutting educational programming is a big deal. It's one more peg in the downward spiral.
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