With friends like MoveOn.org, public broadcasters don’t need enemies. But they’ve got plenty, especially now that the Republicans who control the House of Representatives are proposing to cut off all government funding for public broadcasting.
When House Republicans put the money for public broadcasting on their list of budget cuts two weeks ago, there was barely a peep from either the right or the left. But that changed when MoveOn, a liberal organization that’s a favorite bogeyman for and target of conservatives, jumped into the fray.
Obama will cancel shortwave radio broadcasts by Voice of America into China this year.
With the money he ”saves” he will fund NPR.
Perhaps Michael Moore can move to Havana and ask Raul Castro to underwrite NPR after they are de-funded by the U.S. taxpayers and their elected representatives.
Move On is a George Soros funded organization that started during the rape and sexual misconduct charges against Bill Clinton and the little matter of his perjury and impeachment. The idea was to get the momentum going again and move past the Clinton sexual adventures with bimbos and groupies. In other words, they wanted America to forget about minor things like perjury and move on beyond these minor bumps in the road. The business of Soros and his visions of Socialism had more important issues to deal with, Americans were just wasting time with a president’s innocent tendencies towards committing rape and perjury. Come on people! Let’s Move On, Georgie isn’t getting any younger!
Got an email just now from the local PBS outlet encouraging me to call my congress critters… The odd thing was they made the claim that PBS only costs the average citizen a buck and a half a year. If that’s true, they damn well ought to be able to raise that from their viewers.
@jim s:
$1.45 for this year PER person in the USA.
BUT, remember, less than 53% of Americans PAY any tax at all.
So, it is $3 minimum per taxpayer.
And, that it too much.
I’m glad to see the battle is on.
Have you heard how NPR/PBS treat their viewers/listeners?
I drive across this great country several times a year and if you are in a place without good radio access, you will get the NPR channels; consequently, you become familiar with their Leftist Message or what is more commonly being accepted as propaganda. They don’t try to disguise with covert window dressing, Hell No! It’s as blatant as hitting your thumb with a hammer on a cold morning, one of those things that is hard not to notice.
Now here is how the Democrats, coming to be accepted as de-facto Socialists view this little bit of “Fairness Doctrine” Socialism is good and right for the country, so everyone should feel privileged to pay for our own brains to be washed in the Marxist detergent and rinsed with the pure water of Socialism. This is a taste of their idea of Fairness. That is we pay for their propaganda because it is in the best interest of a Socialist transformation. Media, education, and print, they want to control it all and if they are going broke they want us to pay for our own demise and the death of our freedom. Pay if you want, but I am damn tired of being played for a fool and a sucker.
The Liberals can get George Soros to support their propaganda efforts or stick where the sun doesn’t shine.
Obviously we can rely on commercial television and the workings of the free market system to provide a wide range of high quality entertainment and educational programming for the nation’s children. Just look at all of the wonderful examples of what they’re already providing.
Federal funding of public radio and public television in the United States works out to about $1.70 per person per year. If the average American doesn’t believe it’s worth spending less than a penny a day to provide programming that doesn’t rot their kids’ brains while simultaneously pitching products that aren’t good for them, there’s not much hope for the nation’s future.
So far as MoveOn’s “relationship” to public broadcasting goes, Dave Saldana’s comment on the linked Katy Bachman article pretty much sums it up:
To simplify the point for anyone who was brought up on a steady diet of mindless commercial television targeting kids and the 60-percent-sugar breakfast products they promoted: There is no relationship.
The cute fallacy of the false dilemma, Greg.
Cute but false.
There are lots of alternatives.
Not just two.
For some examples:
Parents can buy/rent DVDs. Educational, cute ones.
Parents can turn off the TV and supply educational, cute games.
Parents can bring books into their homes.
Parents can ignore screaming tyrants in the store when they shop.
Parents are in charge, not children.
And that’s both of the TV channels and the pocketbook spending on breakfast/snack foods.
Yes they are being accused of Leftist propaganda and about to lose those comfortable salaries and benefits: what do you expect them to say when they are Leftist propagandists. It’s hard to mount a successful defense when Soros’ main front group is rushing to your side. They look like the Keystone Cops, at least the execs of PBS and NPR have the brains to tell the Useful Idiots of Soros to cool it rather than condemn them by association.
I have yet to hear the first complaint by the Left, of Right Wing propaganda on PBS or NPR, funny thing about that little issue. Don’t worry if it blows over and they maintain their funding it will be don’t throw me in that Leftist Briar Patch. This is too funny, except for the public being expected to support one of the Liberal’s propaganda bureaus.
The neutral, center ground is evidently now somewhere far to the left of conservative thinking. Big Bird is probably viewed by some as a spokesman for Marxism.
I probably should have seen it coming when they decided Tinky Winky was a gay rights activist.
@Greg:
Hey! Greg!
Got news for you…..
The neutral, center ground is evidently now somewhere far to the right of liberal thinking.
And NPR and PBS are no where near that neutral, center ground.
@Nan G, #11:
They’re certainly not center ground in terms of the quality of their programming, or in terms of the intellectual and aesthetic profile of their viewing and listening audiences.
I’m sure the commercial networks are compromised by the need to make money of advertising. The obvious problem is that they will need to broaden their audience appeal to attract the most viewers and charge more for their ads. Which explains why there is wrestling and ‘search for bigfoot’ shows on SCIFI, and why there’s nothing on “The Learning Channel” that I’d care to learn. 😉 (I’m a great believer in the “OFF” switch.)
But having said that, I don’t want the government forcing everyone to pay for something directed from the top down by self-selected lefties.