trying to preserve culture.

...public still means something

06.14.05

I am not a terribly political person, but this absolutely makes me want to cry:

The House is threatening to eliminate all public funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and other commercial-free children's shows.

To me, this is one of the lowest blows to our culture that our Government can make, so in my own way, I am making my voice heard...

This is what I am telling my Senators and Representative:

The P in both NPR & PBS is Public. Which is exactly who you are hurting if you eliminate funding for either stations.

There is a whole segment of society that has been raised on PBS/NPR, from watching "Sesame Street" as children, to listening to Garrison Keillor tell stories about Lake Woebegon on "A Prairie Home Companion" with their families on Sunday night after dinner.

Personally, I love the variety that cable television and commercial radio offer. But I also like NPR and PBS because they offer an alternative to Pop Culture.

I know many, many people that eschew the gratuitous sex and violence that cable and commercial radio disseminate.

I have no problem with hearing someone on television or the radio say, "shit" or call someone an "asshole." I am not offended by shows that feature graphic violence and gratuitous nudity, and I don't generally consider them trash.

But, I would hope that as parents, as many of you are, you wouldn't be comfortable with your babies watching that type of television, or listening to that on the radio.

And this also isn't a call to censor cable television or commercial radio. I firmly believe that the first amendment is right, and free speech should not be censored.

But if you cut the funding for Public media, you are effectively censoring some very valid, useful, educational and worthwhile freedoms of speech.

Congress must save NPR, PBS and local public stations. We trust them for in-depth news and educational children's programming. It's money well spent.

If you feel at all the same as I do, I urge you to sign this petition.

MoveOn.org is a PAC, and they can be a little over the top, but on this issue, I wholeheartedly stand behind them in this fight. I don't always agree with their actions or the way that they push a lot of their agendas, but I do think that they are generally working for the forces of good.

Thanks for letting me proselytize, and if you don't like it, that's your problem and not mine.