George takes a swipe at Big Bird

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I'm leaning more and more left these days, mainly because the right seems to be moving even further right.

That's exactly how I feel. I’ve always been a moderate; and I vote for the person or issue, not for the party. More and more the last few years, I have been voting Democrat. An ex-friend (long story) once accused me of becoming a liberal. I told him that my beliefs and opinions have not changed – I stayed put, the country moved.

Edited to add: Just a thought… If my beliefs don’t change with time, doesn’t that make me a conservative??? Hmmm….

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by JWBear

An ex-friend (long story) once accused me of becoming a liberal. I told him that my beliefs and opinions have not changed – I stayed put, the country moved.

Me too.

I can't help but feel that this cut is retribution for CPB's critical report on Kenneth "Rove" Tomlinson. He quit after allegations about him came up when he used CPB money to monitor Moyers' show without the board's approval.

I donate to PBS and NPR when I can. Their listeners will fill that gap. Once they do, I'll be sure to listen in more. If Bush thinks they're critical of him now wait and see what they'll be saying soon enough.

[MickeyLumbo]

i have donated to PBS in the past because i love the programing. i watch frequently...in fact several times in the past week. i give when i can...the appeals suck me in and i feel obliged.

following Katrina, i donated a hefty sum to the ASPCA. since that time, the mailings, calendars, t-shirts, and sometimes more than one slick-mailing in a week has me reconsidering donating to non-profits.

i realize the execs need a salary and that they appeal to their "base" of previous donors... but damn... i'd bet the stuff they have mailed me since my contribution nearly negates what i gave.

PBS does sends me mailings every few weeks ... and it is such a waste of money.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by MickeyLumbo

PBS does sends me mailings every few weeks ... and it is such a waste of money.

The cost of such mailings is paltry compared to the return they get, else they wouldn't be doing it. That said, I'm sure you could contact them and ask them not to send mailings to you.

[JWBear]

Ignore. Duplicate post.

(Why did the board add a second post when I went to edit the original???)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by JWBear

Ignore. Duplicate post.

(Why did the board add a second post when I went to edit the original???)

You probably hit quite instead and didn't realize it (I do that a lot).

[mousepod]

For the record, I give money every year to my local public radio station (KQED) because I enjoy the programming. I also pay for Sirius radio almost exclusively for Howard Stern. They're not mutually exclusive.

However, I ceased giving money to public tv years ago. With the exception of one or two shows, the programming doesn't do it for me. Perhaps when I have kids, I'll donate something to keep commercials out of Sesame Street.

Have you ever noticed that the great documentaries that they play on Public Television during the pledge drives are usually edited? The versions that you get on DVD in exchange for a pledge are almost always longer. That alone is enough to tick me off.

As I get older, I find that I am more of a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. Exactly like neither of the two parties.

This story makes me neither happy nor sad. I guess I'd be happy if the sweeping cuts were less biased. It just shows how ugly the government really is. Come to think of it, maybe I am sad. But not for the "right" reasons.

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by mousepod

As I get older, I find that I am more of a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. Exactly like neither of the two parties.

Yeah, I'm with you there. But, it's the focus on cutting these "liberal" programs that hurts me the most. There's not much emotion for me in striaght econmics and, while they both deal with quality of life, I think the "nice to have" is just as important as the economic niceties and I'm not sure why the feeling is that the government should only be concerned with one of these things.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by mousepod

As I get older, I find that I am more of a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. Exactly like neither of the two parties.

Libertarian, baby!

[€uroMeinke]

I guess the other issue I have, is when someone cites an example of something potentially filling the void of publicly funded programming, it's almost always of the "pay" and not "public/broadcast" variety.