CPB is SOL under GWB

June 21, 2006

I’m tempted to think, hard as it may be to believe, that the White House wants to undermine the integrity of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Yesterday, President Bush announced his intent to nominate television producer and National Review Online (NRO) contributor [tag]Warren Bell[/tag] to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The CPB is intended to provide a buffer between independent public broadcast networks and vested or partisan interests in government. But instead of being a nonpartisan advocate of public broadcasting, Bell will likely be another advocate of Bush’s agenda. Under Bush, the CPB has steadily pushed right-wing priorities, such as trying to put a conservative slant on programming. In his writings for National Review, Bell has been clear about his right-wing views: “I am thoroughly conservative in ways that strike horror into the hearts of my Hollywood colleagues. I support a woman’s right to choose what movie we should see, but not that other one.” He has also made it clear that he is unlikely to work in a bipartisan manner, stating in a 2005 column, “I could reach across the aisle and hug [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi, and I would, except this is a new shirt, and that sort of thing leaves a stain.”

One, where does Bush find these guys for government posts?

Two, after Ken Tomlinson’s partisan, ideological, and generally ridiculous work as Bush’s chairman of the [tag]Corporation for Public Broadcasting[/tag], which ultimately included legal violations, hasn’t the president done enough to the [tag]CPB[/tag]?

For the Bush-cons, PBS is just another baby to drown in the bathtub.

  • Does this need Senate approval of any kind? If so, maybe someone on the Dem side can make an issue of this. Likely they won’t, but a kid can dream…

  • “hasn’t the president done enough to the CPB?”

    Hasn’t he done enough to country? God, what a miserable son of a bitch.

  • Cant be havin none of them Frontline docs on Global Warming and Dick Cheney now…

  • I can hardly wait for the premiere of the Gibson O’Reilly Newshour and the revamped Sesame Street — where the only big bird is an EAGLE!

  • Plainly there’s LOTS more to do to CPB, judging from last night’s Frontline, “The Dark Side”. Geeze, talk about fuel for nightmares.

    It’s clear that uppity PBS needs to be reminded of who’s in charge.

  • Indeed, Jim and Eeyore, I can hardly wait for such gems as:

    The Electric Company is Good For the Environment, sponsored by Halliburton, hosted by Michael Crichton.

    THEN with Ward and June Cleaver, and Jerry Falwell.
    (or perhaps NOW with Bill Moyers on Trial at Guantanamo)

    Great Performances: The State of the Union Speeches of the First Bush Term.

    Or course, there will always be Sesame Street, just a little updated. Like that outdated theme song, which will now start “Sunny days, beating up all the gays. . .”

    Oh there is SO much more BushCo can still do for CPB.

  • One year of special funding from the CPB to get all PBS stations High Definition capability, then end all Government funding.

    That way, the Republican’ts can’t destroy another functional American Institution.

  • January 20, 2009: A day that cannot come too soon. If my Math is correct, that would be 944 days from today—and counting….

  • If they get rid of “Elmo’s World”, they are going to find out just how pissed off my two-year-old can get.

    She will seriously kick whoever’s ass needs kicking.

  • The CPB clearly was to play a waiting game to see if it can outlast Bush’s attempt to strangle it. After watching “The Dark Side” last night on Frontline, PBS is right there with the blogs as the last line of defense for truth and sanity.

  • For anyone who doesn’t understand why Bush did what he did, be sure to catch the rebroadcast of “The Dark Side” (it’s usually early on Saturday night, at least here in L.A.) – you can’t have those durn “Reality Based Types” going around promoting actual facts, y’know??????

  • Reagan deliberately hired people who were antithetical to the interests of the department he put them in charge of. Because our presidents aren’t able to just shut down departments at will, it’s an effective method of at least virtually shutting it down for your term in office.

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