Bulldozing Sesame Street: Or Pave Paradise, Put Up a Learning Block

We can add a few new entries to the endangered species list:

Big Bird
Elmo
Oscar the Grouch
Cookie Monster
Zoe
Bert
Count Dracula
Ernie
Grover
Kermit the Frog


These cheerful Muppets and their Sesame Street pals, both puppets and people, have been helping kids learn their alphabet, numbers, some primary reading skills, a bit of Spanish, and even some basic problem-solving skills and a bit of tolerance. Sesame Street is a mulitcultural neighborhood, with segments about the abilities of the people with disabilities, and lessons about coping with other differences. In short, Sesame Street is the American Dream in kid-friendly microcasm.

And if I'm a bit out of date with the character list above, it because the two Sesame Street alumi in my life, my nephews, and now teenagers.

Sesame Street has been an American preschool favorite for almost 40 years now. The show debuted when I was in elementary school, well past the age of the target audience. And while I derided the show as a child, and benignly toleranted it as a teenage babysitter; as an adult I can see its value and its quality.

Sesame Street rules. It teaches kids the basics they need for school, but it's not all cuddly and sweet. The segments are witty and relevant, even in the world of adults. I became a fan when
I was watching with my nephew and saw Monsterpiece Theater with "Alistair Cookie". I laughed out loud. Cookie Monster was sitting in a chair in a teasing little tribute to a mainstay of PBS' adult programming, and perfectly mimicing its well-known host at the time, Alistair Cooke. And I started watching with the young people in my life, instead of just hanging out in the same room.

Sesame Street, due to its popularity, is likely here to stay. But the lastest brouhaha regarding PBS and NPR funding in Congress could make it difficult for some local PBS stations to afford such important programming.

Congress may righteously tout that they need to make budget cuts or reduce the deficit, but the amount being cut from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is less than 100th of 1 percent of the proposed 2 trillion dollar budget, a federal budget version of spare change. But this cut means 45 percent less fundng for PBS and 25 percent less for local stations. The CPB is such a regretably small part of our federal budget as it, so why cut it even further.

The green button link article from the New York Times suggests a possible reason. A former White House official, working for the CPB was monitoring and rating PBS content on a liberal versus conservative scale, specifically the guest who appeared on NOW, then hosted by Bill Moyers.

A few years ago, I was channel-surfing and came across a conservative journal awards program on CSPAN. As I watched speaker after speaker, both commentator and award winner derided a Bill Moyer and the audience cheered and laughed at each venomous jibe.

A few months later, channel-surfing again on a Friday night, I came across NOW with Bill Moyers, was interested in the evening's topics and watched the whole program. I was hooked, and remain a NOW viewer even though I miss Bill Moyers, who has since retired, as well as the former hour-long format. The current host David Brancaccio has kept the show's format and integrity; but now at its new half-hour length it merely whets my appetite for more. Fortunately our local affiliate has a new program Foreign Exchange, which talks about global issues that affect American issues and vice versa; and gives me a whole new menu of issues to ponder.

NOW is a program that examines current news and politic topics, with views from both sides of any issue. In doing so, they often discuss views and expose details detrimental to the Conservative agenda.

NOW, Frontline, and NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered are among other excellent PBS and NPR news shows are the real fair and unbalanced news sources in our country. Without the shareholder, profit spreadsheet, and commericial interests of the corporate networks, they are more objective and complete in their reporting. And they are more likely to cover a story in greater detail, with several points of view.

But of course, the Conservatives don't believe in several points of view. And that's what it's really about, cutting funds for the network that runs these wonderful news resources. We should all be concerned about the proposed cuts to the CPB's budget. It appears to be a step toward media censorship, and away from the First Amendment.

And these networks also run arts shows like Masterpiece Theater, science programs like Nature and Nova, as well as shows like Sesame Street for adults and children. For many Americans with limited resources, PBS and NPR offer rare educational and cultural learning opportunities. And some PBS shows like This Old House and The Antique Roadshow, have inspired commercial television programs, or even entire cable networks; creating new business interests and industries.

We cannot afford not to fund Public Broadcasting. Perhaps we should even all a few hundreds of 1 percent to the federal budget, and invest more in this national treasure trove of knowledge and ideas.

Instead, it seems we have an Administration and Congress with a vendetta against freethought. We need to contact our representatives today and tell them to restore the 100th of 1 percent to the CPB's funding.

For without this bit of federal spare change; Sesame Street may be safe, but other educational programs will disappear from our nation's TV screens. And America's children will be left behind, again.

Long live Big Bird!

The 70% Solution: Or You'll Never Get Roses if You Plant Brussel Sprouts

According to a BBC poll, almost 70% of the people in Indonesia, the most
populous Muslim nation, viewed our country with hostility before the
tusnami. Today, according to a poll released by the Heritage Foundation,
almost 70% think more favorably of us.
Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, Parade Magazine, Sunday, June 12, 2005

I'm having a rather crazy, busy week. The kind of week that makes you want to hide under a rock until Saturday. So, I didn't get around to reading the magazine supplement to my Sunday paper until Tuesday.

I found today's green button link there: a story of hope and healing, and American heroes; a story that I just had to share. On June 20, the story will go into Parade's archives, but that link is on the cover story page. I hope you'll take the chance to read it.

Dr Isadore Rosenfeld is Parade's health columnist, and I have long enjoyed his articles on medical issues. He gives no nonsense, but also common sense advice; he tells it like it is.

This past Sunday, however, he wrote about his visit to the USNS Mercy, a Navy hospital ship which joined with volunteers from Project HOPE, a health and humanitarian aid organization. to provide medical care to the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia after last December's tsunami.

Then, after helping the tsunami victims, they stopped at other ports of call in the region performing both life-saving and routine medical care. They brought the latest medical equipment and know-how to a world without doctors, or even toothbrushes. And through such miracles as cataract surgeries and other operations; the blind were made to see, and the lame to walk.

And something else happened in this primarly Muslim corner of our globe, as the above quote illustrates. America become more popular in the region. As Dr. Rosenfeld observed:

I cannot image any of the children or parents whom I met on the Mercy
embracing Osama bin Laden's anti-American vitriol or wishing harm on a single
American, or support the cause fo out terrorist enemies.

He came away believing that supporting and deploying such medical missions would not only help the less fortunate citizens of the Third World so desperately in need of health care; but also help to increase our own national safety and well-being.

Such measures would certainly at least help counteract the Administration's efforts to "promote" democracy around the world. Bush's rhetoric and actions have not lessened the Middle East's distrust of our country, and by many reports have exacerbated the hostilities that fuel terrorist activities. Neither Iraq or Afghanistan will have stable government, democractic or otherwise, for some time to come. And there's no guarantee that when they do, they will be pro-American governments.

American must protect itself from terrorists; but we need not become the ogre of the world to do so. Our vigilant, militant, and resolute foreign policy is not winning us many friends, or for that matter vanquishing many of our real enemies. Rather our enemies, too, have become more resolute; and we've created tensions with some of our most important allies.

In an ever-increasingly technological and global society, the United States cannot afford to remain the strong, kick-ass, one-world-power loner nation. More and more, our economy depends on what's going on in every corner of the world.

And let us not forget that terrorism knows no national or cultural boundaries. Remember Timothy McVeigh and Ted Kaczinski our very own home-grown terrorists? Yes, Mr. President, it is a new kind of war and a new kind of enemy. Perhaps we need a new way to fight it?

Yes, we'll still need some bombs and bravado. But we can also add a little healing and hope.

Troops or Consequences: Or Where Have All The Recruits Gone?

Recruitment is down for our armed forces. Way down. Recruiters have missed their quotas for the fourth month in a row.

Today's Green Button is a column by Bob Herbert of the New York Times that sums up the situation quite a bit better than I could.

Just before the war, I heard a few reports of National Guard soldiers who were surprised that they were being sent to war. Then I was shocked at this apparent cluelessness. Now, I'm wondering what their recruiters might have told them.

Because now, in the various stories I've seen or heard, recruiters seem desperate, and sometimes perplexed. There are reports of recruitment hard-sell tactics bordering on harassment. And parents are up in arms about recruitment on high school campuses.

Yet, we haven't heard much from the White House about the situation. Perhaps they're viewing it with their usual rose-colored blinders. See no problem. Hear no problem. Admit no problem. In other words, business as usual.

Before we invaded Iraq, patriotism was high. Many soldiers were excited about defending our nation's interests. Those of us who protested against the war were accused of not supporting the troops.

Now polls show declining support for the war, as well as this decline in military volunteers.

Are today's young adults less patriotic? Or perhaps have they've also noticed that:

• The Administration, at best, was wrong about the fabled weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Or, at worst, they lied to justify sending our young soldiers to war.
• The stop-gap or "back door draft" that has kept soldiers in the service, and on the front lines, well past their scheduled discharge dates.
• The lack of protective armor, both for soldiers and their vehicles.
• Cut backs in veterans services and medical centers.
• An unrealistic invasion plan that sent in just enough soldiers to topple the dictator, but not enough to stablize the country.
• The on-going conflict, now frequently being compared to the "quagmire" of VietNam.
• The seldom acknowledged thousands of wounded.
• 1703 honored dead...

Consider also that military service in recent years has been the choice of middle class and poor students who wanted job training and money for college. Can it be that they no longer feel obliged to support a war favored by an Administration that so obviously favors the rich and powerful?

His Resoluteness still proclaims that we are winning the war on terror, and that things are going well in Iraq. But anti-American sentiment, which spurs terrorism, has increased not decreased. And many of the insurgents in Iraq are home-grown, not the scheming immigrant troublemakers they are often made out to be.

Bush keeps promising the soldiers are coming home, just as soon a Iraq has a new, stable government. But if he wants support, and freshly recruited reinforcements for our battle weary troops, he might have to try a new tactic to spur patriotic fervor: abandoning the fairy-tale vision for some cold, hard facts.

Our soldiers have the unflagging support of our nation's citizens. They certainly deserve full and realistic support from Congress and the President, and in actions and equipment far more than words.

Americans have shown that are willing to rise and face a difficult challenge. Is Bush willing to admit that we are indeed facing one?

*********************************************************************************

Here are just a few links where you can help show our support for our troops:

http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/

http://www.legion.org/support/index.php

http://anysoldier.com/index.cfm

http://www.heromiles.org/ (donating "air miles" so soldiers can come home on leave).