Borrowing from Fascists and Dictators

One of the first steps any fascist or dictator leader takes to resist threats to their power of rulership, is to take control of, or to silence, the media. While fascists and dictators do not run America, the political Right is apparently borrowing from their playbook.

Day before yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee voted to severely cut funding of PBS and NPR by $100 million. This is on top of an aggressive political campaign to subvert public broadcasting's independence and make it one more media mouthpiece for right-wing ideology says, Ralph G. Neas of the organization known as People For the American Way (PFAW).

Where was the Right's action to end PBS and NPR when both networks were investigating and reporting on the Lewinsky or Whitewater affairs? Now however, that public sentiment and polls are turning critical of President Bush and Congress on Iraq and the national debt, and a handful of journalist programs on NPR and PBS are investigating and reporting on why, the Right wants to remove their funding.

I have written extensively on our need to rein in spending and increase revenues to deal with the deficits and national debt. But, the amount of funding the federal government spends on Public Broadcasting is a pittance, and the need for independent journalism free of commercial interests and bias, has never been greater.

Now that the appropriations committee has acted, public broadcasting's future will soon come before the full House of Representatives. I urge everyone who has an interest in protecting independent reporting and journalism as well as children's programming that 10's of millions of America's children have grown up with, to please act now.

The following link will take you to the PFAW website where you can quickly send a message to your Congresspersons urging them to retain funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that helps fund PBS and NPR. Tell your Congressperson to Save it.