The budget carnage in the House is truly appalling. Where to start??
Since I'm a filmmaker, I noticed the elimination of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which means PBS - ITVS and possibly NPR. I couldn't find words for what I felt, so I photoshopped something . . . I call it "The execution of Fozzie Bear".
In Gotham they turn on the Bat-signal when the going gets tough; this photo-montage is my small effort at calling out the Muppets to fight the Republican guillotine.
THE EXECUTION OF FOZZIE BEAR (link to full-size image on flikr)
I'm a little surprised that there hasn't been more outrage over the Republican cuts agenda. I also wonder why Democrats haven't been publicizing the more controversial of their cuts: such as the attack on PBS.
Republicans didn't wait until health care passed to talk about death panels, they did it while the debate was on. And as a result they won in the 2010 Congressional Elections.
The left needs to be aggressive about fighting back. And we need to use symbols and slogans that show people what these cuts really mean. If we simply argue numbers and program titles, we're going to lose this debate.
Logic is important. Knowledge is crucial. But symbols and framing are also important, as George Lakoff has been pointing out to our side for a long time.
I think its time to fight back with the best weapons we can find. In the 90s, Big Bird saved PBS from extinction at the hands of a Republican axe. And Big Bird saved much more than CPB and PBS, he also helped to turn around public opinion on Republican budget cutting. Almost everyone in American has a relationship to Sesame Street, either as a child or as a parent. And without public television, Sesame Street would never have happened. If the Boehner guillotine falls, any future innovation in public television is as good as dead.
Big Bird? Where are you?
(note: I gave this image an attribution non-commercial creative commons copyright license. Share it if you want).