I get Forbes Magazine in the mail. I'm not sure why I get it. I never subscribed to it, I've never given them a dime, I never read it, yet I continue to get it. It usually goes directly from my mailbox to the recycling bin. While walking back to my house from the mailbox, I had this odd desire to open it and see what was in it. One article in particular captivated my interest. It was a one page op-ed written by RW hack Amity Schlaes entitled Fundraiser's Scandal Reveals Deep Corruption of NPR. It was nice outside, the article was short, I like NPR, so I decided to stop and read it. Wow, was I glad I did. There was so much there that I never would have surmised.
Boldface my own:
That tricky Vivian Schiller. That flatterer Ron Schil-ler. When Americans talk scandal, they talk names, not ideas.
The recent resignation of National Public Radio's head, Vivian Schiller, came after her fundraiser, Ron Schiller (no relation), was caught on tape pandering to a group posing as wealthy potential donors from a fictitious Muslim organization.
Entrapment is creepy. But this story serves as a reminder of a genuine problem at NPR. This problem is not personnel; it is, as the Marxists would say, structural. NPR's staff and friends pretend that NPR isn't such a big deal, that it's just one creature in the great forest of talk radio, which happens to be funded--but only fractionally--by the federal government. Hence the outrage at congressional efforts to take away that small fraction.
But the reality is that NPR is not one among many. It's a Tyrannosaurus rex, whose every move pounds the forest floor. The reason for this is not the money NPR receives from the government but the colophon of authority that federal subsidy confers. Having the government's seal makes NPR respectable, and that, in turn, gives it access to customers, including tender young ones, whom Fox can never reach. The same holds for another meat-eater in a region of vegetarians: the Public Broadcasting Service.
I wonder why she singled out Fox? Why not CNN, ABC, or just the generic "cable news". I guess nobody of importance watches any of them.
Reading on:
These public news stations' most important customers are our society's most important multipliers, teachers. Teachers respect government because they are funded by it--either directly, as the employees of government at public schools, or indirectly, as in the case of staff at private schools that benefit financially from their nonprofit status.
OMG, I knew it! Those evil no good teachers are behind this! That single demographic group that did so much irreparable harm to my beloved state of Wisconsin are behind this corruption.
When Morning Edition or PBS Newshour airs broadcasts that are relatively friendly to government, they confirm prejudices that teachers already nurse. NPR's bias toward education--its voice is that of an educated gentleman or woman--does the same. This also holds true for PBS, which airs some of the best documentaries made. The intellectual sophistication of public radio's product validates teachers' personal decisions to invest their lives in a field that places a premium on education. Smart radio and television make teachers feel smart.
How dare they bias themselves that way. And in the name of education! Public funds blindly tossed in the name of 'education'. Where is the outrage. Furthermore, they're using actors who actually try to look and sound like... dare I say `it again`... Teachers!
There's another reason public animals rule Teacherland: convenience. Public radio and television make a teacher's day-to-day existence easier. Teachers need material to educate, but they are also penalized--and far too strongly--when they supply students access to material that could offend.
Those lazy good-for-nothing teachers are actually copping material from Public radio and Public television to help them teach? Stealing public funds in this manner is absolutely inexcusable. We already know those teachers are already sitting around on their asses most of the day, spending their summers sunbathing and sleeping the day away at taxpayer's expense.
At this point I'm seething. All this corruption directly under our noses and nobody is pointing this out? It seems to me that this dangerous triad of NPR, Public Radio, and Teachers must surely be doing more harm to our society than anybody ever guessed.
As I turned the doorknob entering the house from my garage, I casually flipped that rag into the recycling bin.