Friday, June 24, 2005

Most cliché attack line award

This one goes to Massachusetts rep Ed Markey, on the battle over PBS funding:

''Republicans, keep your hands off of Big Bird," said Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat. ''There are very few issues that touch ordinary families as passionately and clearly as public television. People love it."
Yes, people do love it. People also love gummi bears; shall the government subsidize them also? Tomorrow Markey and his drinking buddy Ted Kennedy will be griping about the budget deficit instead of asking why the government needs to own a television network or a national rail service that loses millions of dollars a year. Whatever happened to Gramm-Rudman anyway?

Here’s the lesson for fiscal conservatives and libertarians alike: always oppose any new spending programs because they will (almost) never go away.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Regardless of your political stripe, one thing is for sure: the "other side" is stupid, evil, hates kids/hates America, blah blah blah...

Markey is just as vile as Rove, who is just as vile as Durbin, who is just as vile as Frist...etc., etc., etc.

Here is something I would hope we can all agree on: America is great. It is a noble construct resting upon principles that are virtually unassailable.

But the two big political parties have become too controlled by special interests, and too entrenched in the endless battle for a couple more seats in Congress or a few points in the the opinion polls, to lay claim to the greatness that is at the heart of this incredible experiment.

John Adams, of all people, said:

"Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide."

Right now in Iraq some wonderful American kid is breathing his last while back home the debate is on funding for PBS, pointless flag burning legislation and Terry Schiavo. It doesn't matter which of these parties is in charge; the song remains the same. And tomorrow another plane will land at Dover.

Let us not "exhaust" ourselves. Let's talk and worry and think about and take action on what matters.

Anonymous said...

This is hilarious. Not only is Big Bird privately owned, Sesame Street is multi-million dollar cash cow. If all PBS funding was pulled tomorrow, Sesame Street reruns and spinoffs would running on cable until the heat death of the universe.
--Toren