Friday, October 05, 2012

big bird might be the answer

(Warning: The post you are about to read contains Lisleman’s fact and speculation. It only takes a quick spin on my office chair start my inner ear spinning. The truth is out there, I just don’t know where.)

If you interpret this post as political then I failed to communicate my message. This is not to persuade you to a particular candidate. I don’t like extremes and believe compromise is the best path to solutions. The moderate view does not play well in the media so we don’t get to hear much of it. I wish we heard more about solutions that came from the different sides working together.

You may have heard or even participated in the big trending topic coming out of the first presidential debate - Sesame Street’s Big Bird




Myself I always liked Oscar the Grouch better than Big Bird. The charismatic one is Elmo.



Of the many issues mentioned in the debate are you surprised that Big Bird and PBS funding seemed to get the most attention? At first I was a little surprised but after I thought about it maybe it makes sense that the public focused on this big yellow bird.

Most everyone recognizes Big Bird. He looks funny. He’s a big simple target. People don’t seem to care for complex details. If people bothered to look into this they would find the federal funding is minor part of PBS operations and about one one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget. Maybe it’s meant as a simple mostly symbolic target.

Honestly while I’ve supported PBS with donations and enjoy much of its programming maybe it could survive without government funding. This issue is not a deciding factor for me and probably not for many others.

I don’t know if government funding was a factor but maybe the Elmo and Katy Perry song might not have been dropped if PBS were more independent. Just crazy speculation on my part but the video really shows Elmo’s charisma. 





The bottom line is please vote and remember more local offices affect you more than the higher ones. This has been brought to you by the letter ‘V’ for vote. 


another circus 

10 comments:

GB DB said...

Very nicely worded!

Tami said...

I only saw the tail end of the debate and totally missed the 'Big Bird' reference. Bright side: I love sesame street! And for the record, Grover is my favorite! He has my vote! :-D

lisleman said...

thanks

lisleman said...

Grover is too blue for me. thanks

Bearman Cartoons said...

PBS should put a ticker toward the end of a song with the amount to call in by the end of the program. They hit the number and their won't be a 20 minute fund drive.

lisleman said...

I do like the idea of internet donations and call-ins but I'm sure they have found the pledge drives the most effective. So long as they stay away from using telemarketers I don't mind the occasional drive.

CaliforniaGirl500 said...

There are things about PBS I don't like including some of their more controversial decisions and mistakes, including the stupid remarks made by former PBS CEO Vivan Schiller. That said, they provide good solid programming on all fronts. I just read stats saying that 7% of Americans think PBS is fully funded (100%) by the federal government. It is actually 1/100th per cent of the federal budget. http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2012/1004/Big-Bird-fired-Cut-wouldn-t-end-PBS-or-balance-budget.-video

lisleman said...

Interesting about the 7% thinking that. I believe you could find 5 - 10% of Americans believing just about anything - world's flat, the Mayan calender is a conspiracy, the earth is only 4000 years old, etc.

Lisa Fazillah said...

I enjoyed the post Bill. You made things clear.

lisleman said...

thanks for giving it a read and sharing a comment

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