Sonoran Arts Network
  • Home
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • My Turn
  • Video
  • Editor's Page
  • About

 and Then They Came for BiG Bird

3/21/2017

8 Comments

 
PicturePhoto: mpeake on Flickr
        If all the misguided actions of the narcissistic, racist and sexist, pathological liar now squatting in the Oval Office were colors, then we’d be drowning in an ugly, pulsating mass of colors so intense that we would be struck blind. His latest outrageous misstep can be found in his proposed federal budget.
         What should we be most concerned about when we see the list of cuts?  Because I have a sincere hope that the human species will not become extinct in the next 100 years, I’d say my first concern is the 31% cut in the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is now run by a greedy lackey for the fossil fuel industry who seems have the scientific knowledge of a toad. Nah, I take that back. Most toads fit into their ecosystems with more awareness and respect than does Scott Pruitt. Or maybe we should be concerned about the cuts that eliminate 62 federal agencies, among them support for literacy programs, home weatherization for the poor, Wheels on Meals for the elderly, support for national heritage and wildlife areas, legal aid programs, employment programs, occupational safely programs, arts and culture programs (National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services), and Big Bird.
         That last one, Big Bird, represents the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). After my concern for human assaults on our environment, I guess I’d have to say that I have a deep and abiding respect and concern for the work of CPB which includes PBS (Public Broadcast System), NPR (National Public Radio) and Sesame Street. I watch The News Hour on the PBS every day, and I listen to National Public Radio daily, too. Both news outlets report facts, not fake news. If you want to hear fake news, listen to Trump or his lackey Sean Spicer. NPR and PBS News Hour have balanced reports that give both sides of the issue under discussion. This kind of balanced, factual reporting is an absolute fundamental foundation of a democracy. In order to be good citizens and make good decisions, we must get our news from unbiased, professional and ethical news sources. As the Washington Post mast says, “Democracy dies in darkness.” 
         CPB also means Big Bird and his friends – Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, and the newest friend, autistic Julia – won’t be there for another generation of kids. Also what about those wonderful British shows we’ve see on Sunday evenings for years, among them Prime Suspect, Dr. Who, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, Planet Earth, Poldark, Foyle’s War….and so many more, will we have to move to London to see them now? And then there’s jazz in the evenings on KUAZ, and the BBC in the middle of the night informing us of what’s going on from Beijing to Buenos Aires….will those broadcasts disappear, too? And David Yetman’s The Desert Speaks? and Arizona Illustrated?
         Get the picture? Things are pretty bleak and will get worse if anything even vaguely like this budget passes. And what do we get in return?  Oh yeah.  We get a wall that costs up to $31 billion, bringing with it the pretense that our “national security” is enhanced.
         By the way, the title “And Then They Came for Big Bird” is from an article in the Daily Beast (cited below). But it refers also to this quotation from an earlier time when another fascist was in power.  Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a Protestant pastor who opposed Adolf Hitler and spent seven years in a Nazi concentration camp. He wrote these words.
 
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.
 
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
 
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
 
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
 
        It’s time for us all to get involved and speak out. I’ve already contacted Senator McCain’s, Senator Flake’s, and Congresswoman McSally’s offices several times. Maybe if you can, too, if we all call and remind them that they work for us, and yes, we do want clean air and water, and yes, we do want Big Bird and his pals to stay on the air, and yes, we do want art and poetry and libraries, then maybe they will listen. If not, elections are on the horizon.

Linked Resources:
And then they came for Big Bird
Trump wants to cut the NEA and NEH. This is the worst-case scenario for arts groups
The 62 agencies and programs Trump wants to eliminate


8 Comments
Chris Dawdy link
3/21/2017 02:52:41 pm

Great job Shane.

Reply
Christopher
3/29/2017 09:18:20 am

Hi Shane,

According to a NYT article from August of 2015, Sesame Street packed it's bags and moved to HBO back then and hasn't looked back. I'm sure Big Bird and friends will be just fine. Kermit and Miss Piggy being Muppets, were unaffected by the move.

Cheers
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/14/business/media/sesame-street-heading-to-hbo-in-fall.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0)

Reply
C.J. Shane
3/29/2017 03:15:23 pm

PBS and NPR are not safe. Big Bird is safe only if Trump doesn't decide to go after HBO. After all, John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" is highly critical of Trump, and HBO has a new miniseries in development about the 2016 election.

Jerrod Mason
9/7/2017 04:15:50 pm

Your ad hominem screed is disgusting. Apparently nobody can disagree with your opinion/priorities/politics without being labeled a"narcissistic, racist and sexist, pathological liar."

Any chance that I would give financial support to your ortganization, as I have to many others in the Tucson area, just went out the window.

Have a nice day.

Reply
C.J. Shane link
9/8/2017 09:47:39 am

Jerrod, thank you for your very entertaining post. My "screed" was not ad hominem (defined as directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining). Trump doesn't have positions so I was not shifting an attack on positions to personal attacks. I am attacking him personally. Period. I accused him of being "narcissistic, racist and sexist, pathological liar." There is abundant support for diagnosis him as having a narcissistic personality disorder. He's racist. There are numerous examples of this but just one refers to a judge whom Trump attacked because the judge is of Mexican heritage. And sexist? Any man who talks about grabbing pussy is a sexist pig. And pathological liar? Plenty of evidence of that, too. I've seen videos of him saying one thing one day and another thing another day. He's unstable and incompetent. As for your claim that I lost the opportunity to get financial support from you, I don't think that was going to happen anyway, but basically I don't care. I'm not for sale.

Reply
Jerrod Mason
9/8/2017 01:03:39 pm

"My "screed" was not ad hominem ...I am attacking him personally. Period. I accused him of being "narcissistic, racist and sexist, pathological liar."




R-i-i-i-ght. Not ad hominem at all, Humpty Dumpty.

He's racist because he was concerned about a judge's possible bias? Is that the best you got? Check out this video: http://truthuncensored.net/30-years-trump-fighting-racism-media-doesnt-want-see-video/

Reply
Jerrod Mason
9/8/2017 03:40:33 pm

A couple of (final?) comments:

1. It was not appropriate for you to bring your personal politics into play, especially in such an intemperate manner. There are lots of avenues for you to vent; an arts network website is not one of them

2. You claim that Trump has no position, because you are unable to make heads or tails out of his actions. A lot of very smart people have the same problem, but I think you are all missing the big picture. You are focusing on tactics, which are by their very nature highly volatile. Tactics are the implementation of Strategy, which focuses on goals. Finally, Strategy is a plan for implementing Doctrine, the overriding assumptions and values. Trump's doctrine has been consistent and public for decades; his strategy too, but only for the past year or two. He seems to be a master at guerilla tactics, keeping both friends and foes sputtering and off balance. It's a new way of conducting politics, and we shall see whether it pans out in the long run. I'm betting that it does.


Reply
C.J. Shane link
9/9/2017 09:52:16 am

Regarding your first, the original post was about defunding of arts, humanities, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. All of these are related to art. So why you think my comments are not appropriate for an arts website make no sense. Besides all that, I founded this website, I run it, I own it, no one pays me. I'm the boss. El Jefe. I get to write what I want. You get to complain if you want, but I'll end up doing what I think is right.
Regarding your second point, "master at guerilla tactics" might work in the the business and entertainment worlds, but it is entirely inappropriate as the leader of the United States. In fact, it's dangerous. I hope we can make it through the next 3.5 years without any lasting damage done to our political and social institutions, not to mention all the environmental damage being done now.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    C.J. Shane is the publisher and editor of Sonoran Arts Network. She is an artist and writer. Visit her website at www.cjshane.com to learn more about her.

    Announced April 30, 2016:
    Sonoran Arts Network Editor/Publisher C.J. Shane has been honored with a  First Place in Community Arts Criticism for the 2015 Arizona Press Club Awards.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

Sonoran Arts Network copyright 2013-2019

  • Home
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • My Turn
  • Video
  • Editor's Page
  • About