I thought all those video games and sexy TV shows were ruining our kids?

A New York Times columnist asks the question, “Is PBS still necessary?”  To his way of thinking, cable and the Internet have stepped in  to take over PBS’s historical role as a purveyor or hard-to-find entertainment, entertainment the networks wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.  In that respect, I think he’s correct; however, with broadcast television becoming even more of a wasteland featuring craptacular reality television that’s cheap to make and doesn’t require those pesky union writers.  The real problem for PBS is Congress, and in particular Republicans who see the Liberal bogeyman wherever they look.  They have crippled PBS financially and left it incapable of giving us the great entertainment of past.

Moreover, while it’s true you can find much of what PBS offers, or used to offer, on cable and the Internet it’s also true that for many people who live in rural communities with no access to cable other than expensive satellite services like DISH and DirecTV, and where broadband is non-existent, PBS is the only alternative.  True, rural communities are less likely to watch PBS than than more urban communities, but it’s still watched.  If PBS could be untied from the strings Republican Congresses have wrapped it up in, and if it could get the money it deserves, I think people would watch.  Granted, the network model is in decline, but I don’t think you can apply the broadcast network model to PBS.  Moreover, PBS could benefit from new media just like the broadcast networks.  Killing PBS would be a great mistake.

So, now the Clinton campaign is accusing the Obama campaign of…wait for it…plagiarism!  Really!  Is that the best you can do? OK, Obama used someone else’s words and didn’t attribute the quote, so what?  I’d be surprised if most politicians didn’t do this.  It’s a speech for, Pete’s sake, not a doctoral dissertation.  All this does is make the Clinton campaign look pathetic.  Hell, even the person Obama borrowed the words from said he’s not upset about it.  Move on, you little baby!