PBS and rethinking the conservative argument

[JoeB131]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now, I had a liberal buddy who volunteered to work at PBS for their telethons.

And the argument I made was that PBS didn't need donations and it didn't need a government subsidy. There are plenty of corporations that would happily put their commercials on the quality programming they were producing.

And back in the 1990's, I could point to The History Channel and the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel and Arts and Entertainment and say, "See, these channels are producing quality education and arts programming and making a buck doing it. The Market Forces win again!"

Yup. I really used to believe that.

Flash forward to today.

The History Channel (which sometimes got called the Hitler Channel because of all the WWII shows) is now a mix of Paws Shops, Logger and trucker shows. Which have nothing to do with History.

The Discovery Channel, on the weeks they aren't doing Shark Week, do street racing, and shows about people who catch crabs in Alaska. (And I don't mean that as a visit with the Palin family.)

The Learning Channel- or Just TLC- They went gutter trash first. Jon and Kate + Eight, Sarah Palin, Midgets, and other trash.

Ah, but Arts and Entertainment. Oops, now it's Rednecks and Exterminators.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

LOL

"I Used ta be a Republican..."

LOL

Was going to Neg you for being a lying scumbag and then I realized you do far more damage to yourself by posting than I could by negging your lying ass

 

[Sunni Man]

I used to love the History Channel......great shows about real history.

But now the majority of the programming is nonsense like ancient aliens and UFO's. .

 

[blastoff]

LOL

"I Used ta be a Republican..."

LOL

Was going to Neg you for being a lying scumbag and then I realized you do far more damage to yourself by posting than I could be negging your lying ass

With his track record it's probably all made up bullshit again.

When reading him it's best to eschew the grains and grab a big family-sized container of Morton's salt.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

LOL

"I Used ta be a Republican..."

LOL

Was going to Neg you for being a lying scumbag and then I realized you do far more damage to yourself by posting than I could be negging your lying ass

With his track record it's probably all made up bullshit again.

When reading him it's best to eschew the grains and grab a big family-sized container of Morton's salt.

He's either a Jake Starkey sock account or he's a genuine Russian disinformation officer who has never visited the USA and only knows American by reading Obama's books.

 

[NLT]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now, I had a liberal buddy who volunteered to work at PBS for their telethons.

And the argument I made was that PBS didn't need donations and it didn't need a government subsidy. There are plenty of corporations that would happily put their commercials on the quality programming they were producing.

And back in the 1990's, I could point to The History Channel and the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel and Arts and Entertainment and say, "See, these channels are producing quality education and arts programming and making a buck doing it. The Market Forces win again!"

Yup. I really used to believe that.

Flash forward to today.

The History Channel (which sometimes got called the Hitler Channel because of all the WWII shows) is now a mix of Paws Shops, Logger and trucker shows. Which have nothing to do with History.

The Discovery Channel, on the weeks they aren't doing Shark Week, do street racing, and shows about people who catch crabs in Alaska. (And I don't mean that as a visit with the Palin family.)

The Learning Channel- or Just TLC- They went gutter trash first. Jon and Kate + Eight, Sarah Palin, Midgets, and other trash.

Ah, but Arts and Entertainment. Oops, now it's Rednecks and Exterminators.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Programming for brain dead liberals.

 

[sameech]

Plus PBS has several channels depending upon where you live and what television service you have. I get 7 or 8 PBS stations (i don't watch the kids ones so I forget the exact number). My TV is almost always on one unless I am checking out Bloomberg or surfing the cable news.

 

[rightwinger]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now, I had a liberal buddy who volunteered to work at PBS for their telethons.

And the argument I made was that PBS didn't need donations and it didn't need a government subsidy. There are plenty of corporations that would happily put their commercials on the quality programming they were producing.

And back in the 1990's, I could point to The History Channel and the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel and Arts and Entertainment and say, "See, these channels are producing quality education and arts programming and making a buck doing it. The Market Forces win again!"

Yup. I really used to believe that.

Flash forward to today.

The History Channel (which sometimes got called the Hitler Channel because of all the WWII shows) is now a mix of Paws Shops, Logger and trucker shows. Which have nothing to do with History.

The Discovery Channel, on the weeks they aren't doing Shark Week, do street racing, and shows about people who catch crabs in Alaska. (And I don't mean that as a visit with the Palin family.)

The Learning Channel- or Just TLC- They went gutter trash first. Jon and Kate + Eight, Sarah Palin, Midgets, and other trash.

Ah, but Arts and Entertainment. Oops, now it's Rednecks and Exterminators.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Very true

It is a shame how once respectable networks sold out for the cheap reality show dollar

 

[JoeB131]

LOL

"I Used ta be a Republican..."

LOL

Was going to Neg you for being a lying scumbag and then I realized you do far more damage to yourself by posting than I could be negging your lying ass

With his track record it's probably all made up bullshit again.

When reading him it's best to eschew the grains and grab a big family-sized container of Morton's salt.

So in your universe, it's impossible to have someone change his mind when presented with new evidence.

This one isn't a major issue for me, but it illustrates my point.

there was a conservative argument. We don't need a government subsidy for arts programming because the Market will create it. Hell, Mitt Romney made that argument two years ago when he threatened to kill Big Bird.

I really did used to believe that argument.

And at one time, The History Channel produced good shows.

Then they started producing crap like Alien shows.

Then they figured out that they could just produce the same Reality TV shit everyone else was producing. Their top show is about a Pawn shop right now. Which about three or four other networks have copied.

 

[kaz]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now

LOL, sure you were, joe, sure you were. You're a cookie cutter liberal.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Imagine, giving their customers what they want! What kind of way to serve them is that? I see now why you went to the left, that simply has to be stopped.

 

[kaz]

LOL

"I Used ta be a Republican..."

LOL

Was going to Neg you for being a lying scumbag and then I realized you do far more damage to yourself by posting than I could be negging your lying ass

With his track record it's probably all made up bullshit again.

When reading him it's best to eschew the grains and grab a big family-sized container of Morton's salt.

So in your universe, it's impossible to have someone change his mind when presented with new evidence.

No, it's impossible to believe that someone who supports every liberal position, uses every liberal talking point, believes every ridiculous liberal stereotype and has no idea to present an argument that would convince anyone but the most shallow left wing Democrat of anything that they used to be anything but what they are.

And at one time, The History Channel produced good shows.

Then they started producing crap like Alien shows.

Then they figured out that they could just produce the same Reality TV shit everyone else was producing. Their top show is about a Pawn shop right now. Which about three or four other networks have copied.

The History channel was good and now it sucks. The irony is that they are pursuing the same people who elected Obama President with shallow programming that appeals to the masses because that's where the votes are, and that's where the ratings are.

The people who watch those shows now are your people, Joe. Be proud!

 

[norwegen]

I used to love the History Channel......great shows about real history.

But now the majority of the programming is nonsense like ancient aliens and UFO's. .

What, you think aliens can't be ancient?

 

[JoeB131]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now

LOL, sure you were, joe, sure you were. You're a cookie cutter liberal.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Imagine, giving their customers what they want! What kind of way to serve them is that? I see now why you went to the left, that simply has to be stopped.

So you think that reality TV is a good thing? Really?

It makes us dumber as a country.

If Democracy is to work, you need a public that is well informed. But when 95% of the media is owned by 5 corporations determined to keep you, well, stupid, I guess I'm just not seeing how that helps.

 

[JoeB131]

[

So in your universe, it's impossible to have someone change his mind when presented with new evidence.

No, it's impossible to believe that someone who supports every liberal position, uses every liberal talking point, believes every ridiculous liberal stereotype and has no idea to present an argument that would convince anyone but the most shallow left wing Democrat of anything that they used to be anything but what they are.

Here's the problem. The thing is, most positions, the Republicans turned out to be DEAD WRONG on.

I figured this out when I found myself in 2008, fired because I had run up too many medical bills, with an underwater mortgage and a busted 401K. I am STILL digging my way out of that mess. That's why I don't support Republican positions.

Now, yeah, I changed my view on social issues as well, but that's mostly because I figured out the GOP was FULL OF SHIT on them. I figured that out when Bush talked a lot of smack on gay marriage, and completely forgot about it after he was re-elected. Those "Shiny things" are to keep stupid people like you voting against your own interest.

That's why the rich got their deregulation, their free trade treaties, their tax cuts, but guess what, Abortion is still legal, your kid is still being taught he evolved from a monkey and them queers are getting married.

And at one time, The History Channel produced good shows.

Then they started producing crap like Alien shows.

Then they figured out that they could just produce the same Reality TV shit everyone else was producing. Their top show is about a Pawn shop right now. Which about three or four other networks have copied.

The History channel was good and now it sucks. The irony is that they are pursuing the same people who elected Obama President with shallow programming that appeals to the masses because that's where the votes are, and that's where the ratings are.

The people who watch those shows now are your people, Joe. Be proud!

Not really. Frankly, the reality TV crowd are mostly a RW bunch. Come on, Rednecks and Pawn shops, those are totally your peeps.

 

[JoeB131]

I used to love the History Channel......great shows about real history.

But now the majority of the programming is nonsense like ancient aliens and UFO's. .

What, you think aliens can't be ancient?

I don't think there are any aliens.

The History Channel presents UFO claims without the least bit of scrutiny towards them, even ones that were debunked as frauds years ago, like Roswell.

 

[kaz]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now

LOL, sure you were, joe, sure you were. You're a cookie cutter liberal.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

Imagine, giving their customers what they want! What kind of way to serve them is that? I see now why you went to the left, that simply has to be stopped.

So you think that reality TV is a good thing? Really?

It makes us dumber as a country.

If Democracy is to work, you need a public that is well informed. But when 95% of the media is owned by 5 corporations determined to keep you, well, stupid, I guess I'm just not seeing how that helps.

So you want Democracy to work by removing people's choice to watch what they want to watch. Think about it...

And I said I support people watching what they want, that logically in no way implies that I like what the majority of people pick. Obviously no one accuses you of being logical, another example of why.

 

[kaz]

I figured this out when I found myself in 2008, fired because I had run up too many medical bills, with an underwater mortgage and a busted 401K

Yes, your employer is responsible for your medical bills, your bank for your mortgage and I don't know who for your lack of investment ability. People who blame their problems on other people are far more likely to be Democrats, I see now why you switched.

 

[koshergrl]

Back when I was more right wing than I am now, I had a liberal buddy who volunteered to work at PBS for their telethons.

And the argument I made was that PBS didn't need donations and it didn't need a government subsidy. There are plenty of corporations that would happily put their commercials on the quality programming they were producing.

And back in the 1990's, I could point to The History Channel and the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel and Arts and Entertainment and say, "See, these channels are producing quality education and arts programming and making a buck doing it. The Market Forces win again!"

Yup. I really used to believe that.

Flash forward to today.

The History Channel (which sometimes got called the Hitler Channel because of all the WWII shows) is now a mix of Paws Shops, Logger and trucker shows. Which have nothing to do with History.

The Discovery Channel, on the weeks they aren't doing Shark Week, do street racing, and shows about people who catch crabs in Alaska. (And I don't mean that as a visit with the Palin family.)

The Learning Channel- or Just TLC- They went gutter trash first. Jon and Kate + Eight, Sarah Palin, Midgets, and other trash.

Ah, but Arts and Entertainment. Oops, now it's Rednecks and Exterminators.

In short, the opposite of the argument I made with all sincerity. Once you are a slave to the bottom line, you lose your principles pretty quickly.

You only got a *quality* education from television based on what you started with.

Trust me, those of us who watch your idiocy day after day, year after year, notice the giant gaps in your education, your character, and your sanity.

 

[sameech]

The History channel was good and now it sucks. The irony is that they are pursuing the same people who elected Obama President with shallow programming that appeals to the masses because that's where the votes are, and that's where the ratings are.

The people who watch those shows now are your people, Joe. Be proud!

I stopped watching History when they started showing all those End of the Earth/Psychic PRedictions type shows most of the time. I can understand it if they ran out of fresh footage, but at least do some history related scripted dramas if nothing else. I am sure PBS is making some serious coin off Downton Abbey.

 

[kaz]

The History channel was good and now it sucks. The irony is that they are pursuing the same people who elected Obama President with shallow programming that appeals to the masses because that's where the votes are, and that's where the ratings are.

The people who watch those shows now are your people, Joe. Be proud!

I stopped watching History when they started showing all those End of the Earth/Psychic PRedictions type shows most of the time. I can understand it if they ran out of fresh footage, but at least do some history related scripted dramas if nothing else. I am sure PBS is making some serious coin off Downton Abbey.

I used to check what was on whenever I was channel surfing, now I don't bother. Last I saw the international history channel was still good though.