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At a time when Americans are rightly concerned about crime, inflation, and the never ending expansion of government, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has decided that the most urgent threat to democracy is the prospect of fewer taxpayer-funded broadcasts of All Things Considered.
On Monday, Tong proudly announced his latest act of bravery: filing a court brief backing two lawsuits — one from NPR and a trio of Colorado radio stations, the other from PBS and a Minnesota affiliate — aimed at blocking President Trump’s executive order cutting off their federal funding.
Trump signed the order on May 1, directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies to stop sending taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS — and within weeks, NPR and PBS reacted like someone had cancelled their hot yoga classes and banned electric cars all on the same day.
Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general are shrieking that if Trump dares cut funding to NPR and PBS, the entire country will implode. No emergency alerts! No educational programming! No local news by panicked liberals! They actually claimed that pulling the plug on government radio would “gravely harm Americans” and destroy public trust. Because apparently, if your average Subaru-driving Democrat can’t hear a segment on trans birthing rituals, we’re one step from The Hunger Games.
That’s right. Tong is going on record to protect the right for overcaffeinated liberals in the Starbucks drive-thru to get scolded by monotone NPR hosts about how using air conditioning makes you a climate criminal and that math is just another tool of white supremacy.
According to Tong, the mere suggestion of cutting public media funding is “unlawful” and — brace yourself — a move “towards autocracy.” You know what really screams dictatorship? Asking people to pay for their own propaganda.
The lawsuit claims that NPR and PBS provide “fact-based news,” which is a generous way to describe a Democratic echo chamber delivered in a soothing whisper. Anyone who’s endured five minutes of NPR knows it’s basically MSNBC for people who think donating once a year for a canvas tote and a mug makes them intellectuals.
But Tong doesn’t stop there. No, this is a full-blown safety issue. Apparently, if we stop funding PBS, no one will know there’s a thunderstorm. He warns that pulling the plug on federal dollars will threaten the Emergency Alert System. Also on the list of catastrophes Tong wants you to fear: fewer Silver Alerts, fewer Blue Alerts, and apparently, the total collapse of civilization in “tribal and rural communities.”
But it’s not really about the news or the kids’ shows or even Big Bird’s pension. This is about power. Democrats cannot fathom a world in which their preferred propaganda outlets are subject to the same budget scrutiny as everything else.
Let’s be honest: if the government ever tried to give this kind of welfare to a conservative media outlet, Tong would be on CNN bemoaning fascism faster than you can say “gender is a social construct.”
So, once again, Connecticut’s top law enforcement official is off pursuing his true passion — grabbing headlines — this time by defending a $500 million subsidy for public media while working families in his state struggle under the weight of the taxes that fund it.
So go ahead, have at it Mr. Tong. Waste Connecticut’s time and money protecting taxpayer subsidies for programs nobody under 60 watches unless their remote is broken. If this is your hill to die on, at least bring your PBS pledge drive mug and tote bag to clutch while you argue that democracy depends on reruns of Antiques Roadshow and slow-motion nature footage set to flute music.
The rest of us will be over here, enjoying the sweet, sweet sound of unsubsidized freedom.
