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Sec of Bush Ed Derides PBS Kid's Animation Show


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doe.jpg"Postcards from Buster" originally scheduled to air February 2, the titular animated bunny visits a Vermont family headed up by … well, we're all adults here, so let's just say it: two mommies. Brand-new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who just took office on Monday, has already sent a letter to the producers decrying the episode, which is entitled "Sugartime!" Though, as this CNN story notes, the show's "focus is on farm life and maple sugaring," Spellings has insisted that the seal of the Department of Education be removed from the offending program, along with any statement suggesting a link between the two. She also requested that PBS give member stations a heads-up on the content of "Sugartime!", so they can decide for themselves whether to air it or not. Finally, she has suggested that PBS return any government money used to produce the episode, noting sternly that "You can be assured that in the future the department will be more clear as to its expectations for any future programming that it funds."

http://www.slate.com/id/2112706/

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Slate's Dana Stevens, a screenwriter (and an acquaintance of mine), decided to call "Jeanne Hopkins, communications director for WGBH in Boston, where "Postcards from Buster" is produced" to get the lowdown. Here is the interview in full:

What is the specific nature of the content that the Secretary of Education is objecting to? What exactly happens in "Sugartime!"?

The animated character Buster Baxter meets real kids. In this episode he is in Vermont ... [he] meets kids with two moms. The moms are not central to the story, the kids are. But their family structure seems to be what has triggered the concern.

Is there any nudity in "Sugartime!"?

No.

Is there any sexual contact between the two women? Romantic contact? Do they kiss, touch, grope each other onscreen?

No, no, no, no and no.

Is the word "lesbian" or "gay" ever used in the episode?

No, no.

How about "dyke"?

No.

How do we know that the couple pictured are lesbians?

One of the kids introduces her mom and stepmom, and Buster comments that she has a lot of moms. That's pretty much it. Remember, this is a show from a kid's point of view, not an adult's.

Is "maple sugaring" actually code for some sort of sexual practice between women?

Not that we uncovered.

Is the lesbian couple married under Vermont's civil union law? Does the issue of marriage come up in the episode?

There is no mention of the women's status and marriage is not mentioned. We know from meeting and talking with them off-camera that they are in a civil union.

In the Buster theme song, Wyclef Jean sings : "He's got his camera /And he's gonna explore /All the neat things he's never done before." By showcasing a lesbian couple in this episode, is PBS promoting a homosexual agenda by implying that two women living together as domestic partners is a "neat thing" that children should "explore"?

No, we are not promoting anything. Buster visits kids whose parents are divorced, too—we're not promoting that either. Buster is exploring the neat things that kids all over this country do, and experience, and can teach each other.

As one of Bush's senior domestic policy advisors, Margaret Spellings was once interviewed on C-Span about some census data that indicated a decline in traditional family structures. She answered, "So what?" and added that, as a single mother, she understood that there were "lots of different types of family." How do you explain Ms. Spellings' shift on this issue since she assumed office as Secretary of Education on Monday?

We cannot explain, nor would we try.

What do you think is really at stake when the new Bush administration picks an issue like this to set the tone for the next four years? Is the government trying to find excuses to withdraw funding from public television? Or is this just a symbolic bone thrown to the Christian right? What do you think is going on?

It's not clear to us what this means. ... 4:43 p.m.

http://www.slate.com/id/2112706/

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Though, as this CNN story notes, the show's "focus is on farm life and maple sugaring," Spellings has insisted that the seal of the Department of Education be removed from the offending program, along with any statement suggesting a link between the two.

They should also change the seal to read the Department of Ignorance. :reallymad:

What do you think is really at stake when the new Bush administration picks an issue like this to set the tone for the next four years? Is the government trying to find excuses to withdraw funding from public television? Or is this just a symbolic bone thrown to the Christian right?

Probably a bit of both.

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bloody hell guys...time to dust off the passports and those plane tickets.....i have a feeling some of you will be wanting them soon....the day to day assault upon social policy and social convention in your country is absolutely incredible (and frightening) to watch.......both through the media and the news items that are daily being posted on this site......honestly friends the spanish inquisition is looking positively tame compared to george bush`s conservative, revisionist attack dogs...... :o:wacko: :( :blink: :wha': :read this:

Edited by kiwibank
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let's get rid of vermont!, 'Until such time as Vermont sees fit to rejoin the rest of the nation in condemning gay ‘civil unions,’” Spellings said, reading from a prepared statement, “we propose that Vermont be visually expelled from the heterosexual Union.'

take /that/, vermont! :lol: all morons all the time. (apologies to anyone who lives in beautiful vermont)

oh my: 'Is "maple sugaring" actually code for some sort of sexual practice between women?" :lol:

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let's get rid of vermont!, 'Until such time as Vermont sees fit to rejoin the rest of the nation in condemning gay ‘civil unions,’” Spellings said, reading from a prepared statement, “we propose that Vermont be visually expelled from the heterosexual Union.'

take /that/, vermont! :lol: all morons all the time. (apologies to anyone who lives in beautiful vermont)

oh my: 'Is "maple sugaring" actually code for some sort of sexual practice between women?" :lol:

i just read that sg and i simply cannot fucking believe it......absolute lunacy...... hitwall hitwall

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oh my: 'Is "maple sugaring" actually code for some sort of sexual practice between women?" :lol:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

If you can't lick 'em, join 'em :lol:

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i just read that sg and i simply cannot fucking believe it......absolute lunacy...... hitwall  hitwall

y'know, i hate to say it (but know all youse will understand) but in the 2-3 weeks i've been back, i've found myself thinking of everyone in the states (barring you good people) as 'them' and us as 'us over here...relatively safe from their insanity.' (this just might be an ego defence mechanism, dunno.)

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There's an upside to all this conservative madness. Generally speaking, Hollywood's best films were made in the 70s during the Nixon era. Well, Nixon was a liberal compared to Bush. God knows there is plenty of humor to be made off of these jerks...lets hope there is some thought provoking entertainment to be mined, too

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lets hope there is some thought provoking entertainment to be mined, too

there's been a lot of thought-provoking humorous material since the squatter moved his ass into the whitehouse but since 11. september, one must think twice before making light of whatever (in a 'shhhhhh, it's unpatriotic to criticise the preznit' kind o' way). e.g., i think it's thought-provoking and/or funny that so many believe his lies.

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let's get rid of vermont!, 'Until such time as Vermont sees fit to rejoin the rest of the nation in condemning gay ‘civil unions,’” Spellings said, reading from a prepared statement, “we propose that Vermont be visually expelled from the heterosexual Union.'

take /that/, vermont! :lol: all morons all the time. (apologies to anyone who lives in beautiful vermont)

oh my: 'Is "maple sugaring" actually code for some sort of sexual practice between women?" :lol:

Son of a bitch! I thought it was satire. :rotfl:

What a loony time we live in my friends.

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"There's nothing sexier than licking yourself...especially if you`re covered from head to toe in maple sugar........ No, I meant that in that fun, licking yourself sort of way..."

-Laura "the Licker" Gascon

:lol::lol::lol:

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What a loony time we live in my friends.

tell me about it...i still haven't got over the supposed-to-be-above-reproach/partisianship of the supreme court and everything that's happened since (thanks to bushCo) just adds to my shock (i must keep remembering we're in orwell-land, rereading 1984 helps somewhat).

then again, sometimes i think that stuff like this is just a diversion to keep people focussed on this kind of bullshit and away from the war in Iraq, the preznit's bullshit and the erosion of our civil rights.

Maple Sugar Me, Baby

:lol:

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In a few years there are going to be some incredible investigative books coming out about the Bush Administration and the climate they've fostered...as Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Seymour Hersh recently said, the United States has been "hijacked by a cult."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204

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In a few years there are going to be some incredible investigative books coming out about the Bush Administration and the climate they've fostered...as Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Seymour Hersh recently said, the United States has been "hijacked by a cult."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204

Yep - I cant believe people are so oblivous about these assholes. What's really astonishing is that they actually think what they are doing is religious, when in fact, they are almost satanic in their secret dealings and worse yet, they could care less about the sanctity of life

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Dude: 'I cant believe people are so oblivous about these assholes.'

*what i think is one of the biggest and most cruel pieces of their propaganda is when they show photographs/TV adverts of 9/11 widows or war-in-iraq widows or amerikan soldiers who lost arms or legs in iraq and who supposedly vote republican. i call 'bullshit' on them and am sure they're not real people, just window dressing or at worst, are real and are being USED and USED by the lameass powers that be. fuckers.

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