It's a Beautiful Day in the Senate

Moving back for a moment to the draconian Trump budget -- which budget director Mick Mulvaney has done such a bizarrely tone-deaf job defending to the point that it's almost performance art -- it's important not to let it get lost in the shuffle of the House investigation that's been generating all the deserved headlines.

Among the inexplicable cuts in the budget, the Wheels on Meals program has gotten the most attention, though quite a few other programs have, as well.  One of those is public broadcasting.  And to make the case for continuing to fund that to its fullest, we're going to head back almost half a century, to 1969, and let Mister Rogers, of all people, to make the case.

That year, there were Senate hearing in the Commerce Committee, and Fred Rogers showed up to testify.  His show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood  was still so new that the committee member questioning him, Sen. John Pastore (D-RI) had no idea who he was.  But that aside, this gentle and soft-spoken man (who would go on to receive a Lifetime Achievement Honor from the Television Academy) was so eloquent that he ended up pretty much getting the PBS funding right there on the spot.

One does wonder, though, if Mister Roger would feel comfortable telling Donald Trump that "I like you just the way you are..."
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