This Space for Rent

It’s not censorship, oh no it isn’t

... not if PBS withdraws the episode of Arthur all by themselves after the B*sh junta says it «does not fulfill the intent Congress had in mind for programming.»

What does not "fulfill the intent Congress had in mind" ? Why, that's easy. In the episode in question, one of the Arthur characters visits Vermont and, en passant, encounters a couple of legal in Vermont same-sex couples.

PBS assured the reporter that they were yanking distribution of this episode all by themselves, and not because the evil troll running the "Education" department, as her very first action after being appointed, sent out nastygrams about lifestyles.

«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.»? Why, this isn't a threat, not any more than the Mafia is threatening a storekeeper when they mention that it's a nice shop and it would be a shame if it burned down in the night.

(link via Ignatz)