At the beginning of the PBS NewsHour is a subtle graphic with these words: “HONEST BALANCED TRUSTED.” There was nothing honest and nothing balanced on Friday night as our taxpayer-funded "newscast" smeared at least half the country who believe it’s inappropriate to teach kindergarteners sexual orientation and gender-identity lessons as Q-Anon conspiracy kooks.
It puts the BS in PBS.
It began with John Yang’s softball interview with a liberal Michigan state senator named Mallory McMorrow, who’s been celebrated on CNN and MSNBC when Republican Sen. Lana Theis accused her of favoring “grooming and sexualizing” children. McMorrow suggested "this [QAnon] conspiracy is being pulled out in the open. And it is being used by one of our country's two major political parties as the official policy," that opposing the LGBTQ lessons is “this idea that the government is run by a satanist cabal of pedophiles.”
Yang then only underlined it and asked "Are you concerned about your safety?"
Then came the duo of David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart. There was nothing honest or balanced there, either. Capehart, who's openly gay, was thrilled with McMorrow's spine, that she would proclaim "I'm a Christian. Don't tell me that I'm not. I'm a mom. Don't tell me that I'm not. Don't tell me I don't care about my children or other children. I want more McMorrows out there who are willing to be the voice of LGBTQ people, African Americans, Asian Americans, anyone who is not the straight, white, cisgender, usually male person who is attacking them, we could — we could move this country out of this horrible conversation that we're having now."
Translation: The Left should win without any "horrible" dissent. That's the spirit of PBS.
Anchor Amna Nawaz pushed the Q-Anon line again, and David Brooks proclaimed how impressed he was with Smeary Mallory.
Your tax $$$ at work: PBS @NewsHour smears the entire parents' rights/"kindergarteners don't need to be sexualized" camp as QAnon crazies, and the alleged balance, David Brooks, calls it "barbarically lunatic," finds the Michigan Democrat crying QAnon "compelling." pic.twitter.com/lNgDI1DTgR
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) April 23, 2022
Nawaz said "She's not wrong. A lot of those ideas are very QAnon, dangerous conspiracy theory-related that used to be fringe. We still call it fringe. Is it fringe still?" Brooks said no, but "It's lunatic. And it's not only lunatic. It's cruelly lunatic, and it's barbarically lunatic. So that's happening, and she was responding. I found her a very compelling human being."
Brooks sounded the effete note that "some of the values where people like I live -- urban, educated -- shifting. A lot of the rest of the country, not shifting." So they're admitting "a lot of the rest of the country" doesn't get to speak on "public television."
Brooks complained "somehow, we have to have that fight without it being dominated by the crazies, and, frankly, without it being dominated by the gotcha, screaming moments we have seen in school boards and all that." Again, the spirit of PBS -- let's not let the parental "crazies" have a minute to talk back on PBS.
When they finally turned to Biden's terrible approval numbers at the end, Capehart complained Biden's good news isn't getting out: "the right-wing echo chamber is so strong that, no matter what the president does, they're not going to report on it." This show is a left-wing echo chamber.
PBS is brought to you by....you. Your taxes pay for this echo chamber. The NewsHour is also supported by Raymond James.
PBS NewsHour
April 22, 2022
JONATHAN CAPEHART: For far too long people on the left, elected Democrats, have — like I just said before, cowed in the face of these attacks, instead of standing up in their own — with their spines, and standing on their own two feet, and in their values and in their morals and saying, do not speak for me. Do not speak — I'm a Christian. Don't tell me that I'm not. I'm a mom. Don't tell me that I'm not. Don't tell me I don't care about my children or other children.
I want more McMorrows out there. And she's not the only one. Last week, Ian Mackey, a Michigan state representative, went at a colleague who proposed anti-LGBT legislation and said to him directly: It's because of people like you that friends of mine decided to leave the state because they no longer — they didn't feel safe.
And so, if we had more Mackeys, if we had more McMorrows, who are willing to be the voice of LGBTQ people, African Americans, Asian Americans, anyone who is not the straight, white, cisgender, usually male person who is attacking them, we could — we could move this country out of this horrible conversation that we're having now.
AMNA NAWAZ: We talk about all of this under this broad umbrella term. We call it culture wars, right? And it captures a lot of different issues, including the ones Jonathan just talked about, including the one that state senator talked about.
But, David, specifically, she's not wrong. A lot of those ideas are very QAnon, dangerous conspiracy theory-related that used to be fringe. We still call it fringe. Is it fringe still?
DAVID BROOKS: I wouldn't say QAnon is fringe anymore. There's a lot — there's tens of millions of people who are somewhat affiliated with QAnon, so I wouldn't say it's fringe.
I'd say there's two things happening here. One is the crazies, Pizzagate, grooming, all that stuff. That — we can't say it's fringe, but I can at least say it's crazy. It's lunatic. And it's not only lunatic. It's cruelly lunatic, and it's barbarically lunatic. So that's happening, and she was responding. I found her a very compelling human being.
Then there's the culture. And I'm going to call it culture war, a cultural difference. If you look at the World Values Survey, which surveys values all around the world, what you find is that people in the English-speaking world and in Protestant Europe, our values are shifting.
And the rest of the world's values are very different. And the same thing is happening in this country, that some of the values where people like I live, urban, educated, shifting. A lot of the rest of the country, not shifting.
And so we're just seeing widening chasms on values on a whole range of issues, when to teach sexuality to schoolkids. And, somehow, we have to have that fight without it being dominated by the crazies, and, frankly, without it being dominated by the gotcha, screaming moments we have seen in school boards and all that.
And we don't need to have that fight. We need to have a discussion about this stuff. And, right now, it's being submerged, because it's been hyperpoliticized. And when you turn a discussion about difficult issues into partisan politics, you have destroyed it.
