If it weren't for Little Bear, I would be boycotting Noggin at our house. Permanently. As it stands, I'm recording the 23 minutes of Little Bear, not a minute before or after, to show the boys when it's quiet time. I am drafting a LONG letter to them right now, though, let me tell you. Some background:
- We do not allow our boys to watch the DVD player in the car unless the trip is longer than three hours, nor do we believe in using the TV in the house as a babysitter. Jim and I both agree that placing our boys in front of the tube is a waste of time. This isn't to say that we've never let them have couch potato days. Of course we have! It is the exception, however, and not the rule.
- Next, we do not allow the boys to watch "regular" TV. They can watch Playhouse Disney in the mornings (for one show on weekdays, two on the weekends), or Noggin in the afternoons for quiet time. I'm so picky that Spongbob on Nick Jr. is outlawed at our house. I emphasize that last part because I know they watch it sometimes at other people's houses. That's okay because it isn't a regular occurence :)
- We realize that we are somewhat extreme when it comes to our TV rules, but our kids are happy, healthy, intelligent beings and we want to keep them that way. The television doesn't encourage any synapse-firing activity, so we discourage it. Period. (I'm almost off my soapbox, I swear).
Let's go back to that particular "quiet time" on Thursday. I wasn't paying attention to the tube until Nickolas said, "Rocco Bama likes to play basketball!" Good ole Rocco Bama (AKA Barack Obama) likes what?, I thought. I looked up and saw that there was a flipping cartoon of the Socialist President of the U.S. on the "safe channel." I had to bite my tongue as I watched the rest of the three-minute cartoon with him. The short clip glorified Obama as if he was some extraordinary citizen. Now, I've been watching Noggin for a few years and I don't ever remember seeing ANYTHING about George W Bush. Nothing about Jesus Christ. Nothing about the men and women in the military protecting us. Where is the fairness in this type of coverage? What about the liberal's coveted Fairness Doctrine? Where was that on Noggin? It certainly wasn't there on Thursday afternoon when the station aired its propaganda.
As most media outlets have attempted to do in the past year, they've hidden behind Obama's blackness as rationale for making him their self-appointed messiah. It's easy to give the first black President of the United States special treatment. It is an historic occassion that I do believe should be celebrated on many accounts. The walls that crumbled when he was elected will not likely be built again in our time. I have no qualms with admitting how important that was (and is) for the U.S. However, I don't care if he's yellow, purple, green, white, Chinese, Dutch, Swiss, Hispanic, or hillbilly; he is a man. Period. There is nothing exceptional about him, and glorifying his color and attempting to draw innocent children to him is wrong. Long gone are the days of the Hitler Youth, but are these little cartoons the beginning of the Obama Youth? I don't think I'm that far off, and I know many of you agree.
My blood is absolutely boiling right now. I think I'll just have to stop writing and let you think about this.
