Why the Republicans' newest fight with Big Bird matters
A quarter of a century after Newt Gingrich went after funds for public broadcasting, some Republicans are apparently ready for Round Two against Big Bird.
Shortly after Republicans made dramatic gains in the 1994 midterm elections, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich was eager to get to work on his plans to balance the budget. High on the Republican's list was eliminating federal funds for public broadcasting.
The move was not well received. In fact, it led to headlines such as, "Are Newt and His Cronies Afraid of Big Bird?" When the Clinton White House prevailed in budget talks, and support for public broadcasting survived, there were related headlines such as, "Big Bird Taken Off Death Row."
In other words, Republicans picked a fight with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — and Big Bird won.
A quarter of a century later, it appears the GOP is taking aim at the 8-foot, 2-inch Muppet again. NBC News reported yesterday:
Big Bird's seemingly innocuous — and obviously fictional — announcement Saturday that he has been vaccinated against Covid-19 caused a stir online, as Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas accused the yellow anthropomorphic bird of tweeting "government propaganda."
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-republicans-newest-fight-big-bird-matters-n1283474
This is brought to you by the letter F as in fuck idiots
Ahhh! It's a Grudge Match between Big Bird and the Republicans.
