Genteel, Tea-Serving Liberalism

Well, I enjoy a good cuppa as much as any Irish-American Anglophile, but I have to admit I didn't expect a liberal to admit that NPR is a "genteel, tea-serving" haven for liberalism. Newsbusters:

When liberals try to deny that National Public Radio is a taxpayer-funded media sandbox for liberals, there’s nothing like reading liberals writing about NPR to rebut it. Michael Tomasky, a leading liberal and editor-at-large of The American Prospect, recently wrote in anguished protest when WETA-FM in Washington dropped its relatively new news-talk format to return to its classical-music roots. This left him without "Weekend Edition Sunday," anchored by Liane Hansen.

Tomasky writes of how NPR is always on in the background at his place on weekend mornings, and he can recognized that the tone can be soporific, the hosts can sound self-satisfied, and – "there's that air of genteel, tea-service liberalism suffusing the whole enterprise." He later added, when talking about a vice president at WETA, that "He's the kind of guy you'd like to have a (remembering the medium) chardonnay with."

Classical music can only be an improvement.

Now true Brits with grit, as well as the Irish, (well, the Irish probably prefer something stronger) prescribe tea as curing most ills. So I say libs don't have a monopoly on liking tea. I think they are probably enamored of some rarefied ritual to brighten their cramped liberal lives, sneering at the everyday stout pots. Here's a comment from ThisnThat:

Here are some listener stats for NPR, from Wikipedia: According to a 2003 Washington Monthly story, about 20 million listeners tune into NPR each week. On average they are 50 years old and earn an annual income of $78,000. Its audience is predominantly white; only about 10% are either African American or Hispanic. Many of its listeners consider NPR to be at the apex of journalistic integrity.

Clearly, NPR doesn't attract the "Public"; it attracts white, rich liberals. That's fine. But I don't think NPR needs to be publically funded anymore, and should have been cut off years ago from the public trough. Let it stand on its own, if it can, and grab its money from these $78,000-per-year individuals.

BTW, this was difficult to write with both pinkies raised, but I felt it was my duty to do so in honor of the subject matter. And as much as I wanted, I did not also raise any middle finger at any time.

Raised pinko pinkies at the public trough.

So liberals, put your money where your mouth is. Free the rest of us from the tyranny of paying for NPR. It'll never happen. Liberals aren't used to this kind of effort.

As for me, I'm a coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon type. That doesn't make me a moderate.

My favorite is Bigelow's Constant Comment.

Very appropriate for a blogger. And as a conservative, I pay for it myself.