Rob Skogen; Additional Thoughts
Just a brief aside to my original post…I know this puts me way over the 500 word mark, but I thought it might be worth sharing…
I took my daughter to the Children’s Museum in St. Paul this afternoon. Her favorite story characters right now (and I have to admit, one of mine too) is Cookie Monster. Well, it just so happens that he and his pals from 123 Sesame Street are on exhibit there through the end of April. Now, I vaguely remember that Anthony quickly mentioned their 1969 debut in one of his five minute romps through history back in February, but it was not until I took in the exhibit that the significance it all clicked together.
Scattered throughout the interactive displays geared for the kids was a chronological stroll through the political and social events of the past thirty years for the adults. There was even a picture of Hillary backing Big Bird dated 1995 when Gingrich and his cohorts were pushing their “Contract with America”, which included pulling the plug on funding for PBS.
The reason I wanted to mention this is because it weaves directly into the theme of childhood propaganda that was discussed in the article I reviewed. The baby boom generation created this vehicle to provide alternative programming to their children (and their children’s children). Rather than the “red, white, and blue” morality that their parents absorbed via the wartime comics as kids, our parents left a legacy stressing the ideals of the liberal revolution of their adolescence.