Harry Reid Learns About Dog Sled Races on NPR

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid never fails to entertain. Last week he defended the National Endowment for the Humanities because of subsidies to a Cowboy Poetry conclave. Now he is defending NPR because of dog sled racing.

In a colloquy with Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska lawmaker Sarah Palin tried to take out as had her father, Reid describes an interesting story he heard on NPR about the true origins of dog sled racing in Alaska. Something about delivering serums to remote Alaska outposts that are inaccessible to mechanized transport.

NPR has certainly had a rough March. It started when the irrepressible James O'Keefe secretly taped NPR executives trash talking Republicans, Tea Party protesters, and Americans in general over chardonnay to a couple of gentlemen he thought were Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated moneymen. Several firings and a vote to defund NPR later, and Harry Reid springs to the defense of more money for the publicly funded network.

But seriously, dog sledding? There are plenty of arguments for public broadcasting that have more cogency than that. My NPR affiliate plays classical music when the protocol droids who host "All Things Considered" are not talking, which is perfectly lovely in my opinion. PBS has "Masterpiece Theater," Ken Burns, and "Mystery."

By the way, "Sesame Street" is not an argument for preserving PBS. I am reliably informed that the show has been rendered politically correct, with the Cookie Monster becoming the Veggie Monster and Oscar the Grouch becoming Oscar the Happy Go Lucky Puppet. Another argument to make Big Bird get a real job, in my humble opinion.

The problem with Reid's argument is that fun little factoids like the origins of dog sled races can be had on the History Channel without recourse to government subsidies. For instance, I found out recently that Larry the Cable Guy looks pretty silly wrestling an alligator on a History Channel program. Top that, NPR!

No, Harry Reid does two things when he opens his mouth. He makes the opposite case of whatever he is trying to make, in this case to defund rather than keep paying for NPR. And he makes the case that despite his come from behind victory over Sharron Angle last year, Reid should seriously consider retirement.

Sources: Harry Reid: Republicans Want to Silence Cowboy Poets, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, March 8th, 2011

Reid, Murkowski: NPR keeps us up to date on dog racing history, Ed Morrissey, Hot Air, March 18th, 2011

NPR's Schiller Talks About Republicans, the Tea Party, and the Zionists, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, March 8th, 2011

Vivian Schiller Fired as CEO of National Public Radio, Mark R. Whittington, Associated Content, March 9th, 2011

How to Privatize Public Broadcasting and Make Big Bird Get a Job, Mark R. Whittington, Yahoo News, February 15th, 2011