Conservatives regularly denounce public broadcasting as nothing more than an arm for the left wing, an extension of the liberal, sometimes homosexual, agenda. But that's not always the case. The lines aren't that thick or hard. And, no, I'm not talking about the WNET board member and right-wing juggernaut David Koch stopped the New York City public broadcaster from airing a documentary that embarrassed his rich friends and relatives. I'm talking about the news that North Carolina's Republican Senate President, Phil Berger, appointed sci-fi author Orson Scott Card to the board of the University of North Carolina's public broadcasting station.
Why is Card's new position noteworthy and how does it run contrary to the "liberal public broadcasting" myth? Well, there's his vehement hatred for President Obama, whom Card has called a "dicator." "Obama is, by character and preference, a dictator. He hates the very idea of compromise; he demonizes his critics and despises even his own toadies in the liberal press," Card wrote in 2013.
And we know how Card feels about the gays. He said we "flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior" and has championed discriminatory laws to keep gays in the closet. He has also claimed that it's marriage equality advocates who are in fact "intolerant," not bigots like him. It's for comments like these that many gay people are boycotting the film adaptation of his famous sci-fi book, Ender's Game.
And of course there's Card's distaste for the news media. As Stephanie Mencimer at Mother Jones reminds us, Card often admonishes the "liberal" media for being in Obama's pocket. "So yes, CBS, CNN, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, and all the rest of you in the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda: You won," he wrote after the 2012 election. He also once mused, "It's hard to imagine how American press coverage would be different if Obama were a Hitler- or Stalin-style dictator, except of course that everyone at Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Rhinoceros Times would be in jail. Or dead."
So, how does UNC-TV feel about this decision? They're thrilled. Said Chairman Robb Teer, "We are grateful for his willingness to serve and look forward to working with him to continue providing the people of our state with enriching, life-changing television in these challenging times."
