Why the PBS crowd isn't like the rest of America

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | 11/30/2001 | Joseph Perkins

[dalereed]

JOSEPH PERKINS / THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

Why the PBS crowd isn't like the rest of America

November 30, 2001

'That a man of color would take the position you espoused . . . is incredible."

"You should be shocked by the tribunals. They are a form of lynching and as a man of color you should understand the dangers of that."

"To (hear) a black man advocating summary executions makes one wonder if he ever heard of a lynching -- an old American tradition."

Those were a few choice snippets from several of the e-mails I received after appearing this week on the "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" opposite Anthony Lewis of The New York Times.

Obviously, my views were not especially well received by some of the Public Broadcasting Service news show's more caustic viewers.

No problem. A guy who offers his opinions for public consumption -- whether in print or over the airwaves -- accepts that his point of view will be criticized in some quarters.

But what does my complexion have to do with anything?

If a reader or a viewer happens to disagree with my perspective on military tribunals -- or any other subject for that matter -- I am happy to entertain their counter-argument. But they lose me when they bring race into the equation.

The irony is that the e-mail writers who took issue with me almost certainly view themselves as enlightened on matters of race. They are probably liberal and Democratic (like most PBS viewers).

Yet, those enlightened liberals advance the patently racist notion that all 35 million black folks in this country, including yours truly, should think alike.

And that on the issue of military tribunals, we like-thinking blacks should find them an affront to civil liberty. And as "a man of color" in particular, I should view them as nothing less than "a form of lynching."

What amuses is that those irate e-mail writers almost certainly think they speak for the mass of Americans (much as PBS viewers presume they are representative of the American mainstream).

But here's a news flash for them. They are dead wrong. And the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll bears this out.

Nearly 60 percent of Americans agree that suspected terrorists should be tried by military tribunals as opposed to U.S. criminal courts. And when told that President Bush favored the plan, support rose to 64 percent.

And it's not that those surveyed simply didn't know what trial by military tribunal would entail (which is, no doubt, how Lewis and NewsHour regulars would explain away the poll results).

The poll asked the question two different ways. For half those surveyed, the question provided no details, asking only if non-U.S. citizens charged with terrorism should be tried in the regular criminal court system or by special military tribunal.

The other half was given a more detailed question, explaining that in military tribunals, trials can be closed to the public, with a military judge and jury, and that there is no right to appeal.

There was no difference in the responses. Six in 10 support military tribunals.

And here is something else that will confound the PBS crowd: It's not just right-wing Republican types who support military tribunals. Not just those who lack college diplomas. Not just war-mongering men-folk. But also Democrats and college graduates and women.

And for the information of those oh-so-enlightened NewsHour viewers who presumed to tell me how "a man of color" ought to think about the issue: Some 66 percent of blacks support military tribunals for non-Americans charged with terrorism.

So I guess that puts me in the majority among blacks, among Americans. Which, of course, one would never imagine judging from the tenor of some of the e-mails I received from NewsHour viewers.

But I'm used to that. My liberal, PBS-watching friends -- yes, I have some -- often wonder how I have the temerity to express certain views either in print or broadcast (like advocating military tribunals). They just naturally assume everyone thinks like they do.

But I know better. I know that the majority of Americans is more conservative than liberal. That the majority is closer to my point of view on the range of issues -- including military tribunals -- than it is to the views of, say, Tony Lewis.

So I don't mind the occasional hysterical e-mail from either readers or viewers who expect me to think like Jesse Jackson or Kweisi Mfume or maybe Al Sharpton.

As the Bard famously advised: "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

Perkins can be reached via e-mail at joseph.perkins@uniontrib.com.

Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

[dalereed]

I have always refused to watch PBS but would have liked to see him eat them a new one.

I didn't even watch the hour that I did on PBS when I ran for the Assembly in 1980, I had a friend tape it for me.

[billybudd]

PBS viewers are Europe-infatuated Democratic liberal racist elitist snobs. That's how they're different from real Americans.

[JoeGar]

They are probably liberal and Democratic (like most PBS viewers).

NPR is just as bad. Daniel Schorr has to be the most anti-American commentator on the air.

[NC_Libertarian]

Propoganda Broadcasting Service

[Phantom Lord]

Daniel Schorr has to be the most anti-American commentator on the air.

Along with being one of the hardest to understand. He needs to get new dentures, get the marbles out of his mouth, or retire. Maybe all 3.

[Cicero]

Well, I listen to PBS because I like classical music. But I certainly agree that their idea of "balance" is three liberals interviewed by a liberal reporter and one conservative when they feel especially generous, but more usually none. They introduce Democrats respectfully and let them speak live in their own voices, but they invariably report secondhand what Republicans say, in their own snide voices, and even at that they go out of their way to find a Republican who tells them, "No comment." Their classical music isn't all that great, either, to tell the truth, but usually there's not much else to listen to driving down a country road.

[Tench_Coxe]

"If a reader or a viewer happens to disagree with my perspective on military tribunals -- or any other subject for that matter -- I am happy to entertain their counter-argument. But they lose me when they bring race into the equation.

The irony is that the e-mail writers who took issue with me almost certainly view themselves as enlightened on matters of race. They are probably liberal and Democratic (like most PBS viewers)."

While anecdotal, I have noticed a similar thing in my experience. It always seems to be that the 'enlightened' folks are more concerned with skin color than most.
A good song to illustrate this is Randy Newman's song, "Rednecks".

[ladtx]

My preference is Bluegrass when driving down a country road. Classical when I'm reading at home. Kind of off topic.

[mel]

I like PBS, it makes me feel smart. The dribble they put out is so juvenile, so predictable and so often simply uncorrect.

[VetoBill]

Only reason I watch PBS is Red Green.

[dalereed]

"NPR is just as bad."

Even though I have been actively involved in Republican politics for over 40 years (So. Calif.) I had never heard of NPR until I came to FR 4 years ago and still wouldn't know where to look for it on the radio. To this day, i've never heard anyone here ever mention it.

[NC_Libertarian]

I think your thinking of NPR - National Propaganda Radio.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Liberals just don't understand why a black man WOULDN'T be happy on their plantation. Independent thinking blows their group-think minds.

[wontbackdown]

"My preference is Bluegrass when driving down a country road. Classical when I'm reading at home. Kind of off topic."

When my husband and I were driving through the Mississippi Delta, we had Robert Johnson in the cassette player. Maybe he sold his soul to the devil, but he repented on his death bed. And he was the King of the Delta Blues.

[dalereed]

Did anyone here see this show?

Perkins is not only a solid conservative but he is knowledgable and well spoken and i'll bet he ate them alive.

[NC_Libertarian]

Oh, they're pretty popular. I listen to them from time to time. NPR is likely the most left biased news source in the country. And guess who pays for it?

They do a lot of touchy feely stories about things like the suffering of the Afghanis or about sky-scrapers being symbols of greedy materialistic capitalists that desearve to have planes fly into them.

And to make the rest of their broadcast sound extreme right wing they carry BBC news too.

[woofie]

I too am a man of color ...its just that the color is white

[RosieCotton]

"My preference is Bluegrass when driving down a country road. Classical when I'm reading at home. Kind of off topic." Sounds about right...except that I sometimes find myself going wayyyyy over the speed limit when I listen to bluegrass. Talk about drivin' music!

[skeeter]

PBS viewers are Europe-infatuated Democratic liberal racist elitist snobs. That's how they're different from real Americans.

That, and they seem to like smokey, deisel powered vintage Volvos.

This is obvious because as soon as they get one they paste a PBS sticker in the window.

[Random Access]

PBS viewers are Europe-infatuated Democratic liberal racist elitist snobs.

Thank you for so graciously giving your hard earned dollars, through taxes, to support this welfare program for the terminally trendy. These people know how to spend your money better than you do. You should be grateful that they are willing to help you, so you do not have to make all of those nasty decisions about what to do with the money you earn.