Big Bird’s Future If Mitt Romney Cuts PBS
At the first of three Presidential Debates last Wednesday, Republican candidate Mitt Romney made a foolish mistake while speaking of his plans to slash funding for PBS: he messed with Big Bird. Most logical Americans would never threaten an eight-foot bird, puppet or not, but Romney took a swing at the beloved Sesame St. character saying to moderator Jim Lehrer, “I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I’m not going to — I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.” Since Mitt Romney’s mention of him, Big Bird has been the subject of tweets, memes, and Facebook statuses across the Internet. Big Bird even paid a visit to the Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. When Seth Myers asked him if he had any political message to send to Mitt Romney the Sesame St. star responded, “I don’t want to ruffle any feathers.”
Having grown up with Sesame St., Big Bird, and all the other characters I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to them if Romney makes them unemployed. I think Big Bird will move to a farm somewhere and lay eggs for gigantic omelets. The pay will be minimal and the hours unreasonable. After becoming unemployed Bert and Ernie will have to sell the bottle cap collection on Ebay to make rent. Elmo will have to give his goldfish Dorothy up to the shelter when he can no longer afford fish food. Oscar the Grouch will probably be fine though. He lives in a trashcan.
PBS made a statement in response to Romney’s planned funding cuts saying, “In fact, our service is watched by 81 percent of all children between the ages of 2-8. Each day, the American public receives an enduring and daily return on investment that is heard, seen, read and experienced in public media broadcasts, apps, podcasts and online — all for the cost of about $1.35 per person per year.”
Think about all the other PBS programs that would suffer if Mitt Romney cut PBS funding. What would happen to Mister Rogers? Jimmy Fallon has one idea and it’s called Mister Romney’s Neighborhood!
