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First off this is going to be somewhat of a rant and I am pretty socially liberal so I have a dim view of Fox News. I have watched and enjoyed Mr. Rogers during my childhood and even met him once during a religious conference in 1998. Now that full disclosure of my bias has been made, here we go...



I was just checking facebook and noticed that Malfred commented on one of his friends video links. I'll repost the video here:




While this is the sort of thing I expect from Fox News, I am pretty flabbergasted they would go to such lows as to blame Fred Rogers of all people for the sense of self entitlement americans are known for. Thats pretty base, even for them.

I know I am not the only child who grew up with less than positive parental influence. Honestly (and sadly) watching Mr. Rogers (along with other PBS shows) was one of the only ways I could get a positive influence during my childhood. He made childhood worth having. A gentle soul who never judged. He nurtured creativity and originality. To simply be you.

Yeah, I am pretty a cynical person, but I have to defend Mr. Rogers as one of the better influences in my life. He cant do it himself and even if he were alive I doubt he would lend enough credence to Fox News long enough to do so. The guy was a saint.

He was on Candid Camera once. They tried to annoy him to no end and he just wouldn't rise to the prank. Once it was revealed that he was being pranked by Candid Camera, he told Candid Camera that they could use the footage so long as part of the proceeds go to a local group that gave blankets to impoverished children.

Yes, what a foul and devious plot of evil that was. Putting the concerns of children first, who the hell does he think he is by practicing what he preaches?

And now according to Fox News, he and other similar programming such as sesame street are responsible for the decay of the american ethic to excel.

Pray tell, what are kids supposed to do? Start working the factories when they are 2 years old just because they are old enough to walk? Life is hard enough later on in life without some form of nurturing development. You can push a child to excel while still nurturing them. Perhaps if more parents took a stronger role in teaching their own children then their own self entitled drive to blame other for their own shortcoming wouldn't be so strong? I am a believer in behavioral psych and all things Skinner, and placing the blame on him is simply facile.
You may as well blame Cat Stevens for making his song "If you want to sing out, sing out" for mediocrity while they are at it.

However, I do agree that there is a large amount of damage to the american psyche. The self entitlement rampant in america celebrating mediocrity is astounding, even today. Though as a person who grew up in the 70's and 80's I think the blame is more squarely pegged on Public Education during that time by assuming that there aren't different needs for children. Pushing kids to excel is one thing that really was never prevalent in my experience in the majority of my classes throughout school. Only rarely were teachers capable of meeting the needs of their classes. I don't blame the teachers, I blame the entire education system for celebrating its own mediocrity instead of promoting excellence in their choice of teachers and the curriculums they taught. Hard to get great teachers who care when the whole education system is underfunded and the parents largely don't care enough to contribute. It really does take a village to raise a child.

Again, Fox News has shown severe displacement for placing blame for a problem so long as it suits their own Murdochian enforced political agenda.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of things that Fox News televises makes me irked, but this just drives me to furious anger.

I don't know where you grew up, but I fondly remembering that one ironclad rule of the playground jungle was that anybody who was found to be a fan of Mister Rogers was just begging for an atomic wedgie and a stiff kicking. Now THAT was a satisfying, empowering and self-esteem building exercise.

warpcrafter wrote:I don't know where you grew up, but I fondly remembering that one ironclad rule of the playground jungle was that anybody who was found to be a fan of Mister Rogers was just begging for an atomic wedgie and a stiff kicking. Now THAT was a satisfying, empowering and self-esteem building exercise.

Whats even better is years later when that same kid who was a bully is on the side of the road with a sign and asking if you have a buck as you drive by in your nice car.

Now THAT is a satisfying, empowering and self-esteem building experience.

Hellfury wrote:

warpcrafter wrote:I don't know where you grew up, but I fondly remembering that one ironclad rule of the playground jungle was that anybody who was found to be a fan of Mister Rogers was just begging for an atomic wedgie and a stiff kicking. Now THAT was a satisfying, empowering and self-esteem building exercise.

Whats even better is years later when that same kid who was a bully is on the side of the road with a sign and asking if you have a buck as you drive by in your nice car.

Now THAT is a satisfying, empowering and self-esteem building experience.

It sure is. Occasionally I read about the exploits of my former school alumni in the arrest log in the newspaper. Makes me feel good inside.

Do I sense a little repressed nerd rage? C'mon, admit it, those are the same guys now who sit in their cubicles just hoping for their coworkers to screw up so they can run to their boss and snitch on them. THAT's the sort of 'self-esteem' that Mister Rogers gave to the world.

That newsreel is so comically ironic I wondered if it was scripted. Especially when they started guffawing and laughing about the study on "gossip"... Don't these people have anything else to do? Do you wonder, like I do, if they cry themselves to sleep as soon as they get home from work??

I am a child of the 70s too. Grew up in the 80. I had to WROK for an A, and often, in subjective subjects (yeah that sounds wierd) like writing, I felt dissed by the edumacationing system because my teacher was dumber than me.

I could read when I was two, I could do algebra when I was 4, programmed my first video game (not a very good one, but...) when I was 5.

What did I watch as a kid? Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street. Almost exclusively.

The difference between my generation and the one immediately below mine (I'm 35 now) is that they grew up with cellphones, twitters, and INTERNET... all of which can be exploited for their little high school egos... "OOHH LOOK AT ME AND MY FRIENDS AT THE MALL! WE JUST PUBLISHED IT ON YOUTUBE SO EVERYONE KNOWS HOW COOL WE ARE!"

Every kid nowadays seems to think they are special. It isn't Fred's fault it got so twisted, he was just trying to let kids know they can be good kids and do their best. Instead, the nihilism of South Park and Futurama and all that cartoon stuff, while funny for a grown up who has already grown up enough to get the irony, is far more hurtful to society than Fred was. Parents used to make their kids go to bed, or not allow them to play violent video games, or help them with their homework.

Now, it's just children raised by children raised by children. College kids can brag about having a 4.0 GPA in their freshman year in college because they took COOKING and ANIME classes for chrissake... When I went I had to struggle and study and still end up with a 2.5

Was I dumb? Hell no. Was I held to a higher standard... well 15 years ago, yeah I was damn well held to a higher standard, and Mr. Rogers and Sesame street are a part of that. So when your boss is younger than you, dumber than you, and obviously more qualified than you because of dumber edumactiarrific standards that gave them the position, now you know why!

warpcrafter wrote:Do I sense a little repressed nerd rage? C'mon, admit it, those are the same guys now who sit in their cubicles just hoping for their coworkers to screw up so they can run to their boss and snitch on them. THAT's the sort of 'self-esteem' that Mister Rogers gave to the world.

Wow. I thought that I was cynical.

I think you should get a job working for Fox News. Blanket statements such as that fit right in there. You wont have to bum money off of me anymore if you get a job there.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Guitardian wrote:That newsreel is so comically ironic I wondered if it was scripted. Especially when they started guffawing and laughing about the study on "gossip"... Don't these people have anything else to do? Do you wonder, like I do, if they cry themselves to sleep as soon as they get home from work??

You would have toi have a conscience in order for that to happen. More likely they are blissfully ignorant (ignorance is my shield! Lalalala cant hear you over the sound of how awesome I am) in their juicy set up as newscasters for the sloping brows of the inbred in america.

Pretty cool dude.

What I don't get is where Mr. Rodgers and his puppet show taught people to be narcissistic. Having compassion for yourself is not a negative thing, neither is managing your emotions.

Mr. Rodgers taught really, really basic stuff that has lost a bit of traction in the modern world. I am not saying that anything was better then, just that the way Mr. Rodgers message was delivered has lost the impact it once had. I am not entirely sure how effective honesty is, when things have gotten so much more complicated in general.

Wiki wrote:At its peak, in 1985, 8 percent of U.S households tuned in to the show.

Now that is something isn't it.

Moving on though. Bill Nye, did he teach us to break things?

Wrexasaur wrote:Mr. Rodgers taught really, really basic stuff that has lost a bit of traction in the modern world. I am not saying that anything was better then, just that the way Mr. Rodgers message was delivered has lost the impact it once had. I am not entirely sure how effective honesty is, when things have gotten so much more complicated in general.

I think it's sometimes hard to see how Fred Rogers' message and lesson -- be a decent fething human being -- matters in today's world. But it does. And Fred Rogers will win in the end.

Just look at Fox News. That bastion of morality and family values chose to point a finger at a *minister* and someone responsible for countless hours of non-violent children's television for society's ills. Real conservatives should be celebrating a good man like Fred Rogers. Instead they point fingers at him while promoting galactic-level a$$holes like Glenn Beck on their network.

The day Fred Rogers died, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put a guestbook up on their site for fans to give their condolences, say what Fred Rogers meant to them, etc. I believe the guestbook was over 100 pages long before lunchtime.

There will be no such outpouring of emotion for Glenn Beck upon his death. Glenn Beck will have achieved nothing and touched no one. There will be no statues of Glenn Beck in public places. His life will have served as no positive message.

Fred Rogers wins.

I don't know, the wife of a rival DJ that Beck called and mocked about her miscarriage probably still feel's 'touched.'

This is anecdotal and I don't have the time to find the source, but when someone tried to get Rogers to weigh in on homosexuality as a minister, his response was, 'God loves you just the way you are." He's really one of the few people I have ever seen who has was so consistently _good_ in thought and action throughout his public and private life. Probably why the myth that he was a deadly sniper in Vietnam is so popular.

warpcrafter wrote:I don't know where you grew up, but I fondly remembering that one ironclad rule of the playground jungle was that anybody who was found to be a fan of Mister Rogers was just begging for an atomic wedgie and a stiff kicking. Now THAT was a satisfying, empowering and self-esteem building exercise.

The funniest part about stories like these is how 'in the closet' you know the bullies are. Because if they're kicking the guy who watches the wrong show (or happens to be wearing green, and everyone knows green is the lame color, or at least it is that Thursday) then surely no one will ever suspect that as soon as they get home, the first thing they do is turn on PBS and sing along with what a beautiful day it is.

Are the republicans that hard up for things to bitch about?

Really?

Wait, there's a myth that Fred Rogers was a deadly sniper in Vietnam?

Well, after all, Bert and Ernie were responsible for the gays all coming out in the 90s too... Beavis and Butthead are responsible for the psychotic little arsonist burning his parents house down... and Judas Priest made your depressed son blow half his face off. There's always a culprit to help people with their denial.
NO
your kids are dumb because you don't teach them and use video games as a baby sitter
your kid burned the house down because he's a fething idiot trying to experiment and you werent paying attention
your kid blew his face off to Judas Priest because you were controling religious freaks and had him hopped up on anti-depressants (yeah that worked!)...


who can we blame now? oh yeah, it must be Mr. Rogers fault.

Sorry lousy parents, but you are running low on scapegoats.

Nurglitch wrote:Wait, there's a myth that Fred Rogers was a deadly sniper in Vietnam?

As ironic as it would be for the calm and collected Mr. Rogers to be a cold hearted sniper with thousands of kills marked into the stock of his 50. cal, the myth has only a marginal rumor rating due to its incredulous nature.

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp

THis doesn't surprise me

The folks over at Fox love making things up and blowing things out of proportion to push up ratings. Honestly, if they'd change their status from News to Comedy, they'd probably have the best television network around

Then it would be the Daily Show, just republican sided... oh wait... That would be The Colbert Report... I'm pretty sure that guy is serious. Its not an act. Nobody can love America as much as that guy...

Nurglitch wrote:Wait, there's a myth that Fred Rogers was a deadly sniper in Vietnam?

Wait thats a myth? Frazzled sad!

Guitardian wrote:Then it would be the Daily Show, just republican sided... oh wait... That would be The Colbert Report... I'm pretty sure that guy is serious. Its not an act. Nobody can love America as much as that guy...

Ironically, if you've been watching them lately, it seems like Steven and John have switched roles John's been making lots of Democrat jokes and Steven has been going pro Obama on us.

I think they're up to something

Nooooo. Now look what You've done! Look you made Frazzled cry!

(pat on head)
Don't worry Frazzled, mister Rogers kicked some ass.

A 30-something Fox reporter claimed that he is a part of a hard working generation? Wow.

Fox News and the Westboro Baptists agree on Fred Rogers.

That is all I'm saying.

I tried to watch that stupid "news" clip. It's ridiculous. I'd say it's definitely a correlation vs causation sort of thing. The kids they are talking about have grown up in an entirely different environment in the 90's where there was a lot more disposable income and less parent involvement that lead to spoiled kids. Also, the complete lack of parenting due to the increasing rate of families who have both parents working instead of paying attention to their children is a pretty important factor. Why teach your kids how to be responsible when you can give them an xbox? I highly doubt that Mr. Rogers telling them that everyone has something to offer is the real cause behind all this.

Also, why the hell are they talking about Asian kids who didn't watch Mr. Rogers and actually believe that is the reason that they work harder? That's ridiculous. They know nothing of the pressure that kids in those countries are put under to succeed which has also led to some of the highest suicide rates in the world.

Now that I think of it, wouldn't said 30-something reporter be in the center of age group that was supposedly corrupted by Mr. Rogers?

Monster Rain wrote:Fox News and the Westboro Baptists agree on Fred Rogers.

That is all I'm saying.

Fox news and the Westboro Baptists both need to go away for a long time. Lets say, the new Gitmoo?

dogma wrote:A 30-something Fox reporter claimed that he is a part of a hard working generation? Wow.

Hey I'm a thirty something too and you better believe I'm hard working... I have to work just to GET work, like many in my generation. I have to pay the baby boomers rent and medicare and ssi checks while they play golf... I have to pay my landlord who just owns stuff for a living, who is part of the previous generation and owns 4 properties because they were cheap enough to buy back in his time. The 90s were hard on me I wasn't spoiled at all I had to work through college, work for donkey-cave bosses since I was 16. Don't call us lazy just because we're Gen Xers raised on Mr. Rogers.

regarding the daily show vs/ally Colbert thing... I believe you are correct sir.

sorry for the rant but we 30 somethings were the LAST generation who didn't just have everything handed to us from computers to cellphones to video games to straight A's.

I was only commenting on the folly of discussing generations as either hard-working or lazy, and making a point about Fox News and lazy journalism.

It absolutely boggles my mind that Fox is as successful as it is. It makes me think ungenerous thoughts about the viewing public in the US.

Special doesn't equal entitled.

Mr. Rogers coming on T.V and boosting a kids self esteem a bit,isn't the problem.

Let's face it children (then and now) are bombarded by all sorts of messages via the media,some good,some crap.

It's the parents job to guide the child,to help the child to understand the difference between entertainment and the real world,and hopefully,to prepare that child to become a somewhat well adjusted THINKING individual.

Is there an overabundance of lazy,self absorbed,little nit wits running amok who seem to think the world owes them something...yep,there is.

Is it Fred Rodgers fault...no.
Is it the lazy,self absorbed,little nit wits parents fault..BINGO.

That's something that I really have trouble with. The way we try to avoid criticising parents.
Because usually, if somethings up with your kid, you've got something to do with it.

Da Boss wrote:That's something that I really have trouble with. The way we try to avoid criticising parents.
Because usually, if somethings up with your kid, you've got something to do with it.

Amen!

It is truly amazing the amount of parents who just will NOT take responsibility for their children's actions.
As Guitardian stated before,if little Johnny burns the house down,at some level..it's his parents fault...not Marilyn Manson's,not the Power Rangers and not Fred Rodgers.