When PBS got right-wing hate mail ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

It seems farfetched that PBS would get hate mail all because of a 'Sesame Street' segment.

The fact that it was right-wing hate mail and not apolitical hate mail makes the story even more amusing. It proves right-wingers have nothing better to do than sit at home and watch 'Sesame Street' for stuff to complain about. They're professionals, as right-wing organizations hire them to do this.

The notion of socially conservative luminaries mentioning 'Sesame Street' at all is another added element of amusement. I got an image in my mind of Jerry Falwell delivering a sermon about 'Sesame Street'.

Reportedly, however, PBS really did get hate mail from right-wing activists. Why? Here's why:



Yes, that was all it took.

Melissa Etheridge singing about the letter 'U' on 'Sesame Street' sent the conservative brain trust spiraling into irrational fits of fury. Like a lot of things do.

That segment was from 1996, so I was a little too old for 'Sesame Street' when it aired. This also happened to be at the height of right-wing efforts to defund and dismantle PBS. (This was before conservatives figured out they could just appoint their cronies to PBS's governing board and fill the network with nonsense like hit pieces against Hugo Chavez.)

The rightist uproar over this segment reminds me of an incident in college, when I was a DJ on the campus radio station. One day, a schoolmate who was hired as a manager for the station pulled all the David Bowie and Elton John tracks off the air. When one of the other DJ's asked why, he replied, "Because I don't want queers on my station."

Needless to say, Campus Report didn't cover that little outburst.