Oh, hey! I'm on a roll.

[stoney321]

I sent in another letter to the editor about school vouchers, and they're printing it tomorrow. \o/ Snark phasers set to HIGH.



Original Letter From An Idiot

Re: "Vouchers are just welfare" by Beverly Rigsy and "PBS vital to democracy" Letters Feb. 14
It never ceases to amaze me that some people think that my taxes should be used to pay for PBS and public schools. But, should I want some of my taxes to pay for private schools or non-liberal TV, it is considered welfare and I am not entitled to it.

Vouchers are a way for me to get some of my tax funds back. I have paid for public schools to propagandize one of my kids and now am trying to limit it on the other.And if PBS is so necessary, it needs to stand on its own or be paid for by the people who want it.
~ [Name of jerkwad, My City]



My response:

[Name of Jerkwad], who despises the "liberal" PBS channel and its programming-- wait. What's liberal about PBS? Is it Masterpiece Theater? NOVA and that hog-wash Nature? Nope, must be Sesame Street, ooooh that's liberal stuff right there! With its letters and feelings and songs! They just let all those puppets PLAY together! And they're not the same color, and you know what I'm talking about there. (Personally, I'm a little iffy on that whole Bert and Ernie living situation.)

This response brought to you by the letters W, T and H.

~signed, my real name


"If PBS is so necessary, it needs to stand on its own, or be paid for by the people who want it." HEY! IT DOES! A small portion of government funding isn't making or breaking it, bub. They provide 15% of the CPB's funding. (Which translates to a larger portion for small towns. You know, where people who don't have a lot of money tend to be, and probably NEED free educational TV.)

Also, Arthur is a show about brown people. And Reading Rainbow? Mmm hmmm. It's all subterfuge for Gay Pride. That's how they getcha! EYE. ROLL.

PEOPLE. It is in YOUR BENEFIT to have an educated populace. As one wise woman said about her son to another woman (and I'll never forget) "I can train him up now, or he can be robbing you in five years."

Comments

[demonqueen666.livejournal.com]

They just let all those puppets PLAY together! And they're not the same color, and you know what I'm talking about there. (Personally, I'm a little iffy on that whole Bert and Ernie living situation.)

You go, girl.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I (unfortunately) wonder how many people won't know I'm JOKING.

[kiji-kat.livejournal.com]

That last bit is going on my journal. Like, now.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. \o/

[yin-again.livejournal.com]

Do not be hatin' on Bert and Ernie. They're in a stable, loving relationship, yo.

I love you a very whole lot for smacking down the jerkwads.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

DON'T MAKE ME LINK YOU TO THE ERNIE/BERT COCAINE BUTT SEX FIC WITH CHARACTER DEATH.

Bert is a dirty bastard, and you know it. Hahahahaha. <3

[southernbangel.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. You are awesome.

Also, I MISSED 30 ROCK LAST NIGHT. I weep. I mourn. I flail.

Also #2, I cracked up at one of the sentences in your last post. GUESS WHICH ONE. Heeeeeee! :DDDD

Also #3, have you seen the pictures of Harry Potter's penis? OH MY LAWD.

Also #4, I'm. . . flummoxed by last night's Office. Awesome, awesome episode, but MAN. ROY. It was that uncomfortable feeling you get sometimes watching Michael but SO MUCH WORSE. *flails*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

DO YOU NEED A TORRENT FILE?? 30 Rock was awesome. I can hook a sista up.

#2: I cannot guess because EVERY SENTENCE WAS A GEM. Hahaha.

#3: !
!!!
!!!!!! LINK ME NOW NOW NOW NOW!!

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha! You are on a roll. "This response brought to you by the letters W, T and H." That made me snort water all over my screen. Of course I mentally inserted an inappropriate F.

"PEOPLE. It is in YOUR BENEFIT to have an educated populace." Word.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, I TOTALLY self-edited the F, because I wanted to get printed. Heh.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Oh, stupid people. I just -- oh, my god Stoney, the *stupid people*!

Make them go away. Or remind them again that public school is free for everyone, supported by The People. The People are then given the choice of taking advantage of that public school or finding the funds for private. That is not liberal bias holy god!

Seriously. Make the stupid people go away?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I wish I could! Unfortunately, Newt Gingrich did a GREAT JOB ten years ago planting the seed in neo-con's heads that PBS provided porn to children on the gov'ment's dime.

And... it's like they've NEVER TURNED THE CHANNEL ON. Oh, wait. *checks numbers for Deal or No Deal* They probably haven't. :(

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Dear god -- if these damn people would agree to taxes for after-school programs and Head Start, yeah, maybe PBS wouldn't be so very needed for the educational sector. But when we resent schoolchildren for the money that goes to support only the most basic of educational programs, (never mind having books of their own, or getting to each breakfast and/or lunch) yeah, we're going to need some broad solutions to the problems we're creating, like shows with muppets helping kids learn how to freaking count!

Also, when you get links to DanRad's peen? Link me up, baby!

[southernbangel.livejournal.com]

Did you say "peen?" Who loves ya, baby? (http://www.bestweekever.tv/2007/02/23/full-frontal-potter-will-make-you-feel-terrible/)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Did you find the link up there? here it is, if not.

I just do NOT get the anger over having to pay for public schools. So you (not YOU you) aren't having children, okay. You still need to kick in money! Who is going to care for you when you are older? Who will your police force be? Your nurses? Your firemen? Your NEIGHBORS? I just have never gotten this argument.

Vouchers are simply a way for rich white people to pull their kids out of schools filled with brown kids and have the govt pay for private school, PERIOD. I'm a HUGE fan of Head Start and after school programs, too.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Yup. Still love you like whoa.

Thank goodness you're on the case, now that Molly's gone. :( You should write a column, you should. You SHOULD.

::hugs you and misses you::

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Man, I would LOVE that. So would... hundreds of others. (Boy, wouldn't that be the best job ever?)

Hi, sweetheart! I've been all germy lately, so be sure to wash your hands after hugging me. :D

[shirenomad]

PEOPLE. It is in YOUR BENEFIT to have an educated populace. As one wise woman said about her son to another woman (and I'll never forget) "I can train him up now, or he can be robbing you in five years."

Bravo. But I'd use that to argue for both PBS and vouchers.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I do not have a good opinion on vouchers, given their usage where I'm from. Typically they've been a way to aid (and pay for) white flight, leaving schools in the dust with fewer committed parents to be involved with making them a better place. Just my opinion, obviously.

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, evil PBS, providing culture and the alphabet. Mustn't have that.

As far as private schools - for the most part they come in two varieties. Religious, and last I checked the government still was out of the particular business. And prep school, which are for the rich who can already afford it, thanks much.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I know, right? PBS pushing its gay/liberal/blacks are people too agenda. WHAT ON EARTH!

Our average cost for private schools in DFW is about 20,000 a year. !!! I'd like to make known that my kids, who are in PUBLIC school, know more math and science than our friends who shell out 50K a year for private ELEMENTARY.

it's not like their kids are at Choate or Eton where they're hobnobbing with bluenoses, you know?

[my_daroga]

THANK YOU.

God, people are dumb.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

They sure can be. Not all, but there's enough of them ruining it for the rest.

[ponders-life.livejournal.com]

::applauds:: Thank you for speaking up (in your own inimitable style :).

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha. Well, I do what I can. And you watch - I;ll get a flame response, just like last time. (Where the flamer indicated that the Rresurrection of Jesus Christ was THE MOST DOCUMENTED HISTORICAL EVENT EVER. Um, no it isn't.)

[redbrickrose.livejournal.com]

Ha! Well said. Some people really, really need to be snarked at.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, YES THEY DO!! Hee!

[elisi]

OK, this has *nothing* to do with your post (and also I'm in the wrong country...), but I uploaded lots of Buffy music (from the show) and thought you might like some? What with you being so very generous yourself, I just wanted to give a little back. :)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweet!! Thank you so much for thinking of me!! *zoom!*

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Greetings from a land where we have many public service broadcasting channels. Which provide independence, intelligent comment, crazed individualism, deeply leftwing bias now and again, the voice of the Establishment now and again, and generally anything other than commercial-driven lowest common denominator broadcasting.

Also, serious opera, schools programming, otherwise obscure international 'artistic' porn (hurrah), and, at present, the edifying spectacle of big mud-splattered men in gum-shields representing the component nations of the British Isles, trying to extract each other's intestines with their bare hands in the name of sport (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/default.stm).

God bless them, every one.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I envy your BBC Radio, I really do. Is it all gold? Of course not, but the majority seems to be thoughtful, well produced and hey: EDUCATIONAL.

It's so aggravating to be in a wealthy country that continually hoardes the money from those who need it most. It's like we're entering "let them eat cake" territory.

[anelith.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

PEOPLE. It is in YOUR BENEFIT to have an educated populace.

You really bring tears to my eyes with this. Laura, right now our town is in real trouble with a financial crisis, the same one that many many towns are facing all over the country, I'm sure, but our town is in a deeper pile of it because of a couple of factors. One, we get less money from the state than most towns of similar socioeconomic types due to a bizarre and outmoded way of calculating the fraction of state aid. And two, only 17% of the households in this town have children going to school. That last statistic is a killer, because it means whenever it comes to a vote in the town on raising taxes for school? It gets voted down. There is a high fraction of seniors in the town living on fixed incomes, and I do understand that they have a tough time -- HOWEVER -- there is a part of the tax code called a "circuit breaker" that kicks in for seniors and relieves them whenever their property taxes get too high. Things are getting really bitter and divisive here between the parents and the senior citizens because we parents are fighting so hard to get crucially necessary money for the schools from both the state and from raising taxes, and we aren't getting anywhere on either front. There's now talk of a lawsuit against the state, if we can get some of the other towns who are embattled against this unfair state aid calculation to join us.

Sorry to dump on you with this overly long comment, but your very, very apt letter just hit home with me, because it is so very TRUE.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

You know, it's interesting how Hollywood and print media is SO focused on youth in every marketing tactic, yet the government is hyper focused on baby boomers and their parents. It's no wonder teens and college aged kids are getting less and less involved in politics - they're consistently getting the shaft.

I wonder if getting a national light shone on the issue could benefit y'all? How frustrating. Why people don't understand that their "tax dollars" being "wasted on schools" (when they don't have kids, etc.) amounts to not much more than a ha'penny a year... Shut up, folks. You want beggars and thieves running your town? Or do you want people who are educated and can care for you and your needs? Bah. And hugs to you.

[xochitl42.livejournal.com]

Well, hell. I keep forgetting that I'm not allowed to drink soda while reading your posts anymore.

I need a new keyboard.

Typical NIMBY pabulum. I quite enjoyed your literary wake-up stick, and would like to subscribe to your newlsetter. --Wait, I already am subscribed! :D