FROM THE HEART
Thinking about kids and the end of summer holidays (yesterday's post), brought to mind one of the most touching presentations given on behalf of kids.
I'm speaking of the late Reverend Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers for decades, giving a passionate plea for $20 million in federal funding for children's television funding, in front of a Senate sub-committee back in 1969.
This YouTube video of the presentation, although six and a half minutes long, has a payoff at the end that rivals anything you've seen in the movies.
The chairman of the sub-committee was Senator John O. Pastore, who had a reputation for being gruff and impatient. Again, the ending of the presentation needs to be seen to be believed,
Jimmy Stewart couldn't have done it better if he'd gone to Washington himself.
On a totally separate note, it's important to note the role Mr. Rogers played in how an earlier generation of time-shifting technology, the humble VCR, came to be relatively unregulated. As this Wikipedia entry notes:
"During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court.
His 1979 testimony in the case Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. noted that he did not object to home recording of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch together at a later time.
This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recording or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated.
The Supreme Court considered the testimony of Rogers in its decision that held that the Betamaxinfringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue;"
Sounds kinda familiar, doesn't it? Boy, could we use Mr. Rogers again.
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