One of the more successful strategies, at least historically, of Leftists who want to defend ridiculous policies is called “hostage taking.”

The practice is pretty simple: tie two unrelated things together–one that the public generally likes or approves of, and another that is objectionable–and make it difficult to separate the two. If you want one, you have to have both.

That’s why during government “shutdowns” (which really are more like “government diets”) all the things people like about government get closed. Museums, parks, the Washington Monument…

Here in Minnesota, we had a showdown between the legislature and the governor a few years back and the budget deadline passed. The Democrat governor made sure to close rest stops on highways, which are generally unstaffed, claiming that it was a safety hazard to have them open.

They literally blocked entrances.

Of course, it is a safety hazard to have them closed, especially as truckers need to use them for mandatory rest periods. Not to mention the need for restrooms.

People volunteered to clean them and provide safety (whatever that means) and the governor refused. He did it to pressure the legislature; truckers tend to be Republicans and the Democrats took them hostage.

Another example is Joy Reid’s piece here.

Oklahoma governor vetoes bill authorizing funds for OETA, which broadcasts PBS

Joy Reid: He's not just taking away the educational benefits for Oklahoma kids…this public television station is also a critical piece of the state's emergency alert system https://t.co/etfJmylgb7 pic.twitter.com/PfNfwlMVP8

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 4, 2023

Oklahoma’s governor is defunding Public TV for obvious reasons, and Reid is claiming children as hostages.

“Think of the children!” There will be no Amber alerts!

This is, on its face, absurd. It is true that PBS broadcasts Amber and weather alerts, but it’s not at all clear to me that the word won’t get out somehow–such as with every other means of communication, including phones these days. And obviously broadcasting these alerts to 5-year-olds is hardly a useful strategy for emergency alerts, however bright they might be.

“Some of the stuff that they’re showing, it just overly sexualizes our kids. There are parents defending child transition on PBS that’s being played. There’s elevating LGBTQIA2S+ voices,” Stitt said on Friday.

On Friday, the governor claimed OETA was indoctrinating children. He vetoed House Bill 2820, which would have allowed the state’s PBS station to operate through 2026.

“If you want to watch that, that’s fine, but why am I using taxpayer dollars to prop that up? I don’t think we need that, and I’m glad to veto that bill,” Stitt said on Friday.

Unlike closing the parks and rest stops, the vast majority of people affected by forcing PBS to pay its own way are likely not voters who would consider supporting the governor, save perhaps some affluent Republicans in the cities.

They can pay their own damn way if they want PBS. They pay for Disney+. YouTube is out there.

In this case, Joy Reid clearly doesn’t understand that her arguments will fall on deaf ears in Oklahoma.

More likely, she isn’t actually caring about Oklahomans–she wants to emphasize that knuckle-dragging Red staters hate kids. Her audience eats that stuff up.

As for the children? Children’s programming is a fraction of public TV, and children’s TV is totally woke propaganda dressed up as entertainment.

Of course Reid’s argument flips from “this will hurt the kids,” about which she probably cares little, to “this is anti-alphabet,” which of course is the point.

Yes, yes it is. Oklahomans are anti-alphabet too. You want that propaganda, you pay for it. We don’t want to.

How hard is that to understand?