FCC asks stations for "pro-America" programming, like daily Pledge of Allegiance

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/fcc-asks-stations-for-pro-america-programming-like-daily-pledge-of-allegiance/

by pseudalopex • 5 months ago

124 167 5 months ago

arstechnica.com

mindslight10• 5 months ago

Let's start with some readings of the Declaration of Independence.

They promised us another American Revolution. They neglected to mention that they were planning on taking the position of King George and the redcoats.

CamperBob2• 5 months ago

No, they didn't neglect to mention it at all: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/16/project-2025...

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

Almost all of history's greatest, most-destructive conspiracies were not concealed in smoke-filled rooms, they were published and advertised to great fanfare. This one included.

mindslight10• 5 months ago

I didn't say the intentions weren't plain as day for anyone not stuck in the Fraudster in Chief's reality distortion field. Just that they abused the reference to the history without actually owning up to where in the analogy their agenda sits. Lawless gangs of soldiers terrorizing American cities for political purposes is straight out of the Revolution.

And yeah "bloodless, if the left allows it". It's always projection and gaslighting with these fascists. "Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Look what you made me do."

(see also "TDS" to describe anybody not in the Fraudster in Chief's reality distortion field)

tombert10• 5 months ago

Almost all of history's greatest, most-destructive conspiracies were not concealed in smoke-filled rooms, they were published and advertised to great fanfare. This one included.

I agree, and I've always found it kind of amusing. There is a conspiracy of elites that are actively trying to bring you down to enrich themselves, and they exert absurd amounts of control on the government, tax policy, and actively use their platform to move public opinion in their favor.

We call that group of elites "billionaires", and it's not really even hidden. Elon Musk was the CEO of like five companies while still heading a government "department", but for some reason Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson aren't going on long tirades about how utterly inappropriate that is. Instead they go on about "satanists" and "child sacrifices" and then their listeners will replace those with "Jews".

JohnTHaller2• 5 months ago

Yup. Millions happily voted for Project 2025. It reminds me of the people who railed against Obamacare but were horrified ending it would also effect their Affordable Care Act plans.

themafia2• 5 months ago

It's always the Declaration and never the Constitution.

I suppose getting to Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 is a disappointing early start to what is meant to be a uniting and patriotic activity.

mindslight10• 5 months ago

Ideals are much more inspiring than a specific attempt at implementation, which if we're being honest with ourselves as systems engineers, has failed pretty spectacularly in a few ways.

insane_dreamer7• 5 months ago

these truths ... all men* are created equal

*white male landowner

mindslight10• 5 months ago

That the founders were able to articulate lofty ideals while steeped in being oppressors in multiple ways isn't the condemnation you seem to think it is. Rather it's more commendable that they were able to be so forward thinking, as people with power benefiting from the society they were in. Our modern interpretation of that sentence would most certainly have shocked many of the people who supported it in the context of the time, and yet they were able to draw a rough sketch that we are still appealing to eight generations later as a beacon of progress!

Of course it is important to guard against those who would dredge up that historic context as what "the founders intended" to try and drag us back there, on some rosy vision of the past where all of the problems seem quaint (as they've been addressed in the current day).

toomuchtodo• 5 months ago

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-418890A1.pdf

HillRat• 5 months ago

It takes quite a bit of chutzpah to lament that "classic programming such as Schoolhouse Rock! is now only found in online archives" when this same administration defunded the CPB, previously responsible for developing just that kind of educational content.

nunez7• 5 months ago

Schoolhouse was always aired by ABC, but your point stands. (Sesame Street and Fred Rogers wouldn't exist without the CPB.)

jmclnx• 5 months ago

How about forcing all stations to:

1. read from the bible between between 16:00 and 20:00

2. At 20:00 show Trump's picture for 5 minutes with people praising him

3. rest of the programming are shows based upon Leave it to Beaver and my 3 sons, make sure only WASPS are the actors and producers.

That is what the US admin. really wants. If I see more than one of these "PSAs" in a 4 hour period, I will never watch that network again. FWIW, I stream as opposed to using Cable. So they will know why I cancelled their service.

lenerdenator2• 5 months ago

Eh, they wouldn't do Leave it to Beaver, just reruns of The Apprentice.

JKCalhoun3• 5 months ago

Yeah, Leave it to Beaver had an episode where Beaver befriends a Hispanic boy that only speaks Spanish.

Aeolun2• 5 months ago

Those are’t the prime slots. Before 8 in the morning (before school), and somewhere between 6 and 7, during or right after dinner (make it a family activity)

insane_dreamer7• 5 months ago

It's coming sooner than you think:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trumps-face-is-now-on-...

tokai• 5 months ago

Although it’s described as voluntary, Carr said broadcasters can meet their public interest obligations by taking the pledge. This is notable because Carr has repeatedly threatened to punish broadcast stations for violating the public interest standard.

But apparently Europe are the ones with freedom of speech issues.

parineum• 5 months ago

Two things can be true

erxam2• 5 months ago

Freedom of speech: pro-US propaganda

Lack of freedom of speech: anything else

jjtwixman• 5 months ago

Pretty much. Americans want to export their fascist ideology to Europe under the guise of "freedom of speech". They need to get their own house in order first, frankly.

Kapura4• 5 months ago

You are limited to a realitwhere words have consistent meaning. the fascists and republicans have no such limitation, which gives them a lot of power if you think you can debate them with logic.

input_sh• 5 months ago

I can't tell if this is intentional or not, but you're pretty much paraphrasing a famous Jean-Paul Sartre's WW2-era quote:

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7870768-never-believe-that-...

josefritzishere3• 5 months ago

Mandatory state ideology is very worrisome.

jsbisviewtiful• 5 months ago

This seems like something the current SCOTUS would shut down very quickly, but I could be wrong.

mindslight10• 5 months ago

This seems like something the current SCOTUS might shut down in 13 months. Long enough to do some real damage to our country, but short enough that true believers will claim it was never given a chance.

lenerdenator2• 5 months ago

So was racial profiling for the sake of immigration enforcement, but, well...

drivingmenuts• 5 months ago

The current SCOTUS has, so far, given the Trump administration a lot of rope to hang us by. If they use it to hang themselves remains to be seen.

conductr4• 5 months ago

Nothing mandatory, so no worries

josefritzishere3• 5 months ago

With respect... the FCC is a regulatory agency. There is an obvious set of forcing functions here. It's not normal and is very concerning.

pseudalopex5• 5 months ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095073

ViscountPenguin• 5 months ago

This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it? Iirc, they have (legally not mandatory, but functionally mandatory) pledges at the start of every school day right?

rkomorn• 5 months ago

They never made me say it but they did make me stand while the other kids did. That said... that was more than three decades ago.

I was only 9 the first time it happened but even back then it felt really weird.

dghlsakjg4• 5 months ago

Some schools do it some don’t.

Participation is never mandatory and retaliation or forcing the pledge is an invitation for an expensive civil rights suit.

vkou• 5 months ago

This has been a thing in the USA for a long time hasn't it?

Yes, and it doesn't make it any less cult-like.

throwaway274482• 5 months ago

It is certainly not mandatory. There's simply enormous social pressure to be a state toadie.

HardwareLust• 5 months ago

Nothing says you're selling an inferior product better than having to propagandize people into believing in it.

Ancalagon• 5 months ago

sounds like the state of AI

embedding-shape4• 5 months ago

Sounds like "products"

lm28469• 5 months ago

uh, new around here? That's what the US have been doing for the past century+

wakawaka286• 5 months ago

Lots of people take for granted that their government exists and doesn't suck as bad as those in other places. Say what you want about it, but every successful country cultivates a national culture and identity. This is especially important for countries where the people are very heterogeneous in other identity facets. If people feel no particular affinity for the country because they are rarely encouraged to stop and think about it, how exactly would anyone be found who is willing to defend the country itself and thus their own existence which they take for granted?

happymellon• 5 months ago

Lots of people take for granted that their government exists and doesn't suck as bad as those in other places.

From the UK. Our government definitely sucks, and has basically had the same hostile policies despite switching between different parties.

https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/53806-how-popular-is-...

People wish that we would stop pandering to the US, at least to the level that we do.

ulfw• 5 months ago

I loved that 99 out of 100 times when I saw a sign of "Luxury Apartments" in the Bay Area they were old run down shit holes.

Turns out actual luxury apartments don't have to write it on a sign.

techblueberry3• 5 months ago

This feels a little excessively cynical, you still might hate it, but it's specifically for the 250th Anniversary of America.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr today urged broadcasters to join a “Pledge America Campaign” that Carr established to support President Trump’s “Salute to America 250” project.

Carr said in a press release that “I am inviting broadcasters to pledge to air programming in their local markets in support of this historic national, non-partisan celebration.” The press release said Carr is asking broadcasters to “air patriotic, pro-America programming in support of America’s 250th birthday.”

Carr gave what he called examples of content that broadcasters can run if they take the pledge. His examples include “starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ or Pledge of Allegiance”; airing “PSAs, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history”; running “segments during regular news programming that highlight local sites that are significant to American and regional history, such as National Park Service sites”; airing “music by America’s greatest composers, such as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, and George Gershwin”; and providing daily “Today in American History” announcements highlighting significant events from US history.

I don't know that "pledge" should be the right word, just maybe like encourage? And like way to speed run the death of broadcast television, but whatever.

dghlsakjg4• 5 months ago

In isolation, it makes sense.

In context it comes off as a thin veneer of jingoism on top of an implied threat.

pseudalopex5• 5 months ago

This feels a little excessively cynical, you still might hate it, but it's specifically for the 250th Anniversary of America.
I don't know that "pledge" should be the right word, just maybe like encourage?

The article addressed this.

Although it’s described as voluntary, Carr said broadcasters can meet their public interest obligations by taking the pledge. This is notable because Carr has repeatedly threatened to punish broadcast stations for violating the public interest standard.

“If this were genuinely intended as voluntary, and genuinely about celebrating America, there is no reason to limit this to broadcasters,” Feld told Ars. “Cable operators are equally free to celebrate America, as are podcasters for that matter.”

dghlsakjg4• 5 months ago

The FCC has no jurisdiction over podcasters and no regulatory oversight on cable content.

Over the air content is something they have power over.

Oddly enough, this is the FCC staying on their lane… kind of

Kapura4• 5 months ago

Sorry, i thought that this country took "freedom of speech" seriously. Being compelled to air anything of any description seems to contradict that.

techblueberry3• 5 months ago

'i thought that this country took "freedom of speech" seriously.'

What in god's name in anything that's happened in the past 10 years gave you that idea?

nkrisc• 5 months ago

In a time when the president’s face is on a giant banner hanging from the DOJ, it feels appropriately cynical.

tolerance11• 5 months ago

How might this campaign appear under an administration ran by a Democrat?

Kapura4• 5 months ago

it just wouldnt? what are you trying to say

tolerance11• 5 months ago

What purpose is this submission supposed to serve? What kind of discussion around it do you think would be more appropriate?

tzs• 5 months ago

It would probably be mostly the same, except maybe not suggesting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Except for that most of the kinds of things it gave as examples are close to the kind of things you'd find your local PBS or NPR station.

insane_dreamer7• 5 months ago

Well it didn't, that's the point

ctoth3• 5 months ago

So they sent this little warning, they're prepared to do their worst

And they stuck it in your mailbox hoping you could be coerced

I can think of quite another place they should have stuck it first

trebligdivad• 5 months ago

I suggest a daily airing of Leonard Cohen's 'Democracy'

rsynnott• 5 months ago

Freedom of speech, provided, of course, that it is Correct speech.

throwaway274482• 5 months ago

We really are becoming the worst parts of what we were told was communism growing up, but without the redeeming parts. What a joke.

Buttons840• 5 months ago

Does the pledge of allegiance actually do anything? I can't even remember if I did it in school. I first thought "oh, my State must not have done the pledge in school", but after more reflection I think I did but just doing remember.

ctoth3• 5 months ago

Wow, that doesn't terrify you? We're talking about a thing that, if you did it, you would have done at least ~2000 times in a typical 12 years of school. Every morning. Do you remember other school events?

aaomidi• 5 months ago

Routine stuff actually just fades very easily.

tombert10• 5 months ago

I went to a grand total of five schools in Florida: one grade school, two middle schools, and two high schools. The first two were in upstate conservative Florida, the last three were in Orlando (which is comparatively more progressive).

Every school expected me to say it every morning.

wakawaka286• 5 months ago

It reminds kids that they live in the United States, and that the country has values, and that they will be expected to defend the country as part of the social contract. I don't know if other countries have pledges like this but on the surface it seems OK to me. I think it also inspires worthwhile conversations about what we owe to the country (or not).

embedding-shape4• 5 months ago

that the country has values

As I've never said "The Pledge of Allegiance", this seems to be the original one, I'm guessing there might be some other modern variation schools use today, but anyways:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I wouldn't be surprised that most people see it as a joke today, given the "with liberty and justice for all" is far from reality today, and it's very obvious to anyone.

I don't know if other countries have pledges like this but on the surface it seems OK to me

Generally not, AFAIK. On the surface it seems like blatant propaganda to me, and kind of extremist, something you'd see not in a modern country typically.

insane_dreamer7• 5 months ago

I'd rather they pledge allegiance to the values rather than to the country. I can see defending those values as part of the social contract, but not the country. If the country and the values are aligned, then sure. But if not, then it is no longer worthy of that allegiance. Otherwise, you can wind up with something like Nazi Germany where people have to go along with it because "my country".

If you think about it, the main reason for the Bill of Rights, and especially the 2A (I vehemently disagree with guns in today's world but I understand the original purpose of the 2A), is because they understood that governments can be subverted away from the country's values and citizens need protection from the government in such cases.

cmxch• 5 months ago

So basically Voice of America scaled up?

actionfromafar2• 5 months ago

Haha, no, Voice of America can't be as crude.

But it was directed at a different audience. This propaganda direction - inwards, serves another purpose: to remind the listener who's boss, or Daddy, if you will.

nebula8804• 5 months ago

Do you really have a problem with VOA when they produce pieces like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wto1IYLRRRE

Other big countries all have their propaganda outfits. Why shouldn't the US at least have something to promote their point of view? The alternative as we are experiencing now is that point of view is never even expressed among the competing points of view and thus any ideas deriving from it never get discussed.

yed• 5 months ago

Fun fact: the Pledge of Allegiance was written by an avowed socialist [0] and was intended to counter the individualistic and capitalistic tendencies he saw in American culture.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bellamy

tombert10• 5 months ago

Regardless of who wrote it I've always kind of thought it was weird. If America is a great country then it should be self-evident and we don't need to try and indoctrinate children with it.

thrance• 5 months ago

The original pledge was quite different, and indeed sounds more socialist:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Also, did you know children had to do a "Bellamy Salute" to the flag? That was removed during WW2 for obvious reasons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute

nunez7• 5 months ago

Wow; today I learned!!!

wakawaka286• 5 months ago

Great information! I assumed it was some random patriotic thing, but this sounds sinister. It's probably not a big deal but I don't really know how much influence it actually has. Most people seem to see it as tolerable or cheesy, not some great and worthwhile gesture.

tombert10• 5 months ago

When I was in sixth grade I found out (I am not sure how actually) that I didn’t have to say the pledge if I didn’t want to. I didn’t (and don’t) believe in God, and I didn’t believe in the “under God” part of the pledge, so I decided that I wouldn’t stand for the pledge anymore.

This was an extremely conservative area, and so my teachers were very upset. I told them I don’t have to say the pledge if I don't want (and I believe I had even memorized the specific court case with the Jehova's Witnesses about it). This went on for a week, until I was eventually sent to the principal's office for it.

The principal asked why I wouldn't just say it, and I told him because I don't believe in God and I don't have to. He said "well let's just see what your parents see about that". He picked up the phone and called my house, and my dad answered.

The situation was explained, and then my dad said "why is he in trouble again? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have to say it if he doesn't want to."

The principal responded back with "well sir, it's very disrespectful if he--".

My dad interrupted and said "it doesn't matter if it's respectful, if he doesn't have to say it then he doesn't have to say it. You should probably send him back to class". I went back to class and nothing that day came from it at school.

I was slightly afraid that I would get in trouble when I got home. I knew my dad had fought for me but I thought that he might have just wanted to make sure I don't get into any official trouble, so when I got home I was prepared for a lecture and maybe being sent to my room.

My dad sat me down and said "You're not in trouble, you did what you thought was right, but why does it really matter if you have to say the pledge? It'd probably be easier if you just said it" and I quickly responded back with "because I don't believe in God and I don't think I should be forced to say it."

My dad basically said that if this important to me, then he will support me. He wrote a note explaining that he doesn't have an issue with me not saying it if I don't want to, signed it and put his phone number if they have any questions, and he said to keep it in my backpack and show it to teachers if there's ever an issue.

I love America most of the time, but I think America can be great even if there isn't mandatory indoctrination. I look back and feel grateful that my parents were pretty cool with this.

Aeolun2• 5 months ago

Are there really parents that would force their children to say it anyway? This feels like such a bizarre thing to have a fight over.

tombert10• 5 months ago

No idea, but this was an overwhelmingly conservative part of Florida (Niceville, probably most famous for being where Matt Gaetz is from), so it wouldn't surprise me if some of the Southern Baptists or Pentacostals in the area would get their children in trouble over that.

Even twenty-three years later, I'm still a little surprised that they sent me to the principal's office over it. It seems like it was a waste of everyone's time, considering it would have been considerably easier to just roll their eyes and let me sit in class.

conception• 5 months ago

What? This is incredible if you don’t think a sizable portion of parents in America would force their children to say it.

jhanschoo• 5 months ago

I think it reasonable to assume that the principal, at least, would be such a parent

nunez7• 5 months ago

Absolutely. Children have been disowned and cut off for not following the faith of their families. Many parents take the "under God" part seriously.

rcdemski• 5 months ago

The “under god” part always rubbed me wrong. I was surprised to learn it was added relatively recently in 1954. I wish we could go back to the prior one.

tombert10• 5 months ago

Honestly I think even without the "under God" part I've always thought it was kind of weird and culty.

iAMkenough• 5 months ago

I think the Christian Nationalists have overplayed their hand and revealed that their belief is politics takes priority over religion. Going back to the pre-1954 pledge is feasible within our lifetime.

Hopefully as part of the upcoming rebuke of sacrificing our nation's values for a megalomaniac coopting religion for political gain (with very public examples of hypocrisy). Jesus preached feeding the hungry, healing the sick, caring for the poor, loving thy neighbor. Any politics that goes against those basic principles is anti-Christian. Any attack or hindrance on a neighbor with a different faith is anti-Christian.

sillywalk• 5 months ago

There was a good book[0] about where that came from. Big business and religious leaders joined forced to fight the New Deal.

[0] One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America Kevin M. Kruse https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22928900-one-nation-unde...

scrubs2• 5 months ago

You can thank Billy Grahm, a major US preacher, for that under God [1] in which the GOP and religious right started to get more aligned around 1950.Indeed, Graham could often be seen later with Regaen (US president 1980-88).

I think it's decently accurate to write US founders were religious except:

(1) church private and state public was more of a thing even though the majority shared similar private values

(2) God was away/apart more so in a static background way

[1] https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/pledge-alleg...

JohnTHaller2• 5 months ago

It should rub everyone the wrong way.

MrSkelter• 5 months ago

It’s deeper than that. You shouldn’t have to pledge allegiance to any system or set of beliefs in a country that claims to enshrine free thought.

There’s nothing more American, in principal, than seeking to change America for the better.

How ridiculous would it have been for civil rights leaders to have pledged to preserve the America that existed till the mid 60s.

The pledge, or similar, is almost unique to the US and other authoritarian states.

bediger4000• 5 months ago

Good for you. Not doing this is one of my regrets about middle school. I told my kids they didn't have to say the pledge, and that I would happily go to the mat for them on this issue.

tombert10• 5 months ago

Yeah, I'm grateful that my parents have always been pretty supportive of me and my siblings.

soco• 5 months ago

In communist Romania you had to kiss the party's behind every morning the exact same way, just without a god being mentioned. I don't think it helped the party in any way, but what do I know.

kimos• 5 months ago

My kids are still young, but I’m going try very hard to be a father like this. Especially if it’s about things I don’t relate to or understand.

insane_dreamer7• 5 months ago

To me it's not just the "under God" part, it's the fact that my kids (or I) have to pledge allegiance to a country at all, because how it intertwines with the government. It's not much different than pledging allegiance to kings back in the day (and comes from that).

I don't see what I should owe any country my "allegiance". If you interpret "the country" as being "the people in this country", then yes, I feel a responsibility towards their wellbeing, and I accept that as a form of allegiance. But in practice "the country" isn't really interpreted as "the people" but rather "the government", and is highly exclusive (us vs them). And if a government is largely contrary to my values, and isn't (in my view) helping me or the people of this country, then why should I owe it any particular allegiance? Allegiance shouldn't be automatic, but rather earned. And the recitation of the pledge in schools is part of trying to make it automatic.

DontForgetMe• 5 months ago

Meh, I think it's more disrespectful to pretend you love someone or feel something noisy just because it seems to be expected.

Very 'come a give Grandma a big kiss and tell her how much you love her' vibes

analognoise• 5 months ago

There's no way to make a thing more unpopular with a massive swathe of Americans than to force us to participate.

I think they should use up all their social capital and definitely force government to do this, and it will go brilliantly for them in the midterms. Definitely do this. Maybe even send police around to rough up everyone and say it randomly, Americans love that.

philistine• 5 months ago

I mean, think about it. If they were truly competent and trying to indoctrinate people, they would ask YouTube and TikTok to force people every 24 hours to watch the pledge of allegiance.

sushshs• 5 months ago

I used to think stuff like this was immoral and cringe. As I’ve aged, it’s become more and more obvious you need a tribe or you’ll lose to somebody that does. I’m not personally Christian, but I grew up and generally like white Christian societies compared to the alternative. And my morals are basically inline with the religion - how could they not be? The west was a Christian project until very recently. It’d be like a fish asking “what’s water?”. So ubiquitous you don’t even realize it until it’s gone.

That being said, Trump is awful and his admin is not gonna do anything but gaslight his supporters, so while im ok with this in principle, I’m aware in reality it’ll be used for net negative things (akin to his cruel fumbling of deportations).

orwin2• 5 months ago

And my morals are basically inline with the religion - how could they not be?

The religion is aligned to fit your cultural moral code.

Because original Jesus would be _very_ disappointed in most US christians. "it is harder for the rich to enter heaven than for a camel walking through the eye of a needle", and all the parables about the good samaritain and the temple merchants, presenting the other cheek, etc. Catechism basically told me "god do not exist and whatever the original teaching were, it has been a very long time since anyone of importance ever followed them"

puppycodes• 5 months ago

pledging allegence aloud to anything is bizarre and reminds of some sort of knights of the round table cosplay. It's especially weird making kids do it.

embedding-shape4• 5 months ago

Cults doing cult stuff, bizarre indeed and seems widespread, strangely enough.

tempodox• 5 months ago

Dear Leader will appreciate your help with brainwashing the masses.

nunez7• 5 months ago

To be the contrarian, I actually don't mind a call for more patriotic programming to celebrate the USA's 250th. That makes sense. I definitely mind the slippery slope this precedent introduces. (Why not just keep doing this?) I'm also concerned that this letter is more of a "mandate" than a "call."

Regardless, Carr's letter searches hard for nostalgia. "Schoolhouse Rock" not being in syndication is eroding our nations educational strength according to him. This makes me wonder who this letter is really written for and how far-reaching they're "asking" content providers to take this.

Most Americans consume traditionally-broadcasted content through streaming platforms (Disney+ has Schoolhouse; the future of our kids is safe).and/or social media. Does Carr want Netflix to show the Pledge before every stream? The first stream of the day? Are they asking streaming providers to prioritize nationalistic programming in their recommendation algorithms outside of nationalistic holidays? Will they subsidize TV and movies for having a little more freedom in them? So many questions.

(All of this has been done before; I think there were pro-military Looney Tunes episodes back then these were shown in theaters, and the DoD does throw studios some cash to make the military look awesome and help full their recruitment pipeline.

tolerance11• 5 months ago

Does Carr want Netflix to show the Pledge before every stream? The first stream of the day? Are they asking streaming providers to prioritize nationalistic programming in their recommendation algorithms outside of nationalistic holidays? Will they subsidize TV and movies for having a little more freedom in them? So many questions.

These scenarios all seem imminent, their precedence not withstanding.

In a strange way this notice actually comes across as transparent, considering the thought that everything you described could be achieved without the public being informed of the cooperation between the state and media.

Tangentially, this entire thing could be a veiled notice to Netflix on how to curry the favor necessary to wrestle Warner Bros. away from the Ellisons.

Conspiratorially, I’ve read that a lot of production for TV/film is moving overseas and I can’t help but imagine these studios and sets being used for other purposes.

nunez7• 5 months ago

Conspiratorially, I’ve read that a lot of production for TV/film is moving overseas

Always has been. A huge amount of US content is filmed in Canada.

UncleMeat3• 5 months ago

It is funny to hear them complain about a lack of educational children's programming while... destroying the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and regularly shitting on people from Mr Rogers to Miss Rachel on Fox News.

nunez7• 5 months ago

Agreed.

taegee• 5 months ago

We've already been there. -.-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mathematik

I recommend translating the German version as it is much more detailed.

"But far more important is the educational value that stems from the spiritual kinship between mathematics and the Third Reich. The fundamental disposition of both is the heroic. […] Both demand service: mathematics demands service to truth, integrity, and precision. […] Both are anti-materialistic. […] Both desire order and discipline; both combat chaos and arbitrariness."

Same for physics:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik

keernan• 5 months ago

Love of country should originate naturally from the daily experience of its citizens, not some mechanical pledge.

mikewarot• 5 months ago

I hereby propose a more elegant version, with all the marketing fluff removed:

  I pledge Allegiance
  to Liberty and Justice
  for all

I could handle that once a day.

duxup2• 5 months ago

Compulsory patriotism isn't patriotism ...

bdangubic• 5 months ago

The Republican Party is the most un-patriotic Party is the history of the Civilized world. Pretending to love your country while hating its people is really something that will he studied in years to come…

FCC asks stations for "pro-America" programming, like daily Pledge of Allegiance

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