You know who’s tougher than the US Senate? Mr. Rogers, that’s who. In this clip Fred takes on a cynical Senate panel to defend PBS’s budget. What a class act.
The full story:
“In 1969 the US Senate had a hearing on funding the newly developed Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The proposed endowment was $20 million, but President Nixon wanted it cut in half because of the spending going on in the Vietnam War. This is an video clip of the exchange between Mr. Rogers and Senator Pastore, head of the hearing. Senator Pastore starts out very abrasive and by the time Mr. Rogers is done talking, Senator Pastore’s inner child has heard Mr. Rogers and agreed with him. Enjoy.”
Super double plus thanks to sandlehand for making this available to the public.
May 25th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Recently watched this in a game design class I took. Also Fred used to be my neighbor kind of. He lived about 10 min from my house growing up.
May 25th, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Got a heavy “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” vibe. That was awesome. Don’t you just want to hang out with him? I’m so glad he was never defaced as some secret flamingo molester or something in his private life.
May 25th, 2006 at 9:24 pm
Yah, I’ve always thought that he and Bob Keeshan (otherwise known as Captain Kangaroo) were those rare birds who were exactly as they appeared to be.
May 25th, 2006 at 10:46 pm
This confirms alot of things I had thought about Mr. Rogers.
I am in awe of him.
May 26th, 2006 at 3:08 am
Fantastic
May 26th, 2006 at 9:16 am
that completely made my month.
May 26th, 2006 at 10:05 am
That a great clip for a class act and indeed a caring man. Thanks for posting this.
May 26th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Mr. Rogers Rocks.
May 26th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
I really feel sorry for today’s kids, that they don’t have role models as great as Fred Rogers was.
May 26th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Wow, I can’t believe he talks like that in real life! He’s very hypnotic with the way he say things. we should bring this kind of stuff back!
I was so amazed when he fed fish! He was feeding fish!!!! And not the live bait kind of way you do with sharks but with ordinary fish flakes! Fish flakes! Man, that was some good times.
May 27th, 2006 at 12:25 am
This is the first time I’ve been able to watch Mr. Rogers since his death. I have had to turn the channel when I’d see him. Honestly, it hit me hard. I watched him every day as a child and every day with my kids when they were small. He was with me more than my father. I think I loved him more than my father. I know there’s a lot of latchkey kids who, like me, felt shuffled around in real life, but who had a home in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. May God bless him.