New Republic • 4 weeks ago
The Federal Communications Commission is imploring America’s broadcasters to air propaganda ahead of the country’s 250th birthday.In a Friday memo establishing the “Pledge America Campaign,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said that U.S. media companies should run public service announcements, short segments, or specials to advance “civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history.”The document also suggested that news media could include pro-America segments during “regular news programming,” or start each broadcast with a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” or the Pledge of Allegiance.“I believe in the greatness of our country,” Carr said in a statement. “And I look forward to broadcasters showcasing its inspiring history by taking the Pledge and fulfilling their public interest mandate to serve the needs and interests of their local communities as America’s 250th birthday celebration marches on.”The initiative is a component of a broader Trump administration effort to celebrate the country’s sestercentennial known as “Task Force 250.”Participation, according to Carr’s note, is voluntary.The proposal could be a benign request under any other president, but over the course of the last year, Donald Trump and his allies have made clear their efforts to erase and revise history according to their preference. The White House has already ordered the Smithsonian and the National Parks to remove “woke” exhibits, which apparently include mentions of Trump’s impeachments and signage relating to climate change or slavery, respectively. And a Trump-sponsored version of the Bible, mandated for use in Oklahoma’s public school system, was published with a wildly outdated version of the U.S. Constitution that omitted more than a dozen amendments, including the Thirteenth Amendment, which officially abolished slavery. But the 160-year-old version featured the three-fifths compromise, a vestige of slavery that handed more political power to slave-owning states.