Beware of a cartoon bunny

Teletubbies had that flaming purple something with a purse and triangle; Sponge Bob holds hands with his best friend in that sexually provocative pineapple under the sea; and now the asthmatic rabbit Buster from PBS's "Postcards from Buster" is under attack, too. This time, however, is different, because homosexuality actually exists in the show. Buster interacts with real kids in real families who happen to have gay parents. \nThe lively cartoon rabbit visits real non-animated kids around the country and learns about different cultures and ways of life. In the nixed episode, Buster visits two families in rural Vermont and learns to make cheese and maple syrup. Subverting this picturesque day on a farm, is the influence of two lesbian couples who head the households. These freaky families are clearly not facilitating student achievement, as the law dictates educational TV should.\nApparently, by exposing kids to a different side of the world, they're clearly not going to be helped in the classroom and therefore, Buster is not worthy of even the smallest fraction of the education budget. His message of travel and learning certainly can't be allowed to penetrate sensitive young minds.\nThe idea that the parents' homosexuality is the topic of the show and is trying to subvert parents' right to teach their children their family's values is absurd. PBS is as far from indoctrination as TV is going to get these days, and on top of that the show is commercial-free. If anything is corrupting today's youth, it's advertisements for fast food and violent video games. This show had nothing to do with promiscuous sex, hetero- or homosexual, and everything to do with kids exploring the world and eating cheese and maple syrup. \nAccording to a Washington Post report, PBS was considering pulling the show from its lineup and came to the final decision to do so the same day as Margaret Spelling's bureaucratic objections.\nWhile, yes, the Department of Education is entirely within its legal rights to withdraw funding for the show under the stipulations of its contract with PBS, this issue is just too ridiculous to be considered important to anyone, least of all the secretary on her second day in office.\nThe new secretary has much bigger things to worry about than one episode of a children's TV show. She has to deal with the fallout from spending $240,000 of our money to pay off Armstrong Williams, a black conservative talk show host, to promote the benefits of the "No Child Left Behind" law. Williams was just one recruit for this brilliant public relations strategy to tout the law. Apparently, the Department of Education feels it has not done enough media interference lately. \nEducational TV is designed to be just that, educational. It should open children's minds and broaden their horizons. There's no place for exclusionary ulterior motives that reinforce some people's social stigmas to kids.