Why we need NPR

The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart on conservatives' short-sighted populism -— and why we need NPR now more than ever:

"The ... revealing thing about the right’s reaction to [Juan Williams’] firing is what is says about conservative populism. Republican pols are climbing over each other to defund NPR, not merely because of its 'liberal bias,' but because, in the words of South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, its programs 'should be able to find a way to stand on their own' in the free market.”

"Yes, NPR is elitist, and it’s a good thing too. The people who run the station believe that Americans should know more about what is happening in China and less about what is happening to Britney Spears, which in today’s media makes them downright subversive."

"Once upon a time, there was a wing of American conservatism that recognized that there were public goods and cultural standards that needed to be insulated from the whims of the market. Today, that’s considered elitist. Flagrant ignorance, by contrast, especially about the rest of the world, is a sign of populism, a sign that you don’t think you’re better than anyone else. On the right today, Sarah Palin isn’t adored in spite of her parochialism; she’s adored because of it."