I am against public broadcasting in principle. I think that the market generally does a very nice job of culling the herd, and I don't like my tax dollars funding cranks like Bill Moyers, who can no longer cut the mustard in the free market because his 60's-era platitudes are such an anachronism.

Having said that, there are very few things on television better than PBS's "Frontline." For me, it has become a must-watch program. Last night, they did an examination of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, and how things got to where they are today that was incredibly compelling. For public broadcasting, "Frontline" has been quite even-handed in many of the recent shows I've watched (though I can remember when that was not true--particularly in the mid-80's). While certainly no cheerleader for the current administration, the program did not flinch in examining the Clinton-era appeasement (including an interview with smugly self-satisfied dupe Jimmy Carter, who stuck his nose into things again in his bald, relentless pursuit of the Nobel) that helped lead us to the current situation.

A month or two ago, they also did a two-hour program on the lead-up to the Iraq war that was balanced, riveting television. I work in TV, and I can tell you that people in TV watch "Frontline" to see how its done. Occassionally they show a bias, but I think there's a difference between being biased and being unfair, and I can't recall a time recently where I felt they were being unfair.

But PBS is still a ship that ought to be sunk. A product as high-quality as "Frontline" could easily survive on A&E, Discovery, or any of a dozen other networks.