Buster gets busted

I didn't even realize that Buster, the white rabbit friend of PBS's Arthur, had his own spin-off series. But Buster is now boiling in a rabbit stew of controversy, because an episode shows a real-life Vermont family that is headed by two "moms". The episode hasn't even aired -- PBS decided to pull it before it could be seen -- but its very existence has allowed new Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to make a name for herself by denouncing it.

It's not as if the show was attempting to teach kids about lesbians. The actual focus of the episode was showing how Vermont food products like maple syrup and cheese are made. The parents were mainly just in the background.

For those who followed last week's SpongeBob/"We Are Family" controversy, I think this is even more ridiculous. At least the complaints about "We Are Family" have some basis -- that foundation's website DOES suggest that kids pledge their tolerance of "sexual identity". I think there's a legitimate question whether schools should be teaching that to young kids, or should it be left to parental choice. But in Buster's case, sexual identity is never even mentioned -- it's just a house with two adult females. Oooh, scary!

Plus, a interesting double-standard is going on here. PBS and the Department of Education apparently have no qualms about presenting divorced families to kids. Buster himself is a child of divorced parents, an issue that has been featured, sometimes prominently, in episodes of "Arthur". But divorce plays better in the red states, I guess.

Phil Vischer, the creator of the kids' Christian video series "VeggieTales" has some interesting insights about kids TV and the thorny issue of "tolerance". Somewhat surprisingly, I agree with many of them.