Local Licenses: The "Real" Targets Of The Attack On NPR

The "ether" on the Web--FB, of course, but elsewhere, too--is ABUZZ with the announcement that the House has scheduled a vote tomorrow on "zeroing out" NPR's federal appropriation. I'd say it's a done deal. Ever since that refugee from the Orleans Parish prison got the video, it's been a foregone conclusion, imho. You cannot tell the truth about the Teabaggers, cannot even imply that you KNOW the truth about them: which is that they are, indeed, the suburban arm of the KKK; the only difference being, the Baggers' sheets are polyester-blend, floral prints from WalMart, not the plain home-spun of Forrests' marauders.

But all that is a charade, part of the kabuki. What's at risk here, the real stakes in the game, are the licenses of the local outlets which would be imperiled if the local stations, which receive a total of around $95 MILLION annu8aly, lose that revenue stream.

What happens is, they are forced to sell the licenses. Licenses in even middling markets sell for fucking beaucoup Million$. Every frequency, in every market, is allotted. If the 1) the House zeros out NPR, and the Senate goes along, and St. Barry, the Pale, does not demonstrate hitherto unforeseen and unforeshadowed depths of courage, that's gonna be the pay-off.