Joseph Goebbels

Last night the PBS show The American Experience had a documentary on Joseph Goebbels who was Hitler's Minister of Propaganda. The documentary was very well done but all through the show I was left asking, "What does Joseph Goebbels have to do with the American Experience?"

Sure there was a quick clip of FDR meeting Churchill but other than that - no American appeared in the film. The American Experience describes themselves thusly:

As television's longest-running, most-watched history series, American Experience brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that helped form this nation.

I think a documentary on Goebbels kinda stretches this premise - don't you agree? It was sort of like tuning into Monday Night Football to see a match between Manchester United and Real Madrid. Or listening to the King Flour Power Hour announce they were broadcasting a lost live performance by Lawrence Welk.

Maybe the folks at PBS were trying to get in a not-so subtle jab on the Republicans. Would it surprise anyone if PBS had a picture of Karl Rove spliced into every 13th frame of the film the way the skull and crossbones was spliced in the movie The Exorcist?