I miss Fred Rogers.

[trof]

http://pbskids.org/rogers/all_ages/didyouknow.htm

[trof]

1. His grandfather told him "I like you just the way you are."

Jack gets scolded when he's "bad".
And we tell him to be a "good boy", whatever that entails.
I'm gonna start telling him that I like him just the way he is.
:-)

[Elidor]

2. WWFRD?

Admittedly, I don't know.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. When he's mad,

Fred Rogers sometimes plays the piano and gets his feelings out through his fingers.

He was a wise man.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. Before he played Batman on the big screen,

former Pittsburgher Michael Keaton served as a production assistant at WQED during the mid-1970s.


I didn't know that!

[trof]

5. Interesting website, hunh?

[Elidor]

6. "Have you met Mr. Bush?"

"Mr. Bush is not a nice man. Mr. Bush kills people who get in his way. So if you see Mr. Bush walking down the street, what do you do, boys and girls? That's right, you get out of there, fast! And when he passes by your house, you make doody and throw it out the window at him. Because Mr. Bush is NOT a good neighbor."

"Mr. McFeely used to live in a nice neighborhood, but then Mr. Bush had the city steal his land for a baseball stadium, and Mr. McFeely had to find another home. In his new neighborhood, people are slowly dying from mysterious tumors. Maybe it's the runoff from the chemical plant that's causing those tumors. But when Mr. McFeely tried to sue in state court, he learned that Mr. Bush has passed a law which prevents anyone from suing the chemical plant. He also appointed a judge who overturned Mr. McFeely's damage award (on appeal) against the insurance company that refuses to pay Mr. McFeely's medical bills. Now Mr. McFeely is going to die a lingering death, and his children will be forced into debt. And they won't be able to declare bankruptcy either, because..."

Shit. I better stop before I get too depressed.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. I imagine if Fred Rogers could speak privately with Dumbyass,

he'd speak to him as if he were a child who'd been neglected and abused by his parents, but always had everything money could buy for him.

He'd probably have him crying the first genuine tears he'd experienced since he was 7 years old.

[Elidor]

8. Well, Graham had a similar effect on him, but it never really took

But yes, if anyone could straighten out a chronic shitheel like Bush (or at least reduce him to a whimpering puddle of tears) it would be Mr. Rogers.

"Were mommy and daddy not nice to little George? Did they make you do bad things? Did they laugh at you and make you cry? Uh-huh? I thought so. Well, some mommies and daddies are not nice people like you and me, George. You just remember that *I* like you just fine. I think you're wonderful. Will you be my friend? I want to be your friend. Isn't it good to have friends?"

[Elidor]

9. I had forgotten he did most of the voices

I remember that now, and being angry about it. "Hi, kids, I'm (insert cute puppet name)!"

No, you're not! You're Mr. Rogers doing some really lousy ventriloquism! Don't insult me! This is all FAKE! OMG! There are HANDS inside those creatures! Why, they're...they're...PUPPETS! OMG...

[DemoTex]

10. Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister.

You probably knew that Trof. He was not a war hero as a well-circulated internet scam suggests. A Snopes-debunked story links Rogers with Lee Marvin and Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan. I always liked the gentle man, Rogers, too. But then, given the alternatives of fight or flight, I always chose flight. That's why I became a pilot. Know what I mean?

http://www.snopes.com/military/marvin.asp

[hopein08]

11. I read somewhere he was Chris Heinz's godfather...

that's pretty cool.