Ok, this rant is going to come under the heading of, “When the hell did the tail start to wag the dog?”

My annoying, non-life-threatening-yet-time-consuming illness is keeping me way out of the loop…while trying to get enough stuff done to get by until I get fixed, I haven’t been reading Current magazine or otherwise paying attention to the nonsense National Public Radio has been up to. It wasn’t until a kind letter from Scott Walterman, Program Manager for XM Public Radio that I started to research the latest bull-hockey that NPR is shoveling to complacent member stations and the rest of the world.

The Connection, long-running WBUR Boston program and the 2000-battleground between Christopher Lyden and the station which resulted in the firing of Mr. Lydon, ends its run this Friday. Acting General Manager Peter Fiedler, “after months of extensive internal reviews and in consultation with National Public Radio,” has decided to make major changes to the schedule, including firing The Connection host Dick Gordon and closing down the show. They will be replacing it with the frenetic and irritating “On Point,” hosted by Tom Ashbrook (fortunately for those of us who listen to XMPR, we only have to deal with one hour of this during the day, while the evening run remains).

Ok, they can shut down anything they want (although you gotta think Mr. Lydon is thrilled beyond words, and if I were him I’d spend a few minutes on Friday saying, “Na-na-nana-na!” to WBUR). But they have also decided to restrict the wonderful Here and Now, giving it, “more of a New England focus.”

You can bet that idea came straight from NPR.

See, NPR has an afternoon news magazine, Day to Day, which is the short-attention-span version of their already much-more-shallow morning program and All Things Considered. I mean, Day to Day while allegedly being designed for young, hip, attention-starved youngsters can’t possibly appeal to the intelligence of anyone who hasn’t had a lobotomy - Here and Now, on the other hand, spends whatever time it takes on whatever they are reporting - one day, an interview with Anita Hill ran over, so we came back with her after the break. The next day, the entire show was scrapped as they scrambled to best NPR in reporting on the London bombings. I’m telling you, folks, Here and Now is successful competition for Day to Day, and with a little work could easily rival ME and ATC, or at least the shows they used to be before Jay Kernis decided we listeners were too d*mned stupid to appreciate real, actual, in-depth reportage.

So quick…dumb it down by making it more New England-centric, so other stations won’t buy it, clearing the way for Day to Day to be the only legitimate newsmagazine (you can bet the NPR sales staff already has orders to distribute that WBUR memo to any station already running HAN). NPR was originally formed to serve the local stations…again, I ask, “When the hell did the tail start wagging the dog?”

I can only hope folks at PRI, or APM, or some new upstart with some money and the guts to take on the suits at NPR in a head-to-head competition and beat the hell out of them at what used to be their own game, hire away Robin Young and her entire production staff and give them the resources they need to make a legitimate challenge to the blinders-on suits at NPR.

I know, I know…it won’t happen (since we’re all one “happy little public radio family,” so long as we do what NPR tells us to do no matter how much we need the revenue sales of Here and Now could generate), but hope springs eternal…and while you’re at it, mourn the loss of Here and Now (or at least it’s international focus) as they are forced to do more and more stories on maple syrup and leaves changing color, leaving Day to Day unchallenged and NPR happy to have swatted down another competitor in the guise of “consultation.”