It's been two years since I posted that, but I feel even more strongly that a discussion of "Little House" can open up dialogue in this divided country. Its appeal is to rural Christian conservatives, which is what Laura was, but her daughter Rose, who was something between editor and ghostwriter of the series, was a 1920's rebel. Ultimately she became a founding voice of libertarianism, and therein lies one of the many hypocrisies of the series. Rose insisted on hiding the fact that Mary's education was government-sponsored. Everything Laura earned and the family scrimped and saved for was for travel and incidentals, but the government took care of the tuition. A Tea Party conservative may be willing to deny free health care the poor, but how many would feel comfortable denying Mary Ingalls her education at the College for the Blind?

And that's just the beginning. Michael Landon was full of contradictions himself. In the last episode, he blew up the set for revenge for the show's cancellation. It was an act of revenge for the townspeople, too, but they still sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" as they did it. Doesn't sound very forgiving or Christian to me.

PLEASE do an episode on this. There's a treasure trove of material there, I promise you.