I had an experience Monday night that I am in no way eager to repeat. Because — by choice — I have access only to broadcast TV channels, and because I failed to realize, at least at first, that I could watch a live stream of the Republican convention on my computer, I started watching it on PBS.

I should have suspected that PBS would inject their own commentary, but I had no idea they would be so very cynical as to even cut away from Republican speakers in order to put forth their own spin.

But that's precisely what they did when Vernon Jones was speaking.  I heard the self-proclaimed lifelong Democrat from Georgia make the charge that the Democrat party doesn't want black people to leave the Democrats' "mental plantation," and I heard him remind us that Joe Biden "has had 47 years to produce results, but he's been all talk and no action, just like so many of the Democrats who've been making promises to the black voters for decades."  And I heard him indict Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer for their pandering stunt of donning kente cloth.

But that's all I got to hear of Vernon Jones's remarks, at least on PBS.  His actual speech took only about seven and a half minutes, but PBS didn't even give him that long.  Just as he was beginning to tell his own personal story, PBS, exhibiting not only their great wisdom, but also their great respect for black Americans, decided to cut away to their own cadre of spinmeisters in order to take control of the narrative.

And what those spinmeisters put forth was essentially a reminder that viewers should feel no need to think for themselves, and in particular not to be swayed by blacks like Vernon Jones (or, a short time earlier, Herschel Walker) attempting to refute — no matter how sincerely and convincingly — the Big Lie that Trump is a racist.

And there was no need to be swayed because — as the craven, cynical hacks posited — most people had already seen and heard ample evidence that Trump clearly is a racist.  And, just for good measure, the Big Lie about Charlottesville (that Trump had praised white supremacists and neo-Nazis as "fine people") was once again trotted out (as if Joe Biden including it in his acceptance speech last week hadn't been outrageous enough).  Evidently, the entire Democrat team (which includes PBS) is firmly on board with Dr. Goebbels's principle that a lie told often enough and relentlessly enough becomes the truth.  And why shouldn't they be?  Apparently, it works.

Overall, if you were watching the convention on PBS, the taxpayer-subsidized network was more than happy to tell you what to think.  And it was important enough to tell viewers what to think that the commentators just couldn't wait until tonight's installment was over to inject their insight and analysis — they had to do it right now!

They didn't cut away from Donald Trump, Jr.'s speech, but they immediately and repeatedly characterized it as "angry."  That made me wonder if they'd been listening to the same speech I had!

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that their takeaway from DJT Jr.'s remarks was "anger."  While there seemed no shortage of smiles among the Republican speakers, among the PBS "analysts" and "interpreters," there was nary a smile to be seen.

If I tune in to the convention on any of its forthcoming nights, I resolve to do so via computer so I'm no longer dependent on PBS.  But I might look in, from time to time, on PBS's "coverage," just to see if they're still using that same shameful tactic.