Downsize Sesame Street?

I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for. That's number one.

And with that statement, political commentary started spreading like wildfire on the web in the form of photos of Big Bird with words layered on top. A new meme was born. 

CNN reports mentions of the beloved character went up 800,000% on Facebook. According to Twitter, 17,000 tweets were sent out "per minute for 'Big Bird'" and 10,000 Tweets per minute for "PBS."

People online were crying out to save their favorite PBS shows, but no one received as much love as Big Bird, who apparently missed the overnight lovefest. 

Big Bird: My bed time is usually 7:45, but I was really tired yesterday and fell asleep at 7! Did I miss anything last night?

— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) October 4, 2012

The Sesame Workshop put out the following statement on Twitter, reminding us they do not comment on political matters:

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. We do not comment on campaigns, but we’re happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird!

— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) October 4, 2012

But before the comment was made, a Sesame Workshop official told CNN that Romney's plan wouldn't actually kill Big Bird or Sesame Street, because it receives little funding from PBS. 

So what do you think of cutting PBS funding? Share this story and let us know what your friends are saying.