Tomlinson Abusing Another Post

Former chairman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, has gotten himself in trouble again. Like most President Bush allies, and staunch conservatives, Tomlinson is seemingly incapable of being honest or doing anything wihtout a partisan political goal. Tomlinson is now chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, since leaving his Public Broadcasting post, which oversaw PBS and NPR.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 — State Department investigators have found that the head of the agency overseeing most government broadcasts to foreign countries has used his office to run a “horse racing operation” and that he improperly put a friend on the payroll, according to a summary of a report made public on Tuesday by a Democratic lawmaker.

The report said that the official, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, had repeatedly used government employees to perform personal errands and that he billed the government for more days of work than the rules permit.

The summary of the report, prepared by the State Department inspector general, said the United States attorney’s office here had been given the report and decided not to conduct a criminal inquiry.

Yeah, horse races.

The State Department report noted his use of his office to oversee a stable of thoroughbreds but did not mention one specific way in which his professional responsibilities and personal interests appear to have intersected. The horses, according to track records, include Karzai, as in Hamid Karzai, and Massoud, from the late Ahmed Shah Massoud) references to Afghan leaders who have fought against the Taliban and the Russians, as well as Panjshair, the valley that was the base used by forces to overthrow the Taliban.

Tomlinson, a close ally of Karl Rove, resigned from Public Broadcasting last year after a failed attempt to remold it in the image of Fox News...literally.

Tomlinson's conviction is so strong he once suggested to the CPB board that Fox News anchor Brit Hume be invited to "talk to public broadcasting officials about how to create balanced news programming," according to a report broadcast May 20 on National Public Radio.

When I hear conservatives talk about most reporters being liberal, I always think, "Well, duh. They should be." In a Q & A with the clueless Tomlinson, NPR's Bob Garfield nailed it while discussing "Now with Bill Moyers."

Ken, aren't you confusing liberalism with journalism? The two have a lot in common - suspicion of authority, sympathy of the little guy, the instinct to reform and so on. Of course "Frontline" and "Now with Bill Moyers" will question the establishment, will question power - now matter who is in power - whichever party. That isn't ideological bias, Ken. It's journalism.