The Republican Take-Over of Public Broadcasting

Lengthy article in today's NYTimes about the on-going GOOPerfication of the Public Broadcasting Corporation, whose Republican chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, admits publicly he's trying to purge public TV and radio of its "liberal bias," meaning precisely that criticism of the current regime is not to be tolerated.

Last year Tomlinson secretly contracted with a Republican operative to keep tabs on the political leanings of guests on "Now with Bill Moyers." Moyers's guests included many conservatives, like Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition; Richard Viguerie, a conservative political strategist; and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. But because Moyers also felt free -- imagine that, in the land of the mullahs! -- to criticize abuses of power, he was persona non grata.

Tomlinson's a former editor in chief of Reader's Digest, speaking of "balanced" journalism. Last November, following El Presidente's reelection, Tomlinson told a meeting of members of the Association of Public Television Stations in Baltimore that they should make sure their programming better reflected "the Republican mandate." He later claimed he was joking.

Some friggin' joke!