Bush Reappoints Overseas Broadcast Chief (Ken Tomlinson)

[DoYouEverWonder]

Nov 15, 2006

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Tuesday renominated the chairman of the agency that directs U.S. overseas broadcasts even though the nomination has been stalled in the Senate amid allegations of misconduct.

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was nominated again as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors and for a term on the board expiring Aug. 13, 2007. The board oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio and TV Marti, broadcasting initiatives in the Middle East and other nonmilitary U.S. broadcasting overseas.

In September, a spokeswoman for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said senators did not plan to act on Bush's nomination of Tomlinson in January 2005 while a government investigation of his activities was under way. The law that created the board in 1994 allowed Tomlinson to remain as chairman until a successor was confirmed.

A report by the State Department's inspector general, released Aug. 29, said Tomlinson misused government funds for two years as chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Tomlinson disputed the allegations in the report.

The U.S. attorney's office in Washington concluded that a criminal investigation was not warranted, according to the State Department report. At the same time, the report said a civil investigation related to charges that he had hired a friend as a contractor was pending.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Other_US_Govermnent/Government_Broadcasting.html


Seems the more corrupt you are, the more Bush likes and supports you.

[Kolesar]

1. Tomlinson was removed from public broadcasting for violating policy...

...that said the head was not supposed to interfere in programming. He stuck his nose into PBS and NPR. It is likely that he had Bill Moyers chased off of the PBS Now show. It is possible that he leaned on NPR to remove Bob Edwards from NPR Morning Edition, a show that he had hosted for decades. I think it was because Edwards was questioning the Attack on Iraq a little too much.

[SquireJons]

3. My thoughts exactly

This goes to show how close he is to bush. He was a partisan hack from the get go. It's a shame he was allowed to do some damage before he was chased off.

[KoKo]

2. Article doesn't say whether the new Senate can vote not to confirm him.

Kind of leaves it open.