Bush's recess appointment to Public Broadcasting's board of directors

[ProSense]

is another partisan jerk:

New CPB board member Warren Bell on hugging Pelosi: "(T)hat sort of thing leaves a stain"

Summary: Warren Bell, a TV producer and National Review Online contributor named to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting board of directors via recess appointment, is an avowed conservative and Bush contributor with a record of inflammatory remarks regarding Democrats, women, minorities, and underprivileged people.

On December 20, President Bush http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-4.html">installed via a recess appointment http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068578">TV producer and National Review Online http://author.nationalreview.com/?q=MjM3NA==&p=MjAwNg==">contributor Warren Bell on the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Bell's appointment only intensifies the widespread and longstanding concerns regarding the partisan makeup of the CPB leadership under Bush and their apparent efforts to compromise the political independence of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Public Radio (NPR), and other public broadcasting outlets. Indeed, while Bell appears to have no experience in public broadcasting, nor interest in the service, he is an avowed conservative and Bush contributor with a record of inflammatory remarks regarding Democrats, women, minorities, and underprivileged people. For instance, in May 2005 he wrote, "I could reach across the aisle and hug Nancy Pelosi, and I would, except this is a new shirt, and that sort of thing leaves a stain." Remarking on using a TiVo to shield his children from birth control ads on television, Bell said, "A little vigilance is all it takes -- well, that and a couple hundred bucks for a TiVo. Sorry, poor people, your kids are going to be asking you awkward questions about condoms."

Snip…

http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=2004587">Common Cause and the weblog http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/21/warren-bell">Think Progress quickly publicized Bell's numerous inflammatory and partisan comments in his writings for National Review Online (NRO):

• Bell on Democrats: "I could reach across the aisle and hug Nancy Pelosi, and I would, except this is a new shirt, and that sort of thing leaves a stain." (http://www.nationalreview.com/bell/bell200505110754.asp">5/11/05)

• Bell on using TiVo to keep his children from viewing birth control ads on TV: "A little vigilance is all it takes -- well, that and a couple hundred bucks for a TiVo. Sorry, poor people, your kids are going to be asking you awkward questions about condoms." (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGI5MTJiNmUwNWU4NTU1ZjQ5YzIxNWQ3YTBiODY4MWU=">6/2/05)

• Bell on reproductive choice: "I am thoroughly conservative in ways that strike horror into the hearts of my Hollywood colleagues. I support a woman's right to choose what movie we should see, but not that other one." (http://www.nationalreview.com/bell/bell200505110754.asp">5/11/05)

more…

[Miss_Underestimated]

1. What will it take to restore balance to NPR once again?

:grr:

[jilln]

2. I thought I read somewhere that the Democrats

had taken some kind of step that would have made recess appointments nearly impossible.

Guess that didn't work so well.

[derby378]

3. They don't control Congress yet

Wait until January. Then you should see if the 110th Congress is worth all the time we put into getting them elected.

[jilln]

4. Yeah, for some reason

I thought it had already been "fixed".

[young_at_heart]

5. Does Bush go out of his way to stir up controversy?

It's as though he searches for the worst possible person to fill a post. How many bad choices has he made and the big question---what are the consequences for his poor choices? Thinking about the future and the major problems he has created can easily give one an ulcer!

[Lasher]

6. No, he goes out of his way to put right wing cronies in control

Public broadcasting has been a problem for Herr Karl's propaganda ministry because it has not been controlled by the right wing like the rest of the US news media. This is the reason for the campaign of the last several years to put weenies like Bell in positions of authority over public broadcasting. It reminds me of this:

Three decades ago Publicans were similarly concerned about the college professors who were often invited to opine on news programs. They didn't like the independence of these respected individuals who often came down on the side of the people instead of the moneyed elite. Their solution was to create think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation, that were made to look like intillectual public service institutions. They seem kinda like colleges without the students, get it? You can never tell the true character of these think tanks by their intentionally vague or misleading titles - kind of like legislation we've seen in the past 6 years - but their work is ideologically driven.

Now when the corporate news media wants an expert they can call on someone from a conservative think tank, instead of having to bother with one of those undisciplined professors from an institution of higher learning.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Is this the new 'bipartisanship'?

He WANTED to appoint David Duke to the post, but settled on this scum.

[Infinite Hope]

8. PBS should have no political appointments. It defies its purpose. n/t

[w4rma]

9. No way around that.

It will always be a political appointment. Whether directly or by proxy.

[Gatchaman]

10. I'm surprised he wasted this guy on CPB

this guy sounds like bush's idea of the perfect supreme court candidate.