One of the things that amazes me most about Bush administration officials is their ability to do something wrong, get caught, and pretend nothing happened. It’s a truly remarkable skill that combines a strong sense of denial, incompetence, and blind loyalty to a rigid ideology.
Take our friend Ken Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Tomlinson has been so anxious to make PBS more like Fox News that he spent tax dollars to hire an outside consultant to monitor PBS programs for alleged liberalism, without consulting the CPB board of directors. The consultant’s report was a bad joke masquerading as legitimate research.
The entire fiasco sparked an investigation by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s inspector general to determine if Tomlinson’s contract represented abuse. Caught dead to rights, how does Tomlinson respond? By bragging about what a great report he commissioned.
“For all the fun the left has poked at the study, I still contend that the American taxpayers got their money’s worth because we got an understanding of what [Bill Moyers’ ‘Now’] is all about,” Mr. Tomlinson said, adding later that the Democrats’ calls for investigations are an attempt to “criminalize” his work.
Let’s take a moment to consider this “study” that Tomlinson is so proud of.
* It was written by Frederick W. Mann, who does not appear to have any training in research methods, and who could not even be found for several weeks when news organizations tried to reach him. He does not appear to have an office; Mann faxed his findings to Tomlinson from Mary Ann’s Hallmark, a card store in Indianapolis.
* Mann’s report labeled Moyers’ guests as liberals or conservatives, but never bothered to explain his labeling criteria or give any indication of which comments earned a guest a particular characterization.
* Mann labeled conservative Republicans, including Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and former congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.), as “liberals” if they expressed views that differed from administration policy.
* The amateurish document contradicted actual studies commissioned by the CPB that relied on professional researchers, all of whom concluded that public broadcasting programming was fair.
Tomlinson, who for some reason is still the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, believes this report was worth our tax dollars and is an informative analysis.
Amazing.