I love the smell of cronyism in the morning...

August 30, 2006 8:24 AM

Heck of a Job, Tommy! State Department investigators have found that Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the State Department office that oversees foreign broadcasts misused his office for personal and political gain. Mr. Tomlinson’s position at the broadcasting board makes him one of the administration’s top officials overseeing public diplomacy and puts him in charge of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
posted by dejah420 (21 comments total)

and running a "horse-racing operation" with government resources.

God bless free enterprise!
posted by matteo at 8:27 AM on August 30, 2006

"I am very proud of what I have accomplished for U.S. international broadcasting," said the former editor of Reader's Digest and friend of Bush political strategist Karl Rove. "I believe it will become clear this I.G. investigation was inspired by partisan divisions inside the BBG."

Same basic defense didn't work for Delay, and I hope it doesn't work for you, you miserable shitstain.

(Still mad about the CPB stuff.)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:32 AM on August 30, 2006

What a prince of a fella.
posted by blucevalo at 8:36 AM on August 30, 2006

I think one of the biggest things that annoys me about this sort of thing is the default setting of "NO, NO, it wasn't MEEEEEE!!!" Even when caught red handed. I don't know one way or another about Kenny Y, it sounds pretty suspicious, but why the hell can't they just say "No comment", no one believes the "I'm innocent" line anyway.
Public officials should be required by law to be under oath anytime they speak publicly, and any provable falsehoods should be treated as perjury.
So, if you say something, make it truthfull, or don't say it. The level of mistrust in government is at a point where there needs to be a radical shift to correct it.
posted by edgeways at 8:37 AM on August 30, 2006

"Tomlinson's racehorses include three named for leaders of Afghanistan, including the country's president, Hamid Karzai, said a source familiar with the State Department report."

Somehow, I bet the Bush administration uses these horses to help determine it's foreign policy.
posted by mr.curmudgeon at 8:38 AM on August 30, 2006

The investigation determined that Tomlinson used his office for his thoroughbred activities, but the summary offers no details.

What could this mean? If he's breeding thoroughbreds in his office, at least he's a good friend of Karl Rove who is a master at cleaning up shit. (Though if there's talk of a blue dress, I'm finished with reading about this particular scandal!)
posted by leftcoastbob at 8:39 AM on August 30, 2006

"A White House spokeswoman, Emily Lawrimore, said Bush continues to support Tomlinson's pending renomination as BBG chairman. She had no further comment."

Emblematic.
posted by rbs at 8:54 AM on August 30, 2006

There's a whole crowd of these really corrupt destructive people appointed by Bush who go from govt. entity to govt. entity, ruining and discrediting them on purpose. He was placed at PBS to make it more conservative and he stole. He was placed at VOA and RFE and stole again. The NASA guy too.

Bolton also, is at the UN and he doesn't believe in it at all.

They're all in charge of running the government and don't believe in government at all, unless it enriches themselves and their friends--you can see it in all agencies.
posted by amberglow at 9:00 AM on August 30, 2006

This is the same asshole who tried to dismantle public radio and television. I hope he ends up rotting away in prison.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:07 AM on August 30, 2006

So, how many of them elected officalandos use and bill the american citizens for non-government work? I bet more than this one guy.
posted by IronWolve at 9:19 AM on August 30, 2006

is anyone not yet convinced this is the worst presidency of all time? what's it gonna take?
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 9:31 AM on August 30, 2006

I hope he ends up rotting away in prison.

If by "rotting" you mean enduring a dally routine of "indecency." And. Hard. In the ass.

Then I agree.

But more likely he will be taking tennis lessons, eating a lo-carb diet, and watching Deadwood from a cell that more resembles a mid-range modern style Manhattan condo.
posted by tkchrist at 10:15 AM on August 30, 2006

From TFA: Federal prosecutors have declined to investigate the case for criminal wrongdoing, according to the State Department report. But the new allegations detailed in the report only seem to portend more trouble for Tomlinson and the White House.

So it seems that he won't be seeing any time in a Federal PMITA prison, which is probably too bad. I don't really understand the goal of the investigation -- so he acted improperly, unethically and possibly illegally, but nothing's going to be done about it? That's about all I get out of the article.
posted by Ickster at 10:52 AM on August 30, 2006

...so he acted improperly, unethically and possibly illegally, but nothing's going to be done about it? That's about all I get out of the article.

That's about all you'll get out of this administration as well.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 11:15 AM on August 30, 2006

This guy again. Tried to dismantle NPR. What a text book example of the Peter Principle.

"In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."


So many of these incompetents in the Bush administration, it's hard to keep count.
posted by trii at 11:19 AM on August 30, 2006

You know... I'm not all that political but, the shit is getting deep as of late. After that read - I tasted a little vomit in my mouth.
posted by winks007 at 11:28 AM on August 30, 2006

Obligatory statement of the obvious: We only hear about the criminals who are being caught.

Just read some Grover Norquist ca. the late 90's--the whole point of the Rovean doctrine isn't to make government smaller, it's to so thoroughly monkey-wrench it that it will die a slow, expensive death program by program, department by department, until Americans live in a flat-tax utopia.

Wrong about Iraq, wrong about the economy, wrong about Katrina, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Shorter: what amberglow said.
posted by bardic at 11:35 AM on August 30, 2006

This guy again. Tried to dismantle NPR. What a text book example of the Peter Principle.

I'd like to propose a corollary to the Peter Principle: In a corrupt heirarchical system, only the most corrupt individuals are allowed to move into positions of higher authority, which makes the corruption in such systems self-perpetuating (obviously, such an outcome is even worse than the simple tyranny of incompetence to which the Peter principle leads).
posted by saulgoodman at 11:38 AM on August 30, 2006

So... anyone have a betting pool yet on just how many pardons Bush is going to hand out in 2 years?
posted by edgeways at 1:21 PM on August 30, 2006

I bet he's going for the least-vetos/most-pardons twofer.
posted by rusty at 2:17 PM on August 30, 2006

i'm sure the pardons will be accompanied by "Medals of Freedom" all around.
posted by saulgoodman at 2:43 PM on August 30, 2006