The PBS Empire Strikes Back

In the climax of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Emperor Palpatine, after Luke Skywalker refuses to kill his father, Darth Vader, and turn to the dark side, tortures him with "force lightning." He then stops just long enough to quietly but menacingly say, "And now young Skywalker...you will die."

The Beltway equivalent happened yesterday to former PBS Chairman Ken Tomlinson.

We've written previously about Mr. Tomlinson's lonely but dogged effort to de-liberalize PBS programming, put a stop to its pro-Democrat/anti-GOP propaganda on the taxpayers' dime and restore it to the non-partisan balance that its charter ostensibly requires. We've also covered how back in May of this year the lefty establishment at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting did an end-run around Mr. Tomlinson and tattled to Dem congressmen David Obey and John Dingell, who successfully triggered an internal investigation of his efforts to restore honor and integrity to PBS, since this was a mortal threat to the libs' favorite propaganda sandbox.

The probe didn't truncate Mr. Tomlinson's term as board chairman, but yesterday, two months after that term expired, he was finally ousted:

The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, under fire for promoting conservative programming, resigned Thursday from the corporation's board after the panel reviewed an investigative report on his activities.

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, whose term as board chairman ended two months ago, left the board after the third day of closed-door meetings by the board of directors to review the findings of the agency's inspector general about his tenure.

In a statement e-mailed to reporters and interest groups, the board said "both the board and Mr. Tomlinson believe it is in the best interests of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that he no longer remain on the board."

That's PR-ese for "We fired his Nazi ass."

But as you probably already deduced, Tomlinson's departure isn't dissipating opposition hostility toward his heroic efforts:

"Tomlinson's resignation should be used to bring people together, not divide them as he and the administration have done," Obey said.

Dingell called the resignation "long overdue."

"We will need to determine how to stop this kind of misbehavior in the future," Dingell added. "We hope today's action is the first step by the board to operate in a more professional, nonpartisan manner."...

"Tomlinson's legacy at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a negative one," [North Dakota Democrat Senator Byron] Dorgan said. "He has done far more harm to the CPB than good."

On its Web site, Common Cause, a private watchdog group, called it "distressing" that "the board's statement ... fails to reflect any regret that Tomlinson's methods were unacceptable and unethical." [emphases added]

So it's "unacceptable and unethical misbehavior" to try and restore the non-partisanship in PBS programming that Dingell professes to seek? What arrogant, imperious nonsense.

It harkens back to what I wrote six months ago:

It's all another specactular chapter in the book I could write laying out chapter and verse why PBS should be abolished, along with a great many other Great Society pisspots.

Call this the epilogue.

Now if only the Republicans would do as Darth Vader and pick up the "Emperor" and throw him into the Death Star reactor....