Clifford the Big Red Dog is just one of the powerful allies rallying behind PBS these days. Most recently, sixteen Democratic Senators exhorted Bush to remove Kenneth Y. Tomlinson as head of the CPB based on (what they perceive to be) his blatant partisan agenda. The Senators, which include our own tri-state trio of Schumer, Lieberman, and Corzine (which always sounded to me like a topical ointment), apparently don't think it's cool that Kenny Y. hired a secret conservative watchdog to monitor Bill Moyers and authorized $15,000 in payments to two Republican lobbyists. Tomlinson says he won't step down and has kept mum on his middle name.

All of this is happening, of course, on the eve of a vote on cuts to PBS that would axe 45% of its budget, to which PBS has responded by organizing email drives, entreating audiences to register their opposition with their senators, and with marches on Washington by Democratic lawmakers and their cuddly cartoonish counterparts. Who says PBS is boring? This drama has me on the edge of my seat. Ouch, I just fell off.

Democrats Call for Firing of Broadcast Chairman [NYT]