Air America in dire need of leadership - is Ken Lay busy these days?

Air America, the "liberal" talk radio network whose pitiful ratings would automatically slot their sorry program offerings somewhere between 2:00am and 5:00am on a successful commercial talk station, is in a heap of trouble over a $500,000 "investment loan" to their network made with funds from the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Home, a Bronx charity for underprivileged and minority youth.   Evan Cohen, Air America's former chairman, had also served as the Gloria Wise Home's director of development.

Radio blogger Brian Maloney first broke the story, along with a local newspaper, The Bronx News.

Blogdom's premier info-babe Michelle Malkin first covered it here, and has continued updating daily here, here, and here.

Air America's new parent company PIQUANT tried to patch things up by releasing a statement yesterday.  Get a load of this:

On MAY 24, 2004 the newly formed PIQUANT LLC acquired the principal assets of AIR AMERICA RADIO from the prior ownership entities. PIQUANT has owned and operated AIR AMERICA RADIO since that time. The company that had run AIR AMERICA RADIO till then no longer had anything to do with the network.

PIQUANT had no involvement whatsoever with funds from GLORIA WISE BOYS &GIRLS CLUB. PIQUANT neither received nor expended any of the sums that are the subject of the City's investigation of the CLUB.

PIQUANT is not being investigated by the City, which is investigating a transaction that took place before PIQUANT existed.

Well, well, well … according to PIQUANT, a corporate buyout or takeover completely absolves an organization of any wrongdoing. How interesting.

Can you imagine the outcry from Jackson, Sharpton, Bond, Mfume, et al if J. P. Morgan Chase Bank had tried to use this sorry logic to excuse themselves from their impending slavery reparations shakedown?

Yet the “Black Leadership” has nothing to say when Air America "borrows" hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for poor inner-city minority kids.  Does anyone really believe that Air America, which has been on financial skids since day one, even has a prayer of being able to pay the money back?

And can you imagine the press swarm that would envelope this story if it involved the EIB Network or Fox News?  But as of today, nothing about this investigation has appeared in the mainstream media.

Apparently Air America feels no shame in taking anyone's dollars -- even though they have trouble actually earning any of their own -- because they are doing America a favor by keeping Janeane Garofalo and Randi Rhodes on the air.

America-Utopia Socialism Delirium, indeed.

Other noteworthy bloggers keeping up with the story:  LaShawn Barber, Double Toothpicks, WizBang (1), (2), Mark In Mexico, Captain's Quarters ("...sounds an awful lot like payola to me...")

Comments

[Steve Bragg]

As always, Mike, thanks for the link.

Steve
DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS