22 September 2005 >> The Air America financial scandal claimed its first victim, the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, a Bronx charity from which some $875,000 was apparently pilfered in order to finance the upstart left-wing radio network:

The national board of the Boys & Girls Clubs voted to yank Gloria Wise’s charter, barring them from using the much-heralded organization’s symbols and fund-raising clout because of a breach of ethical standards and failing to file audits.

Evan McElroy, a spokesman for the national organization, said officers at Gloria Wise had ignored repeated requests to file annual financial reports. “We gave them plenty of chances,” he said.

“Our clubs are run according to ethical business practices that were, in the view of our board, breached,” McElroy said of the Gloria Wise club based in Co-op City.

City investigators yanked more than $10 million of public contracts from Gloria Wise in June after revealing a probe of the club’s finances, including the bizarre transfer of nearly $1 million to the left-wing radio station.

Meanwhile, with its supply of financing from inner-city youth cut off, Air America has taken to begging listeners for contributions. Apparently, advertisers aren’t willing to pay much for dismal ratings.

The moral of the story? Liberal radio can’t survive without the money of American taxpayers.

22 September 2005 >> John Hinderaker presents “an interesting window into the mind of an influential liberal journalist.”