Mark Lloyd: The Next Obama Czar to Fall?

Friday, September 11, 2009 1:16 PM

By: David A. Patten

Embattled FCC "diversity czar" Mark Lloyd, who praised strongman Hugo Chavez for his "incredible" attainment of a "democratic revolution" in Venezuela, was handpicked for his tailor-made job by the same top Obama adviser who played a similar role in the elevation of former "green-jobs czar" Van Jones, according to media reports.

Jones resigned Saturday after several inflammatory statements and the disclosure of his involvement in the "9/11 truther" movement, which contends the Bush administration was somehow complicit in the 9/11 terror attacks.

The American Spectator's Washington Prowler blog reports that "several White House sources" are confirming Jones was appointed over the objections of the White House Counsel's Office, which found "inconsistencies" in Jones' application materials.

Valerie Jarrett, one of President Obama's closest friends and advisers, reportedly played a key role in supporting the appointments of both Jones and Lloyd.

Lloyd, a former network broadcaster and communications attorney, is now taking serious fire for the radical stances he took prior to his appointment to the FCC. President Obama's heavy reliance on special advisers or "czars" to help him steer the federal bureaucracy has been widely criticized as extra-constitutional by Republicans and some Democrats.

"The same problems that they created with Jones' hiring are there for others and they don't seem to care about the political damage these people may inflict," a former Obama transition-team member told The Prowler.

Sources tell Newsmax that Lloyd's job title was specially created for him. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced Lloyd's appointment to the newly created position of associate general counsel and chief diversity officer of the FCC on July 29.

"One of the reasons they held off on nominating confirmable positions at agencies like the FCC was so the White House could look at the structure of those agencies, and where they could create jobs more in line with the president's thinking.

"So they create a post like diversity chief, and then we have a blueprint for the nominated chairs of staff directors to follow. That's how we got Mark Lloyd," the former Obama transition staffer told The Prowler.

Since his appointment, Lloyd has been a lightning rod for criticism from conservatives worried that, based on his past statements and writings, Lloyd will use "diversity" as a back door method of imposing Fairness Doctrine-style regulations aimed at muzzling conservative broadcasters.

One striking characteristic of Lloyd's writings is that he appears to be an avowed opponent of big corporate ownership of the news media.

In a July 2007 essay titled "Forget the Fairness Doctrine," Lloyd wrote of "the failure of the supposed 'free market' regulation of the U.S. radio industry to address the public-interest needs of listeners. Our analysis revealed that conservative talk radio dominates the airwaves of our country — to the detriment of informed public discourse and the First Amendment."

He wrote: "We trace the rise and influence of Rush and other conservative radio hosts to relaxed ownership rules and other pro-big business regulation that destroyed localism," adding "We call for ownership rules that we think will create greater local diversity of programming, news, and commentary. And we call for more localism by putting teeth into the licensing rules. But we do not call for a return to the Fairness Doctrine."

Conservatives see the requirements as a back-door method of squelching conservative talk radio. In February, the U.S. Senate, by an overwhelming 87 to 11 vote, passed a measure sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., that would block any attempt to reinstitute a Fairness Doctrine. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt has said Obama also opposes reviving the Fairness Doctrine, the goal of which was to balance the expression of diverse points of view, but had the practical effect of muzzling political talk shows altogether.

Defenders of free airwaves remain concerned however, in part because the Senate also passed an amendment authored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that orders the FCC to "take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership."

DeMint charges that directive "seeks to achieve the same goals of the Fairness Doctrine through backdoor FCC regulations."

It was the president's appointment of a special FCC adviser who blames conservative talkers for distorting the nation's political dialog that created the talk-show furor.

Lloyd's has made controversial statements regarding Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as well —stating that he finds aspects of Chavez's consolidation of power in Venezuela admirable. As a panelist at last year's National Conference for Media Reform, Lloyd remarked that Chavez engineered "really an incredible revolution, a Democratic revolution, to begin to put in place saying that we're going to have impact on the people of Venezuela."

In August, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, shot off a letter to the FCC's Genachowski voicing his concerns about Lloyd's views.

“Taken together, these statements represent a view that the FCC needs to expand its regulatory arm further into the commercial radio market,â€