Enemies of public broadcasting dropped a bombshell today. They released a video recorded surreptitiously at a restaurant, using imposters posing as muslim donors offering $5 million, to draw an NPR executive into a discussion about funding of public broadcasting, Jews and Muslims, conservatives and liberals and other red meat bait for the ideologically minded.

The executive is Ron Schiller, no relation to NPR President Vivian Schiller. This Schiller did NPR and all of public broadcasting a tremendous disservice by venting his personal opinions on issues that have nothing to do with the mission of public broadcasting.

Here are some of Schiller’s spoken observations as reported on the NPR news site:

— “The Tea Party is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn’t even call it Christian. It’s this weird evangelical kind of move.”

— “Tea Party people” aren’t “just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist, racist people.”

— “I think what we all believe is if we don’t have Muslim voices in our schools, on the air … it’s the same thing we faced as a nation when we didn’t have female voices.” In the heavily edited tape, that comment followed Schiller being told by one of the men that their organization “was originally founded by a few members of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.” There’s no sign in the edited tape that Schiller reacted in any way after being told of the group’s alleged connection to an Islamic group.

— That NPR “would be better off in the long run without federal funding,” a position in direct conflict with the organization’s official position.

Schiller is also heard laughing when one of the men jokes that NPR should be known as “National Palestinian Radio.”

NPR called Schiller’s conduct “appalling.”

In fact, Schiller’s views are so insulting to so many people, one wonders what passes for fair game in the fundraising business at NPR.

Had Schiller been meeting with personal friends, no problem, he can air all the theories he wants. But this was a business meeting in which he’s representing the entire NPR network (and, like it or not, all of public broadcasting).

While the tactics employed by the ambushers here should be condemned, let’s set that aside for the moment. Let’s hold Ron Schiller accountable for his comments regardless of the means by which we’ve learned of them.

Schiller comments raise questions that should trouble all of us:

• Do his views represent those of the network and its employees?
• Do they represent the views of stations and those employees?
• Is this an example of playing to the donor’s political viewpoints?
• Should fundraisers play to donor’s political viewpoints as a matter of strategy or approach?

The journalists at NPR — and around public broadcasting — have spent so much time clarifying their ethics and values for all the world to see. It’s time for the development officers at NPR and around public broadcasting to do the same.