Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz said that “one of the reasons” conservative pundit Armstrong Williams, who is black, is “under such heat” is because neither the No Child Left Behind education bill nor “black conservatives” are “popular with liberals.” Boortz added: “He has strayed from the plantation. He must be punished.” USA Today first reported that the Bush administration paid Williams $240,000 to promote No Child Left Behind.

From the January 10 edition of The Neal Boortz Show:

BOORTZ: One of the reasons that Armstrong Williams is under such heat, by the way, is that the No Child Left Behind Act is not popular with liberals. Neither are black conservatives. He has strayed from the plantation. He must be punished. And anybody that promotes the idea of school vouchers must be punished because liberals, of course, need to maintain their death grip on education. How else are young people indoctrinated into the wholesomeness and the sanctity of the state?

Boortz's show is distributed nationally by Cox Radio Syndication on more than 135 radio stations and, according to statistics compiled by TALKERS magazine, has a national weekly audience of more than 3.25 million listeners.