National Politically-correct Radio -- Firing of Juan Williams

When we first heard about the firing, we were shocked. Juan Williams is not someone we would have expected NPR to fire over his comments to Bill O'Reilly. Believe a lot of us share Williams' apprehension if when flying we would see people in Muslim garb on the same plane. Since flying is not my #1 thing to do (understatement), would probably get off the plane and take a later flight. Cannot feature sitting through an entire flight waiting for something to happen since the terrorists have made very clear they intend to strike again.

More and more people this morning are beginning to question this firing and asking if Soros and his $1M contribution to Media Matters is behind this since he is a huge contributer to NPR. Wouldn't shock us if he was the ultimate source behind the firing, but now the Congress can finally quit funding this liberal group of radio stations. The head of NPR said they are get 2% of their funding from the Federal Government but we believe 1 cent is too much.

If Soros was behind this in his attempt to take out Fox News, he must have not had a good night last night knowing that Fox News just gave Williams a $2M contract. Actually Juan Williams has been someone from the left on Fox that doesn't irritate like Alan Colmes used to when he was on with Hannity. He has earned respect for the books he has written over the years on Civil Right which is so ironic he gets fired by NPR for his statement. When Williams fills in for Bill O'Reilly, we have noted his interviews are done with respect and class and he always knows the subject matter. Of the liberal commentators, would rank him near the top for not being annoying. In fact, he says some pretty funny things at times.

Bill Kristol has one of the best takes on this firing from The Weekly Standard of all the articles we have read:

National Politically-correct Radio
No inconvenient truths here, please.
7:45 AM, Oct 21, 2010 • By WILLIAM KRISTOL

My Fox News Sunday colleague Juan Williams has been fired by NPR for telling an inconvenient truth.

Juan was appearing on Bill O'Reilly's show Monday night, when O'Reilly asserted, “The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.” Juan didn't disagree with this claim.

Would President Obama, for example, disagree? I don't think so. Isn't this why, for example, we are fighting a war to prevent jihadists from re-establishing a terror base in Afghanistan? (It's a war, by the way, that Juan happens to oppose.) But do the powers-that-be at NPR really think that jihadists, especially if aided by state sponsors, are not a serious threat? Do the powers-that-be at NPR think their analysts shouldn't be allowed to say they are?

Juan cited the words of the Times Square bomber: “He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts." Do the powers-that-be at NPR deny that jihadists have made countless comments of this sort? Are NPR analysts not allowed to cite them?

Juan also commented, “I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I've got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”

Do the powers-that-be at NPR think Juan Williams is a bigot? Do they think a traveler who has a reaction (fair or unfair) like the one Juan describes, in our age of terror in the name of Islam, is a bigot?

Of course the powers-that-be at NPR know he's not. In fact, I suspect the powers-that-be at NPR pretty much think what Juan thinks. But the standards of political correctness must be maintained. Pressure groups speaking for allegedly offended Muslims must be propitiated. And so Juan had to go.

NPR--unfair, unbalanced...and afraid.

Source: Weekly Standard