Juan Williams fired from NPR – “When I get on a plane … Muslim garb … I get worried”
Juan Williams was on the O’Reilly Factor (Fox News) on Monday night and said the following in response to a question by Bill O’Reilly. Within 48 hours, his contract with NPR was nixed. He was canned.
First, the video, but note Jim and I were working on similar posts this morning, so check his out … it has more information and a comment from Bill Kristol.
Update: Would you like to contact NPR and encourage them to bring Juan Williams back to NPR? Read to the bottom of this post where you’ll find contact information.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGUyLEJnfsg
Here is part of the transcript. I’m sorry, but I just do not have time this morning to dig up the full segment or full transcript but I think it would be important to read/listen to Williams’ comments in full context.
WILLIAMS: Well, actually, I hate to say this to you because I don’t want to get your ego going. But I think you’re right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.
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 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.
The self-righteous folks commenting over at Think Progress have proven they are much better than anyone who may get nervous when four Muslim clerics get on a plane (late), sit down, start praying, and then ask for seatbelt extenders. Yeah, you’d be a racist fool.
Williams stated he would be uncomfortable and nervous if he was in this situation. So now I guess the people at Think Progress and other lefty outlets have changed the definition of racist. The definition (in the standard context) used to be hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Now you are a racist if you are nervous or scared around a segment of the population, who happen to have a sub-segment who are fighting a Muslim holy war against infidels and want to convert you or cut your head off.
We’re talking about NPR here … who thinks it’s totally OK to promote political cartoon videos on how to speak tea bag.
Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit is also writing. Sidebar: Jim ends his post stating “we’re paying for” NPR, when in reality, a minority of NPRs funding comes from tax dollars. Yet, should we be providing any funding at all?
AJStrata at Strata-Sphere also thinks the funding should be eliminated, but more specific to this topic notes the USA has announced Muslim terrorists are here – on our soil – planning to kill Americans.
The point is terrorists terrorize. And when the USA announces Muslim terrorists are in the US to kill, it is only reasonable people begin to look around and see if there is something fishy going on. That is what the government as been asking us to do – keep an alert eye out.
So how is it Juan Willliams can have his job taken from him for not only complying with the government request, but sharing his fears about the attack with others? It is time to pull the plug on PBS and NPR. They have become political correct outhouses instead of a public service. With thousands of channels of radio, opinion, news and information, they have outlived their need.
Addendum: I forgot to add this comment from Juan:
Mr. Williams also made reference to the Pakistani immigrant who pleaded guilty this month to trying to plant a car bomb in Times Square. “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,” Mr. Williams said.
Yep, taking Muslim Terrorist threats serious is a crime in the mad halls of liberal DC.
Pamela Gellar at Atlas Shrugs certainly does not agree with Williams on many subjects, she defends his right to express his opinion.
And while I do not share Mr. Williams sentiments, so what?
Michelle Malkin thinks all funding should be cut off as well, and reminds us…
NPR affiliate employee Sarah Spitz at public radio station KCRW wishes death on Rush Limbaugh…not a firing offense.
PJ Salvatore at Big Journalism adds – with my emphasis in bold.
NPR doesn’t have a problem with statements like this on its airwaves:
I stick very rigorously to the evidence. You had the Nazis unloaded coffins at night. We saw coffins being unloaded at night. They talked about enhanced interrogation, meaning torture. Karl Rove talked about enhanced interrogation, meaning torture. They said, you know, we’ve got to invade Czechoslovakia, because it’s a staging ground for terrorists. We said we had to invade Iraq, a country we’re not at war with, because they’re torturing their ethnic minorities, it’s a staging ground for terrorists, and they hate our freedoms. I don’t need to draw an analogy. The analogies are there.
Can we stop pretending that this is serious radio and pull their public funding already?
Sad. Just as we thought they were becoming real.
*UPDATE #1: Interesting study just out from FAIR on PBS:
In a special November issue of studies and analyses of PBS’s major public affairs shows, FAIR’s magazine Extra! shows that “public television” features guestlists strongly dominated by white, male and elite sources, who are far more likely to represent corporations and war makers than environmentalists or peace advocates.s.
Can we stop force-funding television and radio now? If it’s not one of the enumerated powers of Article 1 Section 8, leave it alone.
Update: Lots of blog commentary today. More from Sweetness & Light and Ed Morrissey.
That said, it is really important to note the conservative and libertarian blogs are standing up for Williams even though some think he was not “artfully spoken” when he stated his opinion. Some don’t even agree with what he said.
Yet, the liberal websites have a bunch of comments that have branded Williams an Uncle Tom, fake liberal, and Fox News puppet among other things. He’s been totally banished! Now that readers, is tolerance.
To Contact NPR
Now, keep in mind, NPR probably has been trying to get Juan Williams to end his relationship with Fox News for awhile. NPR thinks Fox News is too biased to the right, even though NPR is clearly biased to the left – and funded in part by tax dollars. Remember, Mara Liasson was asked by the powers to be at NPR to “rethink” her relationship with Fox News.
- Contact NPR online
- Call NPR’s Listener Care line at (202) 513-3232
- Write NPR, 635 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001
20 Comments
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I don't really feel bad for Juan — he's been walking a difficult narrow line for a long time; perhaps he sees this as a bit of welcome relief. I hope so.
Reason and Leftism don't mix well, hence the various Ministries of Propaganda (of which NPR is one) have to monitor their agents 24 x 7 for careful adherence to the Agenda. So Juan stepped out of line, and — as is predictable for totalitarian propaganda agencies — they fired him. Good thing this isn't 1939 in the Soviet Union — Juan would have been executed … ahem, sorry … purged.
I'm looking forward to see how his public statements change over the next few weeks.
I think NPR is pathetic.
It seems like the line between Political Correctness and Schizophrenia, is getting more and more blurred in this country.
Juan finally says something that I can agree with him about, and he gets fired. Who amongst does not become most acutely in tune with their surroundings when boarding a plane?
Political correctness gone a muck. The truth hurts.
You've missed what's REALLY going on here guys. George Soros just started putting millions into NPR & other media paces (to influence people a la Goebbels, the propaganda master.) Fox is the enemy, and the left now has a ZERO tolerance for them (& the truth). This is NOT about political correctness… it's about Soros & media control.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://bigjournalism.com/wthuston/2010/10/18/george-soros-millions-buying-political-reporters-for-npr/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">George Soros’ millions buying ‘political reporters’ for NPR
Another link Steve.
"Fair and Balanced"
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/17/f…
So this must be chris' tacit admission that NPR is not "fair and balanced".
Regardless of financing, if Fox provides competition to the liberal bias to the rest of the media, then it provides balance. And it is fabulously popular, according to media ratings. You just don't think it is fair because it doesn't match your groupthink.
And Fox hasn't fired Juan Williams, have they?
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Of course they haven't he was backing up their bigotry, Dims.
Have you ever listened to NPR-guess not.
I never had all that much until recently when they had all the candidates in CT that would come on, on-the D's and R's to explain their respective positions on the issues.
But I am wasting my fingertips typing here. Any station not far right is lefty to most here.
Backing up "their bigotry?" Those kind of statements are over the top and outrageous. I'm not going to stand for being called a bigot or a racist because my – or anyone's – situational awareness level goes from a 5 to a 7 because we enter or are exposed to an environment where we become nervous or uncomfortable. It's simply a higher level of SA, we're in no way violating someone's civil rights in these situations. To suggest such a thing, it totally irresponsible and it could be dangerous if someone is taught a higher level of SA could make them look like a bigot or racist.
We're not talking about a group of people ganging up and beating up a couple of people because of their race or religion. We're not talking about Williams demanding someone be removed from an airplane … or the country … or their place of business.
To suggest some sort of correlation, is flat out wrong.
Wow-why are you taking this personally-have made no comments about you being either a bigot or a racist. You know the scenario-BillO was bragging about the women on "The View" waLKING OUT WHEN HE SAID :
"Muslims were responsible for the attacks on 9/11," and "Muslims killed us on 9/11." and then Juan backed him up.
Hence the statement "He (Juan) was backing up Billo.
Who was talking about you?
It's simply because I refuse to accept your premise that anyone who says “Muslims were responsible for the attacks on 9/11,” and “Muslims killed us on 9/11" are racist Islamaphobe bigots. The fact remains they were Muslims, representing a specific sub-group of Muslims who want to convert us or kill us.
Sure, I've used the words Islamic extremists, Muslim extremists, Islamo-fascists to deliberately distinguish between groups, but they are all Muslims are they not? If O'Reilly added the word "extremist" after the word Muslim in his statement, would the Whoopster and Behar have still walked off the set? Would that have been an acceptable statement to them? To you?
We're not talking about a single "loan gunman" Christian here, we're talking about an organized effort by a group of people to fight infidels the name of jihad.
O'Reilly's statements were factual. So in your mind, does that make me a racist Islamaphobe bigot? I'll freely admit my SA goes up and down depending on the environment that I am exposed to. In some cases my SA level has gone up to the point where I turned tail and got out of Dodge. Does that make me racist due to the racial or creed make up of Dodge?
I've taken your comments hopefully in context and determined that you think people like me – who dare to allow my level of awareness or concern around certain group of people to rise – bigots and racists.
Not just facts, but inconvenient facts, Steve. All chris (and the left) has is shrill accusations of "bigot!" and "racist" and "(insert something here)phobe" when you do not agree with them. It is a visceral, knee jerk response, usually accompanied by slack jawed refusal to listen to any explanation, or walking off the stage in a huff. It is reflexively used when the thin veneer of their arguments are peeled away, revealing the complete lack of a factual basis. It just proves that liberal tolerance is a sham, completely one sided (dare I say "fair and balanced"?).
If Steve and I agree with O'Reilly and Williams, and you call them bigots, then you are calling us bigots, despite all your protestations to the contrary. Just like she insinuated that I was a racist for finding a New York Times story about why Denise Nappier was recruited back in 1998.
Juan was fired because he didn't stay on the liberal plantation, and he got lynched by the NPR mob.
Oh, and I have listened to far more NPR than you will ever believed, as it is the only station that I could get at work in Amherst. Coincidence? I think not. "Brotha" Tavis Smiley, All things considered, Morning Edition etc., heard them all ad nauseum.
Yet another errant assumption on your part. It is getting to be a trend, and not a good one for you.
The liberals have no issues claiming fear at Tea Party rallies, albeit false and unfounded fear.
?
Tolerance is a double edged sword that is dull on one side for liberals.
I suggest Chris go and listen to the whole debate between Williams, Ham, and O'Reilly. "She might learn something"(quote from BillO). Chris you tossed out the word "bigotry" like it means nothing I don't think you really know what a bigot is, if you did you would be very careful using the word.
Juan Williams just got a huge boost in contract dollars from Fox News. I particularly enjoyed Roger Ailes comment: "Juan has been a staunch defender of liberal viewpoints since his tenure began at Fox News in 1997," Ailes said in a statement, adding a jab at NPR: “He’s an honest man whose freedom of speech is protected by Fox News on a daily basis.”
So, who at NPR is watching Fox News??????
p.s. don't all jump on Chris in a personal way – keep it focused on issues (my opinion). Just because we don't agree with her, like Juan W., she's more than entitled to her opinions and it makes the blog more interesting to have differing points of view. Plus, once things get reduced to a personal level the whole conversation gets out of control.
I suggest Chris enlist and spend a tour in Afghanistan.? Talk about Situational Awareness.
Juan spoke truthfully about nervousness and worry; two visceral feelings that are not conscientious but swell up from within.? To be punished for speaking frankly about one’s feelings is a total contradiction to the left’s philosophy.? Remember, they are the ones who push “the getting in touch with oneself’, the indoctrination of our children with unexceptional-ism “everyone gets a trophy for we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings”, yada-yada.
?
Also, if this is the course that will be taken, everyone at NPR better tread lightly!
Juan is only saying what most prudent people would say.
Doesn't free speech mean anything to NPR?
What ever happened to " The views of the host may not represent the views of the company or its management"?
Look at NPR making judgements on Juan not having the right to make judgements !!!
National Progressive Radio is the new (old really) Err America. It is just out in the open for all to see now.
What gets me about people who are liberal minds of mush. The whole "muslim" or muslim Extremists" gets them in the "Freedom of Religion" mode- anti bigotry or as they call it a "Tolerant Position". So, why is it they blame everything on the "Right Wing "CHRISTIAN" Movement"? It's those damn Christian's that cause all the hate and intolerance in this world!
It's not in the Constitution as the liberals suggest time and time again "Separation of church and State", but they sure seem to favor the muslim religion and fight for their rights above and beyond, whether in the name of their religion a building or two is knocked down. They are so busy respecting and tolerating the muslim beliefs.
They have very little time between their hate and attacks on the Christian beliefs to offer any tolerance to a religion they are so focused on ensuring doesn't violate their "Separation" inserted clause. It is very true..You know who they hate, by who they choose to attack!