Juan Williams Fired

Nice NPR. Juan Williams, hardly a bigot, always entertaining and often provocative gets fired because he says he gets nervous on a plane when he sees Muslims board in traditional dress? Juan, welcome to the iron fisted world of the lefties. Entry question. How long before Juan becomes a conservative, or at least libertarian?

Watch the video from the O’Reilly segment that got him fired. Sounds like honesty to me. Someone should tell him honesty in the lefty politically correct world is not the best policy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGUyLEJnfsg

Update: (from Steve) Jim and I were working on the same post subject, but the posts include different information so read them both. Mine is here.

From Real Clear Politics:

NPR official statement: NPR News has terminated the contract of longtime news analyst Juan Williams after remarks he made on the Fox News Channel about Muslims.

Williams appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor,” Monday and host Bill O’Reilly asked him to comment on the idea that the nation was facing a dilemma with Muslims.

NPR? Who listens? And by the way, was it Juan’s comment that got him fired, or was it NPR’s fear. Cowards!

UPDATE: Here’s what Fox News colleague Bill Kristol has to say this morning.

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?

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

25 Comments

  1. TomL on October 21, 2010 at 3:37 am

    Is it a coincidence that NPR got in bed with Soros and fired Juan after an appearance on Fox.



  2. Dimsdale on October 21, 2010 at 3:46 am

    Didn't Jesse Jack$on once say this:

    "There is nothing more painful to me … than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved. — the "Reverend" Jesse Jackson <a href="http://(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson,(http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jesse_Jackson,<a href=”http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/960318/archive_010008.htm” target=”_blank”> 3/10/96)

    Why doesn't anyone fire Jack$on?



  3. chris-os on October 21, 2010 at 3:51 am

    i guess writing books about civil rights movement did not teach Juan the basic lessons from the civil rights movement.



  4. Dimsdale on October 21, 2010 at 4:02 am

    What, that you have to hide hard truth to be politically "correct"?  Which part of "“The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.” (that Juan did not counter) do you find objectionable or wrong?



  5. Steve M on October 21, 2010 at 4:13 am

    @chris-os: Civil rights movement? How they heck is Williams causing a civil rights issue for anybody when he expresses an opinion that he may be nervous or scared in a certain situation? In no way did he even suggest he would do anything (call and complain or whatever).

    And yet … the federal government constantly encourages residents to "report suspicious activity" ….



  6. gillie28 on October 21, 2010 at 5:04 am

    NPR's loss. Juan Williams is a decent, honest guy and is one of the few journalists who I respect, even when I don't have the same views.  Shame on NPR for firing him.  I bet most of the hypocritically, "politically correct" execs at NPR take stock of who is onboard when they travel – although they'd never admit it.  I know I do, and it's nothing to do with bigotry – just plain, common sense, based on our recent, global experiences.



  7. gillie28 on October 21, 2010 at 5:08 am

    p.s. dims – you'll be pleased to know that Jesse Jackson is being broadcast on BBC today.  He is in London pontificating against the UK budget cuts….by the way, he never mentioned that the UK has the highest deficit in Europe.  Sheesh – since when does he have the right (or the left) to be an expert on UK ecomomics????



  8. Dimsdale on October 21, 2010 at 5:24 am

    Can we get London to keep him?  😉



  9. RoBrDona on October 21, 2010 at 5:46 am

    The pathetic pollyannas at NPR have had their heads in the sand for decades. They are a repository for failed hippies and their Communist dreams. It it walks like a duck it is twisted into a dove by them. If it talks like a duck it is misquoted, misenterpreted or not reported at all. If a duck is not a duck then there is no reality at all. The religion of hate 'n death knows what a duck is.

    Pull the remaining funding and let them stew in their own juices.  



  10. Odonna on October 21, 2010 at 5:46 am

    I see the Thought Police are alive and well at NPR.

    Though I don't always agree with Juan Williams, I respect him for his honest and independent perspectives on issues.  It's obvious that where the Propaganda Ministers are concerned, honesty doesn't pay. 



  11. Dimsdale on October 21, 2010 at 6:14 am

    The predictable fact that Soros supports NPR is not nearly as offensive as the fact that we, the people, are forced to do so.

     

    If the network can't survive without government life support, maybe it needs to have the plug pulled and a very large DNR plastered across its doors.



  12. Lynn on October 21, 2010 at 6:22 am

    We have got to put a stop to this outrageous PC demonizing. National Public Radio does not allow Free Speech? Aren't we supposed to have the right to free speech? The United States of America has truly become Big Brother. We have only ourselves to blame, for what we have allowed to happen to our wonderful country.



  13. chris-os on October 21, 2010 at 6:35 am

    "How they heck is Williams causing a civil rights issue for anybody when he expresses an opinion that he may be nervous or scared in a certain situation?"

    Bottom line Steve, he was under contract with NPR and was beholden  to their ethical standards, he wasn't just a guy talking on the street to his friends. friend of .  Bottom line, he was backing up O'Reilly's constant Islamophobic remarks.

    Is this any different than Sanchez being fired-same thing!

    BTW, I keep thinking of "Tiller the Killer"-the constant hammering of that-look what that led to?

    Faux News likes to ginn up the crazies, it's dangerous.

     



  14. chris-os on October 21, 2010 at 7:03 am

    Oh and Lynn, I love the way the far right parades out "free speech" to defend islamophobia, homophobia, etc.".



  15. Steve M on October 21, 2010 at 7:47 am

    And chris-os twists the subject again. First suggesting a "civil rights" problem, and then switches off to NPR contract requirements referencing ethics?



  16. Anne-EH on October 21, 2010 at 8:23 am

    Jim, if my memory serves me correct, there is a saying about what makes a conservative or even a libertarian, it is a former liberal who was robbed. Also another reflection, when you are 20 and is a conservative, you have no heart, but if you are 40 and is a liberal, you have no brain. Just a few thoughts.



  17. Dimsdale on October 21, 2010 at 8:39 am

    Apparently, according to Chris, NPR's "ethics" do not include free speech or contrary opinion.  Nice.  Williams is better off at Fox, where he can express himself without fear of being fired.



  18. djt on October 21, 2010 at 8:41 am

    Free speech doesn't mean you can say anything at anytime and not be punished for it. Try insulting your boss or superior (to their face) and see how well that free speech turns out. NPR was within their rights to fire him, he said something that they believe cast npr in a bad light. Its no different than what cnn did with rick sanchez, its just that what sanchez said was more disagreeable, but its still an employer firing an employee for saying something the employer, rightly or wrongly, feels they can't stand behind. NPR clearly did their listeners a disservice though.

    Williams is a good commentator, agree with him or not, he supports his viewpoints with more fact than emotion. He'll certainly end up getting a paycheck from somewhere else while NPR has clearly diminished itself.



  19. chris-os on October 21, 2010 at 8:53 am

    Dims, so sorry others do not "value" contrary opinion as you do!

    DJT, tyvm for responding (you were the only one) to whether this was like the Sanchez firing. (Tho, I disagree-they were for the exact same thing).

    Steve, I am tired of the only one slammed by you for "being off topic", "twisting" etc.  when others here have been so far off the reservation with their comments, I have gotten confused reading them.

    I am done.



  20. Steve M on October 21, 2010 at 9:44 am

    The only one slammed by me for being off topic? Certainly, I've gone back and forth with you about being off topic or changing the subject recently, but I've gone after many others for being off topic, including Dims and a couple of people who were eventually banned. Stating you're the "only one" is not true at all. Plus, I rarely if ever read comments on posts I did not write since I don't have the time.

    I'm considering completely staying out of the comments section like Jim does and just letting it all go. But then I think the section completely looses it's value when people drift off topic, so I try to reign it in a bit. There is a big difference between comments concerning a post, and a forum type discussion board. This is not a forum discussion board and you'd be amazed at how many comments I remove that start with "I could not figure out where to post this subject … so I'll just throw it in here"

    It's probably true that comments on my posts get more attention by me concerning being off topic, and some of Jim's or SOS's comment sections are a bit more free-flowing. That is driven by the fact Jim and SOS probably do not moderate their comments section as much as I do.



  21. yelnats1 on October 21, 2010 at 11:24 am

    Let us all start to contact our elected and soon to be elected officials who represent us in Washington. Support Ex. Gov. Huckabee's  call for a movement to defund "Our Government" dollars to NPR radio and hit them where it hurts in the pocketbook. I don't know about you but if Juan Williams can get fired  for saying what most logical people are thinking by a well studied and Russian learned 49 year old Ms. VivianXXXXXXXXXXX, then I know I WANT MY TAX DOLLARS SPENT ELSEWHWERE. 

    Sincerely, (SEAYA

    (N)othing (P)ertinent (R)eported



  22. Dimsdale on October 22, 2010 at 12:20 am

    “Dims, so sorry others do not ?value? contrary opinion as you do!”

    ?
    And here I was thinking that dissent was the ultimate form of patriotism!? Or so liberal bumper stickers told us while Bush was president.? ;-)? I was under the impression that free speech was a First Amendment right.
    ?

    “Oh and Lynn, I love the way the far right parades out ?free speech? to defend islamophobia, homophobia, etc..”

    ?
    Well, I don’t love the way the left, the near left, and the far left parade out “Islamophobia”, “homphobia” etc. to stifle free speech.



  23. NH-Jim on October 22, 2010 at 6:20 am

    Where are Rev. Jesse (Hymie Town) Jackson & Al (Tawana Brawley) Sharpton in all this?  Why have they not come to Juan's defense with their typical knee-jerk reaction?

     

    Once again, hypocrisy at its best!



Juan Williams

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