Juan Williams fired by NPR for anti-Muslim statement on Fox News
It has been a few days since Juan Williams was fired from his NPR radio gig of ten years so on the off chance that you have not read or heard all that you care to on this subject I am now about to give you my two cents on this story.
We all know what Juan Williams said that led to his firing and everyone has their opinion on whether of not the firing was justified. Most people–on both the left and the right–believe it was not justified and neither do I but I do have a slightly different take on this story than most that I have read around the blogoshpere.
When a person uses a qualifier before making a statement (I am not a racist…, I am not a bigot…, etc) it is usually followed by a statement that is contrary to the qualifier, and that is the case with Juan Williams’s statement to Bill O’Reilly as well. Juan Williams’s defenders are claiming that this was not a bigoted statement, and that Juan Williams was telling the truth about how he really felt. They claim that he was speaking from the heart.
All of the above is true; under the classic definition of the word “bigot” Juan Williams’s statement is not bigoted, but under the definition of the word “bigot” used by today’s left as an acceptable definition of the word–and probably as Juan Williams himself meant it–Juan Williams’s statement was bigoted. He expressed his concern and anxiety when he saw a certain group of people who looked a certain way and if this were a conservative man who made these claims, the people on the left who are defending Williams would not be defending the offender, they would be labeling him as a bigot. Yet many on the left are defending Williams and they are doing so solely based on his political ideology; they are rallying around one of their own.
All I want is a little consistency here; the one group of people who are being consistent on this issue is the right in this country, if Juan Williams was a conservative, the right would be defending him and they are defending him as a liberal as well. This is an issue of free speech and the conservatives in this country have always understood how important the right to free speech is, while the left has gone out of the way to censor free speech through political correctness. Juan Williams is a victim of the very political correctness that his side help to usher in over the years, so it is hard to feel sorry for him.
While defending Juan Williams by attacking NPR the question that has been asked in various forms is this: if Juan Williams made a similar comment about a group of Tea Partiers would he have been fired and I think we all know that the answer is a resounding no. But let me ask you the question this way: if I–as a white man–said that when I saw a group of black people as I was walking down an ally I got suspicious and nervous, and that suspicion was based on the fact that I once was mugged by a black man, would the left defend me as giving a non bigoted, statement of opinion coming from my heart? I think we all know the answer to this as well. So if it is possible for my fictional position to be labeled as bigoted, it is possible for Juan William’s actual statement to be called bigoted as well, because the sentiment behind the two statements is the same: a lack of the feeling of security because of the situation one is in based on the close proximity of a group of people who look different based on a prior experience.
I am not trying to be overly critical of Juan Williams here, I like him and I have always enjoyed listening to him when I have heard him on Fox News even though we disagree on almost every issue. I also happen to believe that what Juan Williams said is how many Americans feel; regardless of what the hosts on “The View” think, it was Muslims that attacked us using airplanes on September 11th, and I do think that it is natural for a person boarding an airplane who sees a group of Muslims on that plane to think in the back of his or her mind back to the morning of September 11th. I am sure it happens all the time, Juan Williams actually had the courage to admit it on television.
I do not think that he should have been fired on some flimsy excuse by NPR that he violated their journalistic code and I do not think that he said anything controversial either. He was not on NPR’s airwaves when he made the statement, at the time he was on Fox and he was being paid–assuming this was a paid appearance–by Fox to offer an opinion, which he did. At the moment of his comment he was not being a journalist and unless there is something in his NPR contract that does not allow him to offer opinions while not on the airwaves with NPR I am not sure they had grounds to fire him in the first place.
It was Juan Williams’s opinion that NPR disagreed with and did not want to be associated with and that is the reason that he was fired. Apparently NPR’s on air personalities are never supposed to offer opinions, they have no free speech while not in the radio studio, at least if that opinion differs from the opinions of the radio executives. NPR claims to be a non biased news radio station and Juan Williams was fired for showing a bias, but his crime could not possibly be the crime of having an opinion, but rather he was guilty of having the wrong opinion–because we need to look no further than NPR’s website to see anti-Tea Party commercials running where the Tea Party is depicted as stupid and the term “teabag” is used to describe those members of the Tea Party. So much for non biased journalistic integrity.
But if that is not enough for you, there is always the time that Nina Totenberg said that if there were justice in this world Jesse Helms–or one of his grandchildren–would get AIDS from a blood transfusion. There were no repercussions from the NPR brass over that despicable statement. What this issue has done is to expose NPR as the left wing propaganda arm of the Democrats in a way that conservatives never would have been able to on their own. There is no longer any doubt that NPR toes the Democrat party line–they always have and they always will. They are just in the open about it now.
This brings me to my final point, once again going back to the issue of consistency, for that is what this whole issue revolves around in my mind. The left has ridiculed Fox News over the years as being a mouthpiece of the Republican party; they have called Fox News illegitimate, and a biased right-wing news outlet. Yet over the years Fox News consistently allows liberals–such as Juan Williams–on the air to discuss the issues of the day. Fox News quickly moved in on the unemployed Williams and offered him an expanded role on the station, and in a brilliant move announced that his right to the free speech of his liberal views would always be protected at Fox News.
Fox News has been consistent by allowing people who represent the other side have their say on the air, but it is the supposedly non-biased NPR that would not allow Juan Williams to air an opinion that the brass was not in agreement with. The ultimate irony here is the fact that the conservative Fox News has given Juan Williams the voice that was stripped from him by the liberal NPR.
The people that rail against Fox News for having a conservative bias like to say that Fox News is not legitimate because of their bias, but now that NPR has exposed a bias of their own I do not hear any liberals calling out NPR for its obvious bias–shouldn’t this make NPR an illegitimate source of news in their eyes also? Or is this bias okay because they agree with it? Again, all I am asking for is a little consistency here. Is that too much to ask for?
America's Watchtower 
I would encourage all your readers to do what I did recently, and put action into your words. For Example:
Vivian Schiller
President and CEO
National Public Radio
635 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Jon C. Randall
Post Office Box 309
Cascade, WI 53011
October 21, 2010
Dear Miss Schiller,
Due to your lack of sound judgment and credible skills as a “CEO” and “President” of National Public Radio (a taxpayer funded entity), in the “firing” of Juan Williams and your scornful public comments, I am going to recommend to the congress and all parties concerned, to have your organization de-funded permanently.
Your radical extreme far left views, and forcing your intimidation tactics upon the public and those who work for you, run contrary to the basic tenets and character which makes up this great country of ours and the population contained.
I hope you enjoy your remaining tenure as the “President” and “CEO” of NPR, as those days will now be short lived. I’m not sure what you will be able to do with the rest of your life, as your skill level reveals the core of your essence and abilities. I don’t think, in the current job market which is in the decline due to those you support, will have room for someone of your “qualifications.”
Respectfully submitted,
Jon C. Randall
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Great letter! I would love to hear what type of response you get…..if you get one at all.
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This is the only statement on the subject of Juan Williams being fired that I’ve read which correctly describes the events. While I disagree with Williams on all or virtually all of his positions and he becomes quite obvious with his own leftist bias when defending or explaining them, I know he has the right to speak his mind. I don’t listen to NPR, why would anyone with a mind they know how to use. I’ve always hoped Fox would get rid of him, Colmes and Shep but to be fair and balanced you have to have both sides represented.
Now Williams has had a taste of his side’s vengence, and everyone knows where the push came from, Soros and his millions. I just loved the bit his boss spouted about his needing a shrink. Imagine that, have a common sense reaction to seeing Muslims, dressed as such on a plane and being frightened while remembering 9-11 and all of the hijacking of planes that Muslims have committed ever since the 1970’s – what nerve Williams has to give voice to what we all think when we see these people. Does that mean we are all bigots, the answer of course is NO! It does mean our radar is working and that is a perfectly sane and proper reaction to any situation one feels is or could be life threatening.
We the people should not be funding this garbage called NPR at all. If we have to fund it, we should demand it be fair and balanced.
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Thank you for the compliment! In a way it is quite ironic that the politically correctness that has infiltrated our country took down one from the left. Sometimes I think that the left only feels as if it is the right that has to be politically correct and that they can soeak with impunity on all issues.
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Shep? Why would you want to see Shep go? He’s no liberal!
Btw, Steve, great post!
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Thank you!
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NPR was wrong to fire Williams for doing something it claims journalists shouldn’t do. Williams is a commentator much more than a journalist. That NPR should dismiss him for a remark he made while appearing as a (paid?) guest on a for-profit show is breathtakingly high-handed, and demonstrates a disappoint subservience to the gods of political correctness. My friendly neighborhood Libertarian, Neal Boortz, insists that NPR took action only after being prodded to do so by CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations).
CNN claims he defamed an entire group of people. He didn’t – he described his own state of mind, his own thinking. Which means that he was fired, essentially, for his thoughts.
The revelations about Nina Totenberg are much more depressing, frankly, because I’ve associated her more with journalism than I have Mr. Williams. NPR has some soul-searching to do.
Anyway, those who will grasp this single issue and rail against NPR and demand it be “defunded” by the government will be disappointed to know that less than 5% of its funding comes from the government, and that small amount through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It’s local affiliates like WABE here in Atlanta that rely far more on governmental assistance, but they had nothing to do with Williams’ firing. It’s good that NPR has so many other sources of income; otherwise, a stupid move on their part that jarred some people’s political sensibilities might mean that classical music and the Tappet Brothers (Car Talk) might be off the air for good.
Also, I listen to NPR because I get good entertainment (classical, jazz and opera, plus Prairie Home Companion) as well as in-depth journalism and analysis. Their own reporting on the Williams controversy didn’t paint them at all in a sympathetic light. Obviously, those who don’t listen to NPR haven’t got much credibility when it comes to describing what it broadcasts, now have they?
I hope all’s well. May God bless us all!
Dale
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Good points! Those in the Congress who are now calling for the defunding of NPR are guilty of political gamesmanship. There is no way that NPR will be defunded and even if they are the vast majority of their funds come from public donations, nothing will change mush if the government were to end tgheir funding to NPR. This is nothing more than some Republicans trying to score political points.
I also heard the rumors that CAIR stepped in as well as rumors that George Soros has pumped millions of dollars into NPR in order to get them to hire new reporters and that this was the beginning of the purge. We will have to see how this plays out in the days to come.
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WOW! imagine there’s no NPR…….
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The irony, of course, is that George Soros donated $1.8 million at the same time Williams was let go so they could hire 100 journalists. Also ironic that Williams was trying to say how he was not a bigot.
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It sounds like Williams will just be the first if this Soros story is true.
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Oh he’s already donated the money. Mara Liasson will be next.
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Williams was a victim of a system he helped to create and one that he supported… Life’s a bitch sometimes… Maybe some libbers will wake up to the idea that the LEFT is not the *touchy-feely* wonderfully progressive bunch they tout themselves to be..
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It is hard to feel sorry for him due to the fact that is was the left that created this politically correct culture that claimed him in the first place.
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