so, most of you have probably heard, via MoveON or PuffHo, both of which pushed the issue, or Fox, where he made the comments, that NPR fired Juan Williams for admitting, on Bill Riley's show (he's also a Fox News commentator) that when he flies and sees a muslim get on his plane, he's nervous. you can google/YT the exact quotes, but it's worth noting that NPR has retracted it's initial rationale, that he was fired for his views, to a new rationale, that he was fired for expressing his views. never mind that NPR is rife with reporters who express their views either on the network itself, or as "analysts" on other programs. the offense here is clearly that Juan said something, that while honest, is nonetheless not PC. so, should NPR have fired him? if their rationale is acceptable, should they not also fire Nina Totenberg (to take one name at random)? and, in a time of growing deficits, why should taxpayers support NPR at all, when they are clearly only interested in one spectra on the political continuum.
Totally nothing against Muslims but that is human nature.. I have several friends and family members who all said the same thing. It's just in the back of your mind. It does cause people to get a bit nervous and uneasy. Williams just said what was on most peoples minds and he got fired for it. NPR is lame anyways.. Hope he finds a better job
I never thought I'd agree with basso on anything. I don't think he should have be fired. I don't want to do away with NPR though.
Well one part of what Williams said was offensive. The only thing is that he said it to show that it was wrong and say we needed to be better than that and move past that. He wasn't saying it was OK to fear anyone wearing Middle Eastern looking garb on an airplane. He said that he was guilty of doing that but that we should be able to move past that. The bad part was just the set up to show that we should move past that. It's ashamed that he got fired for that. If he'd only said the offensive part and was fired, it would be understandable.
Can Juan Williams share his awesome ability to spot a Muslim to everyone? I'd like to know the defining features of a Muslim.
if I see black person walking into a gas station, I drive down the street and try to find one with no blacks
he specifically referred to 'muslim garb'. but... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/...Feed:+HP/media+(Media+on+The+Huffington+Post) i dont see the problem here - who is to tell him that he cant be 'nervous' when he gets on a plane and sees people in muslim garb - he got fired for being honest about it. personally, im more comfortable around someone in 'muslim garb' - if some muslim is going to commit an act of terr'ism he would dress like a westerner and try to blend in, not stand out as much as possible. juan williams always seemed like a fair guy - conservative/republican, but someone who can hold an intelligent discussion in a respectful manner - unlike most of his peers on fox. like rick sanchez, i think that this was just an excuse for npr to get rid of the guy - they demoted him in 2008 and made him a 'consultant' so it looks like they had been trying to nudge him out for awhile.
But I will agree that NPR might have overreacted. no biggie. A big News Corporation just gave Mr Williams a big advance.
News isn't news anymore. It's all just entertainment. Back in the days when people had standards, yes, Juan Williams would have grossly failed those standards based on any sampling of his body of work on Fox News. But so would just about any "journalist" that appears on TV these days. I do still rely on NPR for some of what I learn when it comes to science and technology, and I think that they are one of the last few institutions that clings (albeit inconsistently) to journalism ethics and the idea that you cannot communicate to the public with any legitimacy if you betray a bias in doing so. So no, this "unjust" or however you want to call it firing of Juan Williams won't make a dent in how I get my information.
I'm actually angry for Juan Williams. I watched the O'Reilly factor tonight specifically to see him interviewed. Felt bad for the guy, because despite O'Reilly saying this is for the best for Juan, Juan seemed to genuinely be sad about all of this. Couple the firing with the comments the president of NPR made later suggesting his issues were between he and his therapist and it really damages NPR in my mind.
So a media outlet funded by the government has fired somebody for expressing their views. That just feels wrong. Juan Williams may have been wrong in saying what he did, but the government putting the muzzle on public discourse seems at odds with the spirit of the Constitution.
That makes more sense. Because I can't believe a person would just say someone looks Muslim. I personally kind of view it similarly as steering away from the black guy at night walking down the street. Sure, many people do it. But it's not good to create the image that it's acceptable behavior.
Why the heck would an Muslim terrorist be dressed in Muslim garb if he wanted to blow up a plane? That would be way too obvious. If I was a Muslim terrorist I would dress up like an white person. Or maybe wear a Lebron jersey.
Federal funding of NPR is at... 2%. The government part is all grants, mostly focused on infrastructure needed to cover rural areas. There is no direct Federal funding for operations. Source: http://www.npr.org/about/aboutnpr/publicradiofinances.html
Just watched the entire interview that got Williams fired and I have to say this was a complete overreaction by NPR. What Williams said and was trying to convey was merely a setup/example of irrational prejusdices that we all have. He used that personal example while debating O'Rielly (who was once again making a jackass out of himself as usual) to try to make the point that we as a nation need to find a way to get past these irrational prejudices. He merely provided a rational counterpoint argument to O'Rielly in a debate and got fired for it.
I don't believe what Williams said constitutes a "political" stance, it's an indirect opinion about a culture and/or religion, which indicates a narrower world view than NPR might want out of its analysts/contributors. I guess I can give New Yorkers, Washingtonians and Desert Storm/WOT Veterans a little leeway on sharing this Islamogarmentophobia; but outside of those particular groups it just shows ignorance and subconscious bigotry. I don't know whether or not it can be viewed as an editorial comment subject to journalistic review. I'm not at all unhappy that there's a news station that wants to filter it out of their content; in fact, I'm probably getting a new tote bag. It probably is the best argument out there for cancelling public funding altogether, but it's less than a fifth of their revenue; not sure how that compares to other institutions that probably make personnel decisions on similar or similarly specious criteria.
