NPR Fires Liberal News Analyst For Non-PC Nervousness

[Corn]

Seems more to me that their anti-Muslim bigotry makes them invent the conclusion that this is 'fire anyone who tells the truth about the Muslims' and ignore the facts.

Here we have an excellent example of the fact the typical "intellectually elite" liberal is either grossly dishonest or simply ignorant: Mr. Williams was absolutely not fired for telling "the truth about Muslims" as this moron claims. He was fired for telling the truth about his own personal feelings in the context of how even those feelings may exist, they should *not* be codified into law at the expense of the rights of that entire group of people, or for that group of people to be painted with a broad brush because of the acts of the few, as evidenced by his own words: "We don't want, in America, people to have their rights violated, to be attacked on the street because they hear rhetoric from Bill O'Reilly and they act crazy."

Silly liberals.

 

[Linflas]

Seems more to me that their anti-Muslim bigotry makes them invent the conclusion that this is 'fire anyone who tells the truth about the Muslims' and ignore the facts.

They're enraged because they're trained to be enraged day after day by right-wing media, over their false opinion of what happened here.

They think 'Muslims are treated special above ordinary Americans' and such things that get them red-faced. So, Williams is an instant hero victim against the evil NPR.

It never occurs to you that the reason that many conservatives, as well as many liberals outside the confines of this forum, support Mr Williams is because he presents the liberal point of view in a cogent manner and is willing to engage in debate over issues without tossing out baseless charges and talking points straight from the DNC. I may not agree with 99% of Mr Williams opinions but I respect him and am willing to listen and consider his point of view because he is willing to listen and consider the opposing point of view.

 

[Craig234]

It never occurs to you that the reason that many conservatives, as well as many liberals outside the confines of this forum, support Mr Williams is because he presents the liberal point of view in a cogent manner and is willing to engage in debate over issues without tossing out baseless charges and talking points straight from the DNC. I may not agree with 99% of Mr Williams opinions but I respect him and am willing to listen and consider his point of view because he is willing to listen and consider the opposing point of view.

No one is saying to fire him for those things (though I'd argue whether he presented a 'liberal view'). Had he not repeatedly violated NPR's rules for staff with his repeated behavior on Fox, and just done the things you mention, he'd still be at NPR. But it doesn't make sense to 'support him' by ignoring the issue of his Fox appearances and rulebreaking just because you like him otherwise. They tried that, with repeated warnings instead of getting rid of him.

But he made his choice where his loyalty is - to the tune of a $2 million reward.

 

[Linflas]

No one is saying to fire him for those things (though I'd argue whether he presented a 'liberal view'). Had he not repeatedly violated NPR's rules for staff with his repeated behavior on Fox, and just done the things you mention, he'd still be at NPR. But it doesn't make sense to 'support him' by ignoring the issue of his Fox appearances and rulebreaking just because you like him otherwise. They tried that, with repeated warnings instead of getting rid of him.

But he made his choice where his loyalty is - to the tune of a $2 million reward.

If you really believe this then I assume you are calling for the firing of Cokie Roberts and Nina Totenberg. Both regularly appear off NPR offering opnions to audiences.

 

[werepossum]

If you really believe this then I assume you are calling for the firing of Cokie Roberts and Nina Totenberg. Both regularly appear off NPR offering opnions to audiences.

Nah, Craig's "principles" are much more flexible than that.

 

[piasabird]

He wrote a book a while back that they did not like.

 

[Drako]

He wrote a book a while back that they did not like.

Are you talking about the "Enough" book?

 

[trenchfoot]

If you really believe this then I assume you are calling for the firing of Cokie Roberts and Nina Totenberg. Both regularly appear off NPR offering opnions to audiences.

You seem quite knowledgeable about these commentators, and I don't know much about them. Can you tell me off the top of your head how often both of these persons appear on Fox like Williams regularly did? And can you tell me if both of those women were on salary at Fox like Williams is? Just asking....

 

[BoberFett]

In the end, all that can really be said is that NPR put him in his place. Maybe he'll think about that next time he decides to get uppity.

 

[Linflas]

You seem quite knowledgeable about these commentators, and I don't know much about them. Can you tell me off the top of your head how often both of these persons appear on Fox like Williams regularly did? And can you tell me if both of those women were on salary at Fox like Williams is? Just asking....

So the key here is not what he said but rather where he said it? NPR claims they fired him for expressing an opinion, not the venue he used to express that opinion. Maybe your question would be better answered by NPR since they are the ones doing the firing and subsequent slandering. For the record Ms Totenberg panels regularly on an opnion show called "Inside Washington" and Ms Roberts panels on "This Week With Christiane Amanpour".

 

[theeedude]

In the end, all that can really be said is that NPR put him in his place. Maybe he'll think about that next time he decides to get uppity.

Really? Race Card? Really?

 

[trenchfoot]

So the key here is not what he said but rather where he said it? NPR claims they fired him for expressing an opinion, not the venue he used to express that opinion. Maybe your question would be better answered by NPR since they are the ones doing the firing and subsequent slandering. For the record Ms Totenberg panels regularly on an opnion show called "Inside Washington" and Ms Roberts panels on "This Week With Christiane Amanpour".

No, the issue is not where Williams was that got him fired, but that those womens' circumstances and situations are wholly different from Williams' as far as what got him fired. I see where there are similarities as you mentioned, but I don't think you can make a good argument from using their experiences as opposed to William's as those similarities hadn't much to do with Williams' firing.

And thanks for the info on Totenberg and Roberts. Appreciate it.

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

From Jesse Jackson

Linky

Just keeping it real or racist?

Thanks for backing up my point!

 

[MooseNSquirrel]

Good gawd you are a dumbass. Williams IS a liberal. Always has been.

The only thing dead in this thread is your brain.

Do you even listen to NPR?


Apparently no.

 

[daishi5]

You seem quite knowledgeable about these commentators, and I don't know much about them. Can you tell me off the top of your head how often both of these persons appear on Fox like Williams regularly did? And can you tell me if both of those women were on salary at Fox like Williams is? Just asking....

No, the issue is not where Williams was that got him fired, but that those womens' circumstances and situations are wholly different from Williams' as far as what got him fired. I see where there are similarities as you mentioned, but I don't think you can make a good argument from using their experiences as opposed to William's as those similarities hadn't much to do with Williams' firing.

And thanks for the info on Totenberg and Roberts. Appreciate it.

Your right their situations are different, just as you pointed out in your prior post, they didn't say it on fox news.

 

[Tom]

What seems to have been ignored to score political points for the righties in this thread is the fact that Williams is a long-time personal friend of O'Rielly (as I previously mentioned) and that Williams has a history of commenting on Fox in such a way that advances Fox's agenda.

Fox would not have Williams on their payroll nor would they allow Williams a second of air time if Fox didn't think they could use him to their advantage one way or another.

Fox has a single purpose and that is to push the far right agenda. They will use any means to do it, and Williams is just another cog in their propaganda machine. No more, no less.

Fox is using Williams the exact same way the rightie posters are using him in this thread.

The emphasis has been on the political implications of Williams' firing and not on the man himself. Especially since he is now wholly owned by Fox and an integral part of their agenda, which the righties would surely like to downplay. Watch how Fox will exploit him in the coming months. Williams will now play the fine line that will attempt to make him seem unbiased, yet insidiously right leaning, more so now than when he was still employed at NPR.

Williams' credibility as an unbiased commentator is now history, and Williams conciously followed the money to do it. He is now and forever more an insider with a far right leaning bias. He made his choice.

Williams' firing is NOT about a single incident. He created a long right leaning history at Fox that NPR could no longer ignore. The firing was the end result of Williams ignoring the continuous warnings he must have been given by NPR.

NPR's only mistake was to not make those warnings public before terminating Williams' employment there.

I can see where it's fun for the righties to hammer NPR on this, but it's pretty obvious the only reason this is going on is to further the righties agenda by sensationalizing the firing and attempting to drag NPR down into the sewers where Fox operates out of and destroy the integrity that NPR, in my opinion, still holds intact.

It's so obvious from following this very interesting thread how the righties are attempting to kill the beast that exposes the truth about them in UNBIASED fashion. I just didn't know how much they loathe and fear NPR and for what NPR stands for. This thread quite plainly shows it.

I'm a long time NPR supporter and fairly liberal. I can't agree with your defense of NPR or your characterization of Juan Williams.

First, what the heck is an "unbiased commentator" ? Secondly, Williams did not justify his fear, he used himself as an example of how human beings respond to real and perceived threats as part of a discussion about why hiding the truth by means of political correctness is not a productive way to improve society.

His comments weren't liberal or conservative, and they weren't different from the same kind of comments he has made on NPR, they were revealing, thoughtful and true and a perfect example of an issue that mostly goes unspoken but which has profound effects on the decisions millions of people make everyday including political decisions about the direction the government should take.

The only difference I can see is where he made them. Given that some of what goes on at Fox News is irrational or even false, that doesn't justify NPR becoming irrational in the opposite direction.

I wouldn't care but Juan Williams is an exceptional journalist and him being fired from NPR for doing exactly what he should do has greatly diminshed my support for NPR. And trust me, if you knew me you would see that I'm not the kind of person NPR wants to lose as a supporter.

 

[werepossum]

I'm a long time NPR supporter and fairly liberal. I can't agree with your defense of NPR or your characterization of Juan Williams.

First, what the heck is an "unbiased commentator" ? Secondly, Williams did not justify his fear, he used himself as an example of how human beings respond to real and perceived threats as part of a discussion about why hiding the truth by means of political correctness is not a productive way to improve society.

His comments weren't liberal or conservative, and they weren't different from the same kind of comments he has made on NPR, they were revealing, thoughtful and true and a perfect example of an issue that mostly goes unspoken but which has profound effects on the decisions millions of people make everyday including political decisions about the direction the government should take.

The only difference I can see is where he made them. Given that some of what goes on at Fox News is irrational or even false, that doesn't justify NPR becoming irrational in the opposite direction.

I wouldn't care but Juan Williams is an exceptional journalist and him being fired from NPR for doing exactly what he should do has greatly diminshed my support for NPR. And trust me, if you knew me you would see that I'm not the kind of person NPR wants to lose as a supporter.

I never thought I'd agree with you on anything, but that's an excellent post. Kudos from a mostly far righty.

 

[Craig234]

I'm a long time NPR supporter and fairly liberal. I can't agree with your defense of NPR or your characterization of Juan Williams.

First, what the heck is an "unbiased commentator" ? Secondly, Williams did not justify his fear, he used himself as an example of how human beings respond to real and perceived threats as part of a discussion about why hiding the truth by means of political correctness is not a productive way to improve society.

His comments weren't liberal or conservative, and they weren't different from the same kind of comments he has made on NPR, they were revealing, thoughtful and true and a perfect example of an issue that mostly goes unspoken but which has profound effects on the decisions millions of people make everyday including political decisions about the direction the government should take.

The only difference I can see is where he made them. Given that some of what goes on at Fox News is irrational or even false, that doesn't justify NPR becoming irrational in the opposite direction.

I wouldn't care but Juan Williams is an exceptional journalist and him being fired from NPR for doing exactly what he should do has greatly diminshed my support for NPR. And trust me, if you knew me you would see that I'm not the kind of person NPR wants to lose as a supporter.

As has been explained many, many times to you that you have ignored or not understood is that Williams was doing far from 'exactly what he's supposed to'.

You not getting that poisons any conclusion you reach.

And for you to abandon the entire network of NPR over this is a huge overreaction. Fair-weather friend to them and very short-sighted.

 

[Craig234]

If you really believe this then I assume you are calling for the firing of Cokie Roberts and Nina Totenberg. Both regularly appear off NPR offering opnions to audiences.

I'm not familiar with it. Perhaps, depending on the facts.

Are the shows they guest on in violation of NPR's guidelines, i.e., are they punditry rather than fact-based, do they reflect poorly on NPR, do they say things they wouldn't on NPR?

NPR got a lot of listener complaints about Williams' Fox comments over the years, have they gotten nearly as many complaints about the others from listeners?

What type of comments do they make on those shows?

Questions like these would tell me whether they are breaking the guidelines, which seem like not terribly unreasonable ones, and they also need to correct it or be fired.

 

[werepossum]

As has been explained many, many times to you that you have ignored or not understood is that Williams was doing far from 'exactly what he's supposed to'.

You not getting that poisons any conclusion you reach.

And for you to abandon the entire network of NPR over this is a huge overreaction. Fair-weather friend to them and very short-sighted.

Perhaps you didn't notice due to flying spittle, but he said nothing about abandoning any part of NPR. He merely said his respect for the organization was diminished and that he is the type of supporter they did not want to lose - which is undoubtedly true.

 

[Tom]

As has been explained many, many times to you that you have ignored or not understood is that Williams was doing far from 'exactly what he's supposed to'.

You not getting that poisons any conclusion you reach.

And for you to abandon the entire network of NPR over this is a huge overreaction. Fair-weather friend to them and very short-sighted.

He did what a journalist should do, for NPR to fire him for that reduces the credibility of NPR as an unbiased source. Which disturbs me because for 30 years I've relied on their integrity.

 

[theeedude]

THE LAZY MAN'S SUBSTITUTE

Neither black nor white store owners are in business to display the virtues of admitting people of all colors, creeds, and fashions to their stores. They are in business to make money. I would want to take precautions to prevent robbery; I would look closely at people entering the store. The race of a potential customer would be one factor among many to be considered as I girded myself against thieves.

But in Washington and almost all other major cities, blacks do patronize jewelry stores. A jeweler in Beverly Hills who closed his door to heavily bejeweled Mr. T would be foolishly closing his cash register. Unless I am a racist, race and age cannot be the sole deciding factors in calculating whom I will and will not let into my store. And I certainly would not close my door to, say, all young black men - not even to those who are casually dressed and behaving nervously. I would act cautiously in dealing with them, as I would with an antic, strangely dressed white man.

As a cabdriver I would apply the same considerations. Discrimination can be used judiciously. I would certainly exclude one class of people: those who struck me as dangerous. Nervous-looking people with bulges under their jackets would not be picked up; nor would those who looked obviously drunk or stoned. It all comes down to a subjective judgment of what dangerous people look like. This does not necessarily entail a racial judgment. Cabdrivers who don't pick up young black men as a rule are making a poorly informed decision. Racism is a lazy man's substitute for using good judgment.

The elevator question is disingenuous. I suspect you are suggesting that i am a white woman getting into an apartment building elevator with a strange black man. Of course, black women have just as much to fear as white women. Nevertheless, black women living in black neighborhoods ride elevators with black men frequently, and do so without being raped. In this situation and all others, common sense in my constant guard. Common sense becomes racism when skin color becomes a formula for figuring out who is a danger to me.

Guess who wrote this?

 

[Circlenaut]

An interview between Megyn Kelly of Fox News and Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR this afternoon. CAIR is the group that called for punishing Williams.

Megyn Kelly to CAIR Exec: ‘Happy Now?’

Why is she being so hostile towards the guy? It wasn't CAIR that fired williams, they simply asked for some action to be taken, and as the chair of CAIR said "a meeting or something". CAIR did exactly what a civil rights group should have done.

 

[theeedude]

Why is she being so hostile towards the guy? It wasn't CAIR that fired williams, they simply asked for some action to be taken, and as the chair of CAIR said "a meeting or something". CAIR did exactly what a civil rights group should have done.

Yeah, she does not have an opinion, LOL

 

[Fear No Evil]

Why can't people listen to the other black male people on NPR? Oh.. wait.. Where's the NAACP? The Tea Party is racist? There are more blacks in the Tea Party than at NPR.