Over "controversial" comments made on The O'Reilly Factor. Ridiculous decision if you ask me.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101021/cm_yblog_upshot/npr-fires-juan-williams-for-muslim-remarks-on-fox

Your tax dollars at work.

Hmmm,is there something wrong with having your own opinion?

I am not sure NPR has been happy with Juan since he does make frequent appearances on The Factor and hosts the show in Bill's absence, not to mention I have never got the sense he is that big of an Obama fan. Which is odd if you look at most numbers comprised of liberal, African American voters.

This is ridiculous. I think NPR probably has been looking to find a way to release him. Juan doesn't lock step with their liberal ideology and that didn't want him as a commentator. Ridiculous.

Bernie Goldberg nailed it...

 

"So Juan Williams is fired for saying something the liberals at NPR find controversial?" Goldberg said. "One more piece of evidence that liberals have forgotten how to be liberal."

 

Goldberg continued: "These are the kind of people who brag about how open-minded they are -- as long as you agree with them. And here's the dirty little secret: lots and lots of liberals feel the same way Juan does when they get on an airplane. And a lot of those liberals work at NPR. Juan's 'crime' was saying it out loud."

"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams continued. "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 Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan wrote Wednesday morning that Williams' statement about fearing Muslims on planes is an example of bigotry. "What if someone said that they saw a black man walking down the street in classic thug get-up," Sullivan wrote. "Would a white person be a bigot [if] he assumed he was going to mug him?'

 

Personally, I think Andrew Sullivan is exactly right in the sense that there would be outrage had Williams made a similar comment about black people on the subway. I suspect some of the people defending Williams here and/or criticizing NPR's decision might take a different tack about it had Williams been referring to black people and not Muslims.

 

What's the difference here?

^I don't see anyone on here saying they necessarily agree with what he said, I sure as heck don't. However, the fact that they fired him for having a differing opinion is laughable IMO. It's obviously their right to do so, but it makes them look hypocritical IMO.

^I don't see anyone on here saying they necessarily agree with what he said, I sure as heck don't. However, the fact that they fired him for having a differing opinion is laughable IMO. It's obviously their right to do so, but it makes them look hypocritical IMO.

I'm posing this question: if a white commentator had made a similar comment about black people on the subway, would there be as much criticism of his firing?

I'm posing this question: if a white commentator had made a similar comment about black people on the subway, would there be as much criticism of his firing?

 

You mean kinda like the Imus firing? I would find both as equally laughable.

You mean kinda like the Imus firing? I would find both as equally laughable.

I would say there is one difference in the Williams and Imus cases ... Williams' employers acted pretty quickly and on principle, whether you agree with it or noit. Imus' employers didn't seem inclined to make the move, it appeared, until the sponsors begin pulling out.

I would say there is one difference in the Williams and Imus cases ... Williams' employers acted pretty quickly and on principle, whether you agree with it or noit. Imus' employers didn't seem inclined to make the move, it appeared, until the sponsors begin pulling out.

 

Which is hypocritical given what they (liberals) supposedly stand for, is it not?

Which is hypocritical given what they (liberals) supposedly stand for, is it not?

 

Key word: supposedly.

 

They project like they do, but like Goldberg said, its only if you agree with them.

Andrew Sullivans comments are ludicrous.

 

I wonder if a black guy would feel the same way if he were walking near Over the Rhine and he comes across a big white guy or a white guy comes across a big black guy dressed in "classic thug get-up" when no one else is around. I know I would think the worst.

 

Is that bigotry to say either of them were worried?

 

No, its called being human.

Is being nervous now bigotry? Any cultural diversity training I've ever had starts out talking about we are predisposed to notice differences from ourselves and to be nervous about those differences.