Should we "defund" NPR?

[Geoff_M]

Firing him was completely appropriate. If I had gone on Fox News and said teh same thing, I would expect my employer to take the same action against me as my making these statements would reflect poorly upon them.

The fact that they have specific policies regarding this issue that he chose to ignore just makes the process simpler.

So, if Williams had instead said something along the lines of that when he walks through the crowds at certain currently popular political rallies he feels racial hostilities directed at him by attendees with signs, do you think that NPR still would have canned him? If not, what's the difference?

 

[DawnCt1]

Thank you! I bookmarked it to keep up with how my shows are doing.

What a HUGE disparity in the numbers. And that includes all those people trapped in airports too!

 

[DawnCt1]

Many people aren't angry...just the right wing noise machine. More people are upset that they can't see television programming because of the Cablevision/Newscorp dispute than this.

Why would the "right wing noise machine" defend a consistently liberal commentator?

 

[OceanAnnie]

Homeland Security also focuses on threats from North Korea, Russia, the IRA, Iran, Iraq, Italy, the PLO among many others. There is no question that Americans should take all threats seriously, particularly from radical Islam sources that have proved that they want to kill Americans (among others). However, that still does not change the thought that fear of an entire group of people, an enormous percentage which have never expressed any animosity towards America, and in fact which numbers many American Muslims, is bigotry. And a news commentator expressing that bigotry is certainly worthy of discussion. The fact remains, that Juan Williams violated his contract with NPR. Had he done it before without being fired? Yes. Have others done it as well? Absolutely. Doesn't change the fact that he did it.

Those other countries are indeed investigated.

The extreme terrorists pose a deep complexity. The attack on our soil was frightening. Our country has changed because of that day. The terrorist group has waged an ongoing threat. Added to this threat is those extremists blend into our society and walk amongst us.

For some reason you and others want the "fear" to be about all Muslims. That isn't the case. The fear is of the extremists. The unfortunate fact is it's hard to know who the terrorists are, and they use this to their favor.

Why would anyone's anxiety over this be questioned?

 

[robinb]

Why would the "right wing noise machine" defend a consistently liberal commentator?

Oh Dawn! Thanks for the laugh . Fox News does not pay liberals $2 Million dollars.

 

[bonnaroomama]

I don't know about you all, but here in Oklahoma, we remember vividly that terrorists also have white skin, including the biggest act of terrorism on US soil until the World Trade Centers. What short memories everyone has. You live here, you won't forget it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

 

[DawnCt1]

Oh Dawn! Thanks for the laugh . Fox News does not pay liberals $2 Million dollars.

How would you describe Juan Williams? He is absolutely liberal.That is his new salary, offered to him by Roger Ailes since his NPR firing.

 

[MissFitt]

Why would the "right wing noise machine" defend a consistently liberal commentator?

Takes the news cycle focus off of Ginni Thomas calling Anita Hill and reminding everyone of Clarance Thomas' sexual haraasment of Hill and also takes the focus off the Chamber of Commerce/Koch brothers funding of political ads...

 

[robinb]

How would you describe Juan Williams? He is absolutely liberal.That is his new salary, offered to him by Roger Ailes since his NPR firing.

No, I do not describe Juan as "Liberal". I listed to him when he hosted "Talk of the Nation" 10+ years ago and he has become more and more Conservative as the years go by.

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't know about you all, but here in Oklahoma, we remember vividly that terrorists also have white skin, including the biggest act of terrorism on US soil until the World Trade Centers. What short memories everyone has. You live here, you won't forget it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

We remember that one but also the countless ones that have occurred here on our soil and abroad or the failed ones that have been attempted since then. The Ft. Hood hearing took place this week. Fortunately there hasn't been another one from a similar demographic you referred to in 15 years.

 

[cm8]

Very well said. While they are exempt from providing first amendment protections, they may have violated his contractual rights. If he wasn't allow to participate in opinions and punditry on other networks, as soon as they tolerated it, which has been at least for several years, they waived the right to fire him on those grounds. Secondly, they tolerate Maura Liasson's appearances on Fox. Nina Totenberg's commentary as well as Cokie Robert's over the years.
Worse yet, was the CEO, Vivian Schiller's suggestion that he should keep it between himself and his "psychiatrist". How slanderous.

 

[LiberalPrincess]

Those other countries are indeed investigated.

The extreme terrorists pose a deep complexity. The attack on our soil was frightening. Our country has changed because of that day. The terrorist group has waged an ongoing threat. Added to this threat is those extremists blend into our society and walk amongst us.

For some reason you and others want the "fear" to be about all Muslims. That isn't the case. The fear is of the extremists. The unfortunate fact is it's hard to know who the terrorists are, and they use this to their favor.

Why would anyone's anxiety over this be questioned?

I have not seen one person question the anxiety of terrorism or say that fear of extremists is not justified. But that still does not make it any less bigoted to fear an entire group of people because of the actions of a smaller faction. And when a news commentator expresses feelings of bigotry, regardless of his justification for that bigotry, I think discussion will follow.

And, in the case of Juan Williams, he already had past issues of crossing the line, in my opinion, when in his writings and tv appearances he defended and minimized the harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas while Williams was in the middle of his own sexual harassment allegations at the Washington Post for which he was reprimanded and for which he later issued a public apology. That seemed to be an occasion of his personal views crossing over into his work. Does his admitted fear of Muslims affect his ability to comment on news stories about Muslims? I can't answer that, but I think it is a reasonable question to ask.

In the end, he was not fired for his opinion, rather for violating his contract. Do I think he should have been fired? Probably not, but I certainly understand the rationale behind it.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I don't know about you all, but here in Oklahoma, we remember vividly that terrorists also have white skin, including the biggest act of terrorism on US soil until the World Trade Centers. What short memories everyone has. You live here, you won't forget it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

We don't live in Oklahoma, but we too remember that tragic and horrifying day. Not a Muslim in sight...

 

[No.17CherryTreeLane]

NPR is biased and intolerant should be "defunded". It makes me angry to know that my tax dollars support an organization that is so blatantly hypocritical.
The "psychiatrist" comment was NPR's clumsy attempt to play by the progressive rule book -- always marginalize and ridicule those with whom you disagree. Firing Juan Williams wasn't enough, they must also diminish him.
Nice work, NPR.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Well color me disgusting........

Me too

 

[DawnCt1]

We don't live in Oklahoma, but we too remember that tragic and horrifying day. Not a Muslim in sight...

Unfortunately you haven't been able to say that with regard to the terrorism plots carried out or thwarted in the last 15 years.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I have not seen one person question the anxiety of terrorism or say that fear of extremists is not justified. But that still does not make it any less bigoted to fear an entire group of people because of the actions of a smaller faction. And when a news commentator expresses feelings of bigotry, regardless of his justification for that bigotry, I think discussion will follow.

And, in the case of Juan Williams, he already had past issues of crossing the line, in my opinion, when in his writings and tv appearances he defended and minimized the harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas while Williams was in the middle of his own sexual harassment allegations at the Washington Post for which he was reprimanded and for which he later issued a public apology. That seemed to be an occasion of his personal views crossing over into his work. Does his admitted fear of Muslims affect his ability to comment on news stories about Muslims? I can't answer that, but I think it is a reasonable question to ask.

In the end, he was not fired for his opinion, rather for violating his contract. Do I think he should have been fired? Probably not, but I certainly understand the rationale behind it.

I'm glad we could have this discussion, after all. I like to learn about other people's view points.

The way I see it, it isn't fear of an entire group of people. It is more about fear of the (known and) unknown. As I stated, I think it's complex. This subset known as extremists hide within the whole and our society. It's hard to fight the extremists and it's hard to separate them from the whole, as once again they hide and blend in. Very complex.

I give fellow Americans the benefit of the doubt for their fear and anxiety. I don't think anyone thinks that all Muslims are out to get us. We just don't know which ones are! The threat is real. The feelings are real. There are many cells all over the world that are plotting our demise. We are fortunate that we haven't had another attack to date.

 

[LiberalPrincess]

Unfortunately you haven't been able to say that with regard to the terrorism plots carried out or thwarted in the last 15 years.

I will have to assume that you mean just in the United States. Because I think there are plenty of countries (Israel, Russia, India, etc.) that would disagree with your statement.

 

[We_Love_Disney]

I do not think there should be 'defunding'. I am not surprised by the knee-jerk reaction regarding it though.

I can understand why NPR, as an organization, was embarrassed by the statement of one of it's employees, but the termination I think was uncalled for. Any one statement can be taken out of context and well let's face it, turned upside-down and used against you. If people want to be offended, they will find a way to do so.

I do not think Juan Williams is a racist man, nor do I think that he was saying what he said to cause hatred towards a particular group of people.

When we start to filter everything we say so as to not offend someone, something, or another we lose a very basic right we have. We will sound like politicians that use a lot of words and say absolutely nothing. Oops, I may have offended a group of people there.

I don't expect to change people's mind about this, but I did want to add my thoughts.

Regarding the people which he was talking about. I will say, oh do I dare? Yes, That of the latest attempts against the USA in terms of terrorism, all of them have been affiliated with that particular group. Are all members of that group terrorists? No!, but, all the terrorists were from that group. I am frightened when I see people that are clearly identified with that group. Why shouldn't I be? Are we not on the lookout for terrorist cells? We had one happen a few months ago, not too far from my home, and yes it was from that group. At the same time, I am afraid when I happen to be in a city environment at night walking down unfamiliar streets and I see a group of young men hanging around. I don't care what color/ethnic group/religion or other variable you can think of.

Should I not be able to say that I have fear and hesitation regarding this? As of this date, I have yet to hear that the heads of these groups/congregations that they condemn what is being done and remove themselves completely from the fanatics. Until that happens, I will assume, as most of us do, that they are in agreement with it.

 

[EMom]

I haven't read the whole thread, so perhaps this has been addressed, but I have to roll my eyes every time I hear someone say we need to have "an honest discussion on race matters in this country."

Ummmm......No, we don't. Because the "honest" discussion only runs ONE way. If you are on the "wrong" side and say the "wrong" thing, you'll find yourself unemployed and possibly villified. We can only "honestly" discuss it if we say PC things. The Juan Williams matter just illustrates that.

He only said what most Americans probably feel on a gut level. I did not feel the same way when I saw Muslims on a plane the day BEFORE 9/11 as I would have the day AFTER 9/11 and for very good reason. He didn't say he became nervous when he saw Muslims anyplace, anytime. He mentioned it in the context of air travel, and considering the 9/11 attacks, the fear is understandable. We still retain basic instincts to protect ourselves. He was HONESTLY owning up to a less than PC feeling when he sees a group of Muslims on a plane. How can we address that fear if we won't even admit it out loud?

No, let's just all keep silent and pretend that none of us, ever, ever, ever would be the teeniest bit nervous if we saw a group of Muslims on the plane with us. Sorry, I have to call B.S. on that.