![](\"https:\/\/i4.photobucket.com\/albums\/y125\/TheAnchoress\/time-islamophobic-10-20-10.jpg\")
\n(Graphic via Ed Driscoll<\/a>, who has a good roundup<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n
I wonder if it was smart of NPR<\/strong> to\u201312 days out from an election where leftism is headed for a defeat of rejection<\/em>\u2014re-inforce the perception that both liberalism and the media are out of control<\/em><\/a>; that they have utterly cast off their former roles as champions of free speech<\/a> and free thought, in favor of compulsory conformity<\/a>.<\/p>\n On consideration, I (along with Andrew Malcolm<\/a>) say, no\u2026not smart<\/a>. Catastrophically not smart.<\/p>\n My first thought when I heard this was one that apparently several people had: it\u2019s a good thing for Jesse Jackson<\/a> that he does not work for NPR and that Nina Tottenberg will never be fired from there<\/a>. What wit!<\/p>\n My second thought was, that Williams<\/strong> (and I\u2019m no particular fan of his) was fired for betraying doubt and incertitude. He was admitting that regardless of how much we all<\/em> want to be fair about people, how we all<\/em> hope that we can look beyond superficials, we will all<\/em>, sometimes, harbor doubts about others, and about ourselves.<\/p>\n It seems like In America, we are no longer supposed to harbor doubts<\/em> about anything. We\u2019re either supposed to pretend that there is no reason<\/em> to ever, ever, ever worry that someone dressed in Islamic garb might want to hijack our plane into a building (for to believe otherwise would immediately render us \u201cbigots\u201d) or we\u2019re supposed to pretend that there is every reason to suspect everybody.<\/p>\n The truth\u2013as usual\u2013lies between those two false extremes<\/strong>. One might feel \u201cnoble\u201d by sneering at Williams\u2019 pronouncement in a pudding of self-righteousness, but to do so is as bigoted as Williams\u2019 pronouncement is incorrectly being labeled. It is saying \u201cI\u2019m<\/em> not one of those<\/em> people, who think every Muslim is a terrorist; I\u2019m one of the good people<\/em>, who only think ill of others when they have the bad taste to reveal their doubt<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Kind of like when someone is listening to NPR while driving their BMW, and discreetly making sure their doors are locked when they spy a homeless man moving too close to their car. That\u2019s revealing doubt<\/em>. And it\u2019s human. It may not be the best part of being human, but it is a common thing. Or it is common to people who are honest. There are a lot of people who would prefer to pretend they\u2019re \u2018way too evolved to think as Williams admits he does.<\/p>\n It comes down to prudence,<\/em><\/strong> which is\u2013or was, last I checked\u2013a Virtue. It is inarguably bigoted to see every muslim<\/em> as a terrorist, but I frankly don\u2019t think there are many people like that in America.<\/p>\n But it is prudent<\/em> to at least be aware of one\u2019s surroundings, and to make note of one\u2019s fellow-travelers, in all circumstances, whether one is on a plane, or going to the movies, or playing in the park with one\u2019s children. We are not meant to traipse through life like naive bumpkins, with our eyes paradoxically shut as we wander about wide-eyed saying \u201cgolly, I and my children are perfectly safe because the authorities are regulating and overseeing my air travel, my movie-going and our park safety and therefore I don\u2019t have to think about it!\u201d<\/p>\n Which is (oddly) precisely the sort of unsophisticated moo-speak and behavior that our \u201csophisticated\u201d betters want from us.<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, my husband and I were heading into Manhattan and we noticed an unmarked truck driving very, very slowly. I couldn\u2019t help wondering if there was something suspicious in that. Yes, it could have been a guy transporting something fragile, like a crystal chandelier, but it could also have been a guy transporting something fragile like explosives<\/em>. We are told by Homeland Security to \u201cbe aware\u201d but then are told by the media, \u201cbut don\u2019t be too aware<\/em>; specifically, don\u2019t express a doubt, or you\u2019ll be a social pariah.\u201d<\/p>\n How deeply are we supposed to sleep?<\/strong> When does an obsession with \u201cnot wanting to appear bigoted\u201d (which is what the cowardly nonsense of over-enforced PC-Speak<\/a> is all about) become dangerous to society as a whole?<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth remembering that just last year NPR made a \u201csuggestion\u201d to Mara Liasson that she end her association with FOX news<\/a>. I wonder how she\u2019s feeling right now.<\/p>\n Here is a round-up of the story and the internet coverage<\/strong>, which is huge, starting with Ed Morrissey who helpfully gives us Williams in full context<\/a>.<\/p>\n Williams discusses the firing<\/strong>, in this video<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rodney Ho lucked out<\/strong> and was able to ask NPR\u2019s CEO Vivian Schiller about the firing<\/a>:<\/p>\n Q: So did Juan really get fired over just those Muslim comments? [He said he was uncomfortable with Muslims dressed in traditional garb on airplanes during a Fox News telecast yesterday.]<\/p>\n A: There have been several instances over the last couple of years where we have felt Juan has stepped over the line. He famously said last year something about Michelle Obama and Stokely Carmichael. [The quote on Fox News last year: Obama \u201chas this Stokely-Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going\u201d and that she\u2019ll be an \u201calbatross\u201d for President Obama.]. This isn\u2019t a case of one strike and you\u2019re out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Schiller seems to have<\/strong> quite a lot to say<\/a>. None<\/em> of it wise. Matt Welch:<\/strong> A Clarifying Moment<\/a>:<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 firing is a clarifying moment in media mores. You can be Islamophobic, in the form of refusing to run the most innocuous imaginable political cartoons out of a broad-brush fear of Muslims, but you can\u2019t admit it, even when the fear is expressed as a personal feeling and not a group description, winnowed down to the very specific and nightmare-exhuming act of riding on an airplane, and uttered in a context of otherwise repudiating collective guilt and overbroad fearmongering. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Bill O\u2019 Reilly and Whoopi Goldberg agree:<\/strong> this firing is absurd<\/a><\/p>\n Mike Huckabee:<\/strong> Grabbing a moment to be politically expedient, he says \u201cdefund NPR\u201d<\/a>. Hey, between Mrs. Kroc\u2019s big bequest and George Soros\u2019 deep pockets, and seeing how they spend their wealth<\/a>\u2013and taking into account Vivian Schiller\u2019s assertion that tax-funding is \u201cnot significant\u201d to NPR, I do think my taxes can be better-spent elsewhere!<\/p>\n Seems they\u2019ve been<\/strong> gunning for Williams<\/a> for a while. Read it all.<\/p>\n Bernard Goldberg:<\/strong> The Death of Liberalism<\/a>; it\u2019s been in extremis<\/em> for a long time, unrecognizable from the liberalism of my youth.<\/p>\n The Atlantic<\/a>: fired for what, now?<\/p>\n Rich Lowry<\/a>: \u201cShameful\u201d<\/p>\n Malkin has<\/strong> reactions from the left<\/a>, and Ace is looking around the \u2018net\u2019s too<\/a><\/p>\n Instapundit:<\/strong> Lots here<\/a>, and on a related issue<\/a><\/p>\n Get Religion<\/a>: Expect a rash of Muslim-friendly news reports from NPR and elsewhere.<\/p>\n Happy Catholic<\/strong>\u2013who never<\/em> gets political!\u2013is appalled<\/a><\/p>\n Gateway Pundit:<\/strong> What will and won\u2019t get you fired<\/a> from NPR.<\/p>\n Gawker<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cWilliams, a black (sorta) conservative who has written some smart books but has also managed to be a desiccated, unimaginative hack analyst for public radio\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dan Riehl:<\/strong> Williams was fired because of what NPR is<\/a><\/p>\n Howard Kurtz:<\/strong> If he\u2019d said it on Charlie Rose, instead of on FOX<\/a>, Williams would probably still have his job.<\/p>\n Over <\/strong>4500 comments currently at NPR<\/a>. Most of them critical of the firing. NPR says traffic has overwhelmed the comments section<\/a> for now.<\/p>\n Dave Weigel<\/strong> defends Williams<\/a><\/p>\n Irish Spy<\/a>:<\/p>\n What this really shows is how narrow the limits are on free speech at that bastion of liberalism, National Public Radio. Express an opinion beyond the bounds of progressive, multicultural orthodoxy and you get punished. And it\u2019s another example of how the Left in general pays only lip service to intellectual freedom: you have the freedom to express any thought as long as it\u2019s on the approved list.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Real Clear Politics<\/a><\/p>\n The Lesson<\/a>:<\/p>\n Treat political and philosophical opponents with kindness. You never know when the opportunity might come about to offer them a hand up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Apparently Rush Limbaugh has said<\/strong> that Williams was fired because he\u2019d once defended Limbaugh on something<\/a>. Meanwhile the argument can be made that he was fired because of his affiliation<\/a> with Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n One thing is for sure:<\/strong> when you have people hoping that they get the bragging rights re causation for Williams\u2019 firing, you\u2019ve made a stupid move.<\/em><\/p>\n Check back for updates as I find more to link to!<\/p>\n UPDATE II: <\/strong> Sez Williams<\/a>:<\/p>\n \nWell, now that I no longer work for NPR let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought.<\/p>\n Daniel Schorr, my fellow NPR commentator who died earlier this year, used to talk about the initial shock of finding himself on President Nixon\u2019s enemies list. I can only imagine Dan\u2019s revulsion to realize that today NPR treats a journalist who has worked for them for ten years with less regard, less respect for the value of independence of thought and embrace of real debate across political lines, than Nixon ever displayed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n UPDATE:<\/strong> Melissa Clouthier<\/a>: I disagree, vehemently with Juan Williams on nearly everything [but] I don\u2019t want him to lose his job just because he says something that someone might deem offensive or disagree with. [\u2026] Unless someone is a vile hatemonger, a person should feel that he will keep his job even if it\u2019s outside some p.c. orthodoxy.<\/em><\/p>\n Sarah Palin<\/strong> (via Althouse<\/a>): \u2026 I don\u2019t expect Juan Williams to support me (he\u2019s said some tough things about me in the past) \u2013 but I will always support his right and the right of all Americans to speak honestly about the threats this country faces. And for Juan, speaking honestly about these issues isn\u2019t just his right, it\u2019s his job. Up until yesterday, he was doing that job at NPR. Firing him is their loss.<\/em><\/p>\n Brutally Honest<\/a>: that statement was enough for National Public Radio to end their relationship with the man who in large part and by nearly every measure is a liberal\u2026 amazing\u2026 this is what is called tolerance\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n AJ Strata<\/a>: \u2026how is it Juan Willliams can have his job taken from him for not only complying with the government request, but sharing his fears about the attack with others?<\/em><\/p>\n More Ed Driscoll<\/a><\/p>\n UPDATE II:<\/strong> (Graphic via Ed Driscoll, who has a good roundup) I wonder if it was smart of NPR to\u201312 days out from an election where leftism is headed for a defeat of rejection\u2014re-inforce the perception that both liberalism and the media are out of control; that they have utterly cast off their former roles as champions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,59,60,112,146,238,251,253],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-constitutional-stuff","category-critical-thinking","category-crooks-and-liars","category-free-speech","category-juan-williams","category-social-media","category-the-fourth-estate","category-the-perpetual-adolescents"],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nSchiller kind of makes me wonder<\/strong> if too many people aren\u2019t in powerful positions these days because of their skills in lockstepping, rather than because of their smarts. Allahpundit has more on this charmer.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWilliams lands on his feet<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nBlackfive<\/a>: Its. Not. Our. Fault.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPower Line<\/a>
\nAnn Althouse<\/a>
\nDaily Caller<\/a>
\nNoisy Room<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"