In His Own Words: Juan Williams Responds to His Firing
October 21, 2010
Read Juan Williams’ response to his sudden sacking by NPR. Sure, he comes across a little self-serving — but also reasonable, principled and moderate. We don’t have to worry about him, by the way: he just signed a three-year, $2 million contract with Fox News.
I find it chilling that NPR has no tolerance for anyone who goes “off the reservation” — even by a foot or two — on hot-button topics. This is NOT liberalism; in fact, it’s uncomfortably reminiscent of authoritarian thought-control. Come the revolution, you can bet these PC police would be manning the Ministry of Culture.
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THE NEW MODERATE 
Looking up the defintion of bigoted on dictionary.com and you will find, “utterly intolerant of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own”
I’m thinking that NPR needs to practice what it preaches, or it will be construed as biased and intolerant. With the firing of Juan Williams, they have shown their true colors.
Carla: Good insight. Your comment raises the issue of whether today’s “progressives” are in fact liberals at all. A liberal, by definition, is open-minded and tolerant (and not just tolerant of opinions they happen to agree with).
Too many of today’s left-leaning types (even the near-left, like NPR and its listeners) seem to regard those who don’t subscribe to their views as somehow unorthodox or “unclean.” It’s almost a religious response, like an accusation of heresy.
My late sister in law, a diehard progressive community organizer (and somebody I liked), apparently never forgave my wife for marrying “outside the faith.” Similarly, NPR couldn’t forgive Juan Williams for being a little too chummy with the folks at Fox News… even though he was usually there to engage them in friendly debates.
It’s not just NPR — the whole liberal/progressive culture seems to be bound by a kind of upper middle class disdain for white working stiffs and their problems. Hence their extreme animosity toward Fox. Yes, Fox distorts the news to fit its agenda, but in some ways the NPR demographic is even more insular and intolerant.
In the last 3 months, I see about every day, a woman in black garb who’s walking a group of kids to school. The woman is obviously Muslim, the kids are not Caucasian type. I’ve lived my half of life in Europe and half in the US and I am a little bit uneasy about this daily view. I envisioned a society where people keep their cultural traits and show them occasionally and in the society they would behave as the mainstream culture.
I, like Juan, feel uneasy when constantly a cultural-religious trait is paraded everyday in public. I have folkloric-religious costume from Romania, but I’d be looking ridiculous to wear them unless there is an holiday.
It is not about Left or Right politics, it is just common sense.
I was pleased as punch that yesterday, my girlfriend, who’s a pretty hardcore lefty (though obviously not as hardcore as I thought) brought up Williams. She expressed that the firing was “absolutely ridiculous. One little comment taken out of context! What’s with these NPR people? Who are they, anyway? Admitting that seeing fully and ostentatiously garbed Muslims on a plane flight makes you nervous does not make you a bigot! Especially when you very next comment assures that you don’t think that of all Muslims!”
Sometimes people are FORCED out of their ideology.
greyfoot: Nice to know we’ve made a convert. The folks at NPR are stumbling over themselves to explain their actions. The latest is that they were justified in firing Juan Williams (they had warned him numerous times about going “off the reservation” on Fox News), but that they mishandled the firing. Serious understatement, especially since most NPR stations were in the midst of their annual fundraising drives!
The bottom line is that liberals, who are so adamant about “diversity” when it comes to race, gender or sexual orientation, seem to be strongly opposed to diversity of opinion. If the Juan Williams incident forces them to examine this paradox, we’ll all come out ahead.
Rick, NPR did what they preach. Intolerance for everything except their own views. It is hardcore ideology. At the same time, the “progressives” say that they are for the “people”. The first thing is that all people live differently, some act differently, and most think differently on different levels.
So for NPR to follow a single, one-way thought process is illogical. They cater to the “progressives” that can’t have their own political party, but are included in the Democratic Party because it leans toward social control thru anti-god manifestation.
Ok, Socialism and Communism! The progressive movement has “hi-jacked” the liberal Democratic Party.
This started many years ago and is now coming to bear full fruit. The liberal’s are just “tag-a-long” compatriots. If diversity is the main core of liberals, then they would be providing it on NPR and every other place. The progressive movement has the “driver’s seat” and the liberals are the passengers in the right front seat. Now that liberals are being squeezed out (get out of the car) of NPR and other places in politics. I will suspect the “progressives” will speed up their “car” to get to the finish line in order to “change” America.
Kent: NPR isn’t exactly a bastion of raving leftists. What I find so insidious about NPR is that its political views are presented in such a low-key manner. With Fox you know exactly what you’re getting: everyone is highly opinionated and unabashedly conservative; you can take it or leave it. NPR is sneakier: there’s little overt political opinion — just the assumption that all the well-educated, upwardly mobile urbanites in their audience are in step with the program. Among that demographic, NPR is a kind of shibboleth: if you work for it or listen to it, you’re one of “us.” If you work for NPR and talk freely on non-sanctioned media outlets, you’re no longer one of “us.” It’s simply understood that you must agree with the NPR mindset. That’s what creeps me out.