NPR fires Juan WIlliams over Muslim comments- Page 2

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 1:56pm

John Fugelsang is selling "Rehire Juan Williams!" t-shirts to the same tea partiers who bought "Fire Helen Thomas!" t-shirts. I hope Roxy got his.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 2:04pm

"If I see an angry-looking young Muslim man nervously looking around and carrying a black case . . ."

I don't run into those all that often.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 2:23pm

Yeah, me neither. But I do fly several times a year, domestic and international. I'm usually more focused on scanning the passengers for high-decibel children and infants.

[Yawper]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 6:54pm

Hey Juan:

"flying in 'Muslim garb'" = "driving when black"?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:15pm

NPR is really taking it on the chin from all sides

Is is coincidence that George Soros recently gave them over a million bucks? I remember years back when the Rev Jesse Jackson made a racially charged comment about who he hoped was not behind him on a dark street & he got a pass on it. Imagine if O Reilly had said it.

Selective indignation rears its ugly head again. Williams was not your normal run of the mill "right wing nutjob" but that did not stop the thought & speech police from attacking him. Looks like he landed on his feet after the smoke clears

Updated On: 10/22/10 at 08:15 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:21pm

Roxy, your indignation is ALWAYS selective, who exactly do you think you're kidding?

And please remind of us who it was Jackson was afraid of?

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:30pm

Imagine if O'Reilly said it ...

"Summary: Discussing his recent dinner with Rev. Al Sharpton at the Harlem restaurant Sylvia's, Bill O'Reilly reported that he "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship." O'Reilly added: "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.'"
My MF Iced Tea

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:34pm

Roxy's point was NPR is "taking it on the chin from all sides".

Unfortunately, his other point was that "selective indignation rears its ugly head again". Which contradicts his first point.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:38pm

Boo ******* Hoo NAMO

My heart bleeds for you

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:41pm

Have you had a brain scan lately Roxy because you're making even less sense than usual?

I have heard PLENTY of people criticizing the Williams firing. As you said, "from all sides." So where do you get the selective indignation thing? Did you also think Helen Thomas should have been fired? I'm having a hard time remembering you saying she shouldn't have been.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:46pm

Situational outrage is so damn convenient.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:49pm

I would never have accused Roxy of being a bleeding heart. To think his heart bleeds for me.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/22/10 at 8:56pm

Can you imagine the outcry from Fox News et al if he had been on MSNBC and said "every time I see a teabagger, I want to make sure that there isn't a noose with my name on it?" A horrible statement that generalizes an entire group for the beliefs of a few of its members.

The same folks defending him would have demanded his immediate termination from NPR.

While NPR handled this poorly, the truth is that Williams has been defying the terms of his employment contract for years, and after repeatedly being warned, NPR finally said "enough."

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 8:47am

The problem with television news today is that it's full of talking heads who do nothing but spout their opinions. And it isn't just fox...it's CNN, MSNBC, and even the network news to some extent. It's sensationalism. The news gets lost. And all it does is whip up the extremists on the Right AND Left. It's gotten to the point that the only tv news I can watch is BBC America. Much like our current batch of politicians (again, I mean on both sides of the isle) our media is failing us.
So yes. I absolutely agree that Juan Williams should have been fired. Just like I agree that last week NPR banned it's employees from attending the John Stewart/Steven Colbert rally next weekend. News doesn't have an opinion and it isn't partison.
And I'm guessing that Mr. Williams knew exactly what he was doing. NPR had warned him more than once, he knew the attention it would get and the hate it would stir up, and he knew he would get A LOT more money at Fox.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 8:48am

And Roxy, I'm anxiously awaiting your answer to Namo's question about Helen Thomas!

[canmark]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 10:11am

I don't know that Juan Williams should have been fired on the spot for this, unless there were other previous offences. But what I'm interested in is peoples reactions to the issue that, because a small group of Muslim extremists from other countries caused 9/11 that one should be afraid of all Muslim-looking people in the United States.

For example, there was a time when people were afraid of Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians. This was justified by the fact that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and was now an enemy in WWII. So all the Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians were rounded up and put in Internment camps. This happened to my own parents, who were children at the time and were born in Canada. In fact, my mother's parents were born in Canada, too. The fact that these people were Americans and Canadians did not matter.

And I would ask, is the irrational fear of Muslims (or Muslim-looking people) any different than the fear of people of Japanese (or Asian) descent---which now seems outrageous. Are we repeating history?

There was a time when some people were afraid black people. Then they were afraid of Asians. Now they're afraid of Muslim-looking people. Is it sheer racism or is there some rational justification for it? One would think that a veteran journalist like Juan Williams would be able to distinguish.

Updated On: 10/23/10 at 10:11 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 1:39pm

NAMO who.

He has been a thorn in my side for to long. Many times he just looks like he got up that day just to come after me. If this is his life I am sorry it is so vapid.

I do not answer anyone who calls me a douchebag.

Does this answer your question? If you ask it, I will answer. I do not read his posts & just put in anything at the spur of the moment as an answer. I have no interest at all in what he says.

I tried many times to offer an olive branch & only got more **** hurled at me . No thanks.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 1:59pm

Just support the arguments you make in your first post here. Whenever you can't do that (which is usually) you change the subject to personality clashes. That stopped fooling people a long time ago.

Were you up in arms when Helen Thomas was fired or is your indignation selective?

[Yawper]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 7:52pm

"Now they're afraid of Muslim-looking people. Is it sheer racism or is there some rational justification for it?"

And what, exactly, do "Muslim-looking" people look like?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/23/10 at 10:15pm

I do not answer anyone who calls me a douchebag.

I think I'm going to make that my mantra.

[metaphorical]

Posted: 10/24/10 at 10:22am

Except, JohnBoy, that she never wished Helms would get AIDS. Even in the remarkably selective editing of the 18-second clip that's all over the web, she doesn't say that. She says it only in the minds of extremist bloggers and talk radio demagogues and the millions of people who blindly believe their misquotes, misrepresentations, and outright lies. Please don't be one of them.

[canmark]

Posted: 10/24/10 at 12:07pm

>>> "Now they're afraid of Muslim-looking people. Is it sheer racism or is there some rational justification for it?"

>>> And what, exactly, do "Muslim-looking" people look like?

Beats me. But Juan Williams says, "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."

[javero]

Posted: 10/24/10 at 2:57pm

"Selective indignation rears its ugly head again."

I agree and would add that memories fade quickly. I'm somewhat familiar with Mr. Williams as he's a semi-celebrity inside the Capital Beltway Bubble for several reasons. First, he has a thorny relationship with female colleagues dating back at least a decade. He's a former print media guy. WaPo took disciplinary action against him years ago in light of its findings in an investigation into complaints of sexual harassment filed against the dude by several female staffers in the newsroom.

It's also noteworthy that Juanito came out in defense of SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas by constantly disparaging Thomas' accuser of sexual harassment Anita Hill in print during his confirmation hearings. The most recent row with his former boss over at NPR is the latest in a string of tussles he's had with female colleagues.

I'd argue that Williams has played one side against the other for years while doing double duty at NPR & Fox News. I also see him for what he is, a charlatan who inked a Faustian deal with Fox for a quick payout ala Sarah Palin & Mike Huckabee. Apparently, he learned from the best. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if Fox churned out a press release announcing the development of a new show for the late-evening lineup called Hannity & Williams. He'd be far more entertaining than Alan Colmes and we all know that Fox News is in the "entertainment business".

Finally, as the son of a Puerto Rican and African American, Juan's remarks were careless and insensitive but calculated. He went for the greatest shock value that could catapult his azz over to Fox permanently. Everybody over there's suffering from a not-so-mild case of Beck-envy.

As folks in the hood say, "it's all about the muthafriggin' Benjamins!" Both major national political parties are full of sell-outs. Add Juan Williams to the rogues gallery.

Updated On: 10/24/10 at 02:57 PM