Juan Williams Fired by NPR--UPDATED

Truth is now the new "hate speech". Juan Williams, the liberal commentator for both NPR and Fox News, got himself canned last night for daring to make an honest statement about his anxiety when flying alongside individuals dressed in Muslim garb.

Well, duh! After 9/11, that is a natural reaction for anyone who is not suicidal. Williams just dared to vocalize his fears. In a politically correct world, that is obviously a "no-no".

I would love to see a poll taken asking Americans if they would feel anxious in a circumstance like Juan described. The results would be overwhelming similar to his. Even liberals value their lives, though they may not admit it.

Read from Joshua Pundit:

Juan Williams Fired From PBS For Voicing Concern About Muslims On Airplanes

"Juan Williams is a predictably Leftist commentator who appears on FOX regularly, because they really do try to be fair and balanced. But he's also not insane. And not being insane and being reasonably honest, he had something very sensible to say on Bill O'Reilly's FOX show, when O'Reilly was talking about his surreal experience as a guest on The View, where hosts Whoop Whoop Goldberg and Joy Behar walked out on him when O'Reilly was so horrible as to say that Muslims were behind 9/11 :



'Well, actually, I hate to say this to you because I don’t want to get your ego going. But I think you’re right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.

I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. 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.'


For that, NPR fired him. But at least they were honest enough to admit that dhimmitude was only part of the reason (emphasis mine):


'Late Wednesday night, NPR issued a statement praising Williams as a valuable contributor but saying it had given him notice that it is severing his contract. "His remarks on The O'Reilly Factor this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR," the statement read.

Williams' presence on the largely conservative and often contentious prime-time talk shows of Fox News has long been a sore point with NPR News executives.'


NPR's news commentary is rife with reporters who openly insult Christians and America and whose remarks on Israel are often borderline anti-Semitic. As one example, remember that NPR affiliate employee Sarah Spitz at public radio station KCRW wished death on Rush Limbaugh..and wasn't even disciplined, let alone fired. But Muslims? Too many of the adherents of Religion of Peace are so committed to being peaceful that they will kill you to prove it.

So the sharia law concept of forbidding any criticism of Islam becomes reality as cowardly western institutions begin to fall quivering into line to comply and self-censor.

As for the 'anger' over the appearances of Williams on FOX by the überLeftist suits at NPR, that sort of speaks for itself too, doesn't it?

Not only cowardly, but intolerant and bigoted..towards the right sort of people, of course. Some animals are more equal than others as Orwell famously said."


Not surprisingly, the Left wants Mara Liasson's head too.

NPR is quick to defend Muslims, on our tax dollars I might add, but not so concerned about alienating Christians. Read from One News Now:

NPR axes commentator over Muslim-related comment

[...]

"A conservative media watchdog says NPR's firing of Williams demonstrates the ridiculous double-standard the taxpayer-funded network has when it comes to Islam. Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, points out that NPR did not fire commentator Andrei Codrescu for an anti-Christian commentary he wrote in 1995.


'He talked about the rapture and people who believed in the rapture and then said: "This happily volatilized mass of the saved were born again in Jesus Christ. The evaporation of four-million people who believe in this crap would leave the world an instantly better place."

'Guess what?' Graham continues. 'He's still there in 2010 -- 15 years later. [He] never got fired. And so bashing Christians is okay, but saying that Muslims make you uncomfortable is obviously a firing offense.'


Graham believes that NPR was upset with Williams because he appeared on Fox News, giving the network's 'fair and balanced' slogan credibility. In fact, the NPR report notes that Williams' association with Fox News -- which the public broadcaster describes as 'largely conservative' -- has 'long been a sore point' with NPR's executives."


Juan responds to his termination, via Human Events:

Visibly Shaken Juan Williams Responds to NPR Firing
By Emily Miller

"A visibly shaken and emotional Juan Williams responded to being summarily fired by National Public Radio (NPR) in an interview with Fox News.

Williams said that NPR’s Senior Vice President for News Ellen Weiss called his cell phone on Wednesday afternoon to fire him for saying that people dressed in Muslim garb create anxiety in airports in the post 9/11 era. Watch the video here:



A ten-year senior correspondent for NPR, Williams said Weiss asked him, 'What did you say? What did you mean to say?' referring to his recent appearance on Fox’s 'O’Reilly Factor.'

Williams refused to back-pedal from his comments. He said he told Weiss, 'I said what I meant to say.' He said that 'it’s an honest experience that, when I’m in an airport, and I see people who are in Muslim garb, who identify themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I do a double take. I have a moment of anxiety or fear given what happened on 9/11. That’s just a reality.'

He said that Weiss responded, 'Well, that crosses the line.'

'What line is that?' asked Williams. He said that she went on to 'suggest that I had made a bigoted statement.'

'It’s not a bigoted statement,' Williams told Weiss. 'In fact, in the course of this conversation with Bill O’Reilly, I said that we have, as Americans, an obligation to be careful to protect the constitutional rights of everyone in the country. And to make sure we don’t have any outbreak of bigotry.'

'But, that there’s a reality. You cannot ignore what happened on 9/11. And you cannot ignore the connection to Islamic radicalism. And you can’t ignore the fact of what has been recently said in court with regard to "this is the first drop of blood in a Muslim war on America."'

Williams was shocked by the abrupt and impersonal firing by NPR. He asked Weiss, 'I don’t even get the chance to come in and we do this eyeball to eyeball, person to person? Have a conversation?'

'I’ve been there for more than 10 years, and we don’t even have a chance to have a conversation about this?' Williams said he asked Weiss.

He said that she responded: 'There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind. This has been decided above me and we’re terminating your contract.'"


The leftist NPR CEO, Vivian Schiller, has apologized to Williams after early making this comment:

"Juan Williams should have kept his feelings about Muslims between himself and 'his psychiatrist or his publicist.'"


Boy, oh boy, for less than 1% of the American population, Muslims sure cause a great deal of uproar in this country.

UPDATED: Guess who's pulling the strings in the decision to fire Williams? George Soros, who hates Fox News, especially since Glenn Beck has recently been ruffling his feathers. Juan Williams must be punished for daring to work for Fox News. Money speaks, and Soros has purchased Williams's termination.

Defund NPR NOW!

BTW, I watched Fox News's Special Report this evening. They took a poll regarding Williams's statement, and 88% of those polled share his fears. 10% are sometimes fearful. That leaves 2% who don't share his fears.