I don't think NPR quite realized the shit storm it was going to kick up by firing Juan Williams. And as if the knee jerk PC pink slip wasn't bad enough, the CEO of NPR followed it up with this
NPR has never succeeded in pretending to be even a remotely balanced or non-partisan organization, so I'm not nearly as shocked or outraged over this move as a lot of people seem to be. They've apparently been itching to purge their ranks of the renegade Williams ever since he started moonlighting at Fox News. But as one of the few token minorities to be found in NPR's visible ranks, they may have figured it wasn't worth more of this sort of bad PR. Until now.
Juan has a bright future at Fox, where his balancing point of view is actually welcome (even if sometimes belittled). Fox News' gain, NPR's loss. I tend to watch Fox News a lot more than I listen to NPR, so even though I think he's a bit loopy at times, I look forward to seeing more of him.
Since some are trying to spread confusion on this point, I want to point out that Juan's comments were clearly intended to be a confession of his own natural fears and concerns, which happen to be shared by many Americans, whether they like it or not. He wasn't suggesting that Muslims should "go home" or that they've taken over the media. If you think there's any comparison between Juan's remarks and those of Helen Thomas or Rick Sanchez, I suggest you watch the whole segment, and listen to them in context.
Finally, there's a lot of hype out there about defunding NPR. It's an old saw without a lot of teeth. But even if it did manage to gain some traction, never fear. NPR can always turn to Soros. In fact, it seems they've already done that.
His feelings that he expressed on Fox News are really between him and his, you know, psychiatrist or his publicist or take your pick ...She has since apologized, publicly (but so far not personally to Juan).
NPR has never succeeded in pretending to be even a remotely balanced or non-partisan organization, so I'm not nearly as shocked or outraged over this move as a lot of people seem to be. They've apparently been itching to purge their ranks of the renegade Williams ever since he started moonlighting at Fox News. But as one of the few token minorities to be found in NPR's visible ranks, they may have figured it wasn't worth more of this sort of bad PR. Until now.
Juan has a bright future at Fox, where his balancing point of view is actually welcome (even if sometimes belittled). Fox News' gain, NPR's loss. I tend to watch Fox News a lot more than I listen to NPR, so even though I think he's a bit loopy at times, I look forward to seeing more of him.
Since some are trying to spread confusion on this point, I want to point out that Juan's comments were clearly intended to be a confession of his own natural fears and concerns, which happen to be shared by many Americans, whether they like it or not. He wasn't suggesting that Muslims should "go home" or that they've taken over the media. If you think there's any comparison between Juan's remarks and those of Helen Thomas or Rick Sanchez, I suggest you watch the whole segment, and listen to them in context.
Finally, there's a lot of hype out there about defunding NPR. It's an old saw without a lot of teeth. But even if it did manage to gain some traction, never fear. NPR can always turn to Soros. In fact, it seems they've already done that.
