NPR Sacks Juan Williams for "I get worried when I see Muslims on a plane" remarks on Fox

[Amerigo Vespucci]

NPR announced late on Wednesday night that it has terminated the contract of longtime analyst Juan Williams over his comments on Fox News that, when he is on a plane with Muslims, "I get nervous."

NPR's media reporter David Folkenflik broke the news on Twitter.

Williams' comments came during a discussion with Bill O'Reilly on Monday's "O'Reilly Factor." O'Reilly asked Williams if he had been in the wrong during his now-infamous appearance on "The View" last week. (There, O'Reilly's statement that "Muslims killed us on 9/11" caused Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set in anger.)

Williams replied that he thought O'Reilly had, in fact, been right. He continued:

"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."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/21/juan-williams-fired-npr_n_770901.html

[condoleeza]

1. "I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot."

Pretty much has looked like a bigot to me since Obama was running for President, so this isn't a huge surprise. Oh, Juan, I used to like you before then.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Why Do I Have A Feeling This Is Going To Be The Topic Du Jour For The Next Week And One Half?

Why do I have the feeling this is going to be the topic du jour for the next week and one half and drown out everything between now and election day.

[Supersedeas]

3. all they need now is another one of those perfectly time OBL Tape Releases

[political_Dem]

4. It seems that being a sycophant has caught up to him.

Being on FAUX is beginning to be the kiss of death. It needs to happen more often.

[druidity33]

5. Good! K&R, nt.

[The Straight Story]

6. Now if he had said a catholic priest around my kid makes me nervous, he would be a hero here

:evilgrin:

[ProgressiveMuslim]

7. Would it be acceptable for an NPR report to say: I feel nervous when I see a black man walking down

the street?

Of course not. It would be unacceptable on every level.

[The Straight Story]

8. Race is not a choice, religion is

And if people think what was said was so horrible, then they probably have not read DU much and seen the things said about religious folks. At least they should be consistent.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. Yep...race, gender, sexuality are taboo subjects, but religion is fair game...

...and you're right. Anyone who doesn't get that "probably has not read DU much."

That's DU, and like Skinner says in the rules, "If you don't like it, you're free to leave." Some days I don't, and on those days I leave for a while, because bigotry is bigotry, no matter what box it's contained in.

:patriot:

[ProgressiveMuslim]

11. Bull crap.

It's not about what religion one chooses to practice. It's bigotry based on how people look.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. Bull crap right back at you.

It would help if you read the post I responded to.

There is a greater tolerance for bashing religion on DU than "inappropriate" comments about race, gender, or sexuality. That's what I got from The Straight Story's post, that's what I responded to, so where you're getting "bull crap" from I don't know, unless you just didn't read what was being said and went into attack mode, which wouldn't surprise me at all.

Great behavior for someone who flaunts "progressive" in his / her screen name.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

16. I meant bull crap to the notion of Juan's bigotry being based on a "choice."

My comment was misplaced. Sorry!

[Toots]

22. Why shouldn't religion be fair game?

Why not put the Republican Party off limits as well? When people use religion to hurt others then they need to be called on it..I have NEVER heard even once that the 9-11 attackers ever mentioned religion even once..Religion was not their gripe against America. They did not attack any religious site. They attacked world commerce..They attacked those they felt were stealing their resources not their soul..

[Cirque du So-What]

15. Not at FAUX

It would not surprise me in the least to hear a FAUX 'reporter' spout such a thing. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me to hear Juan Williams say it, for that matter.

[blindpig]

9. Good, but NPR still sucks.

It is ruling class propaganda of a more subtle and refined kind, no friend of the people or earth.

[Fly by night]

12. That's a start. Next they should get rid of Cokie Roberts and ...

... the gaggle of giggling bubble-heads that have turned NPR's "Morning Edition" into a cross between Teen Beat and Entertainment Tonight.

While they're at it, they can get rid of the Senior VP who ordered NPR reporters to stay away from Jon Stewart's upcoming rally.

Maybe then I'll start contributing to them again (whenever I get a job).

[Tesha]

13. This is what it took??!?!?!?

He's been making me sick for 10 years!

I fondly recall a truly orgasmic moment talking about Saint Ronny.
I swear, the needed a wipe after his full 2 minutes of gushing!

Now I just have to put up with long conversations with the right and
a few quotes from the left as their idea of balanced.

[pintobean]

17. NPR is defining their version of free speech.

[DefenseLawyer]

21. Free speech?

Why is it that every time some jerkoff gets fired for saying something stupid, someone always trots out the tired and utterly misplaced analysis of the "free speech rights" of the jerkoff in question? Every time. For the ten thousandth time, the First Amendment prohibits the government from infringing upon one's right to speak freely, it does not protect one from getting fired for being an idiot.

[COLGATE4]

25. Thanks for pointing that out. (But don't expect that it'll make

much difference - people are immune to the legal scope of the First Amendment. They like to believe that whenever anybody challenges anything that they have said, it's perforce 'violating their Freedom of Speech' (see Dr. Laura).

[pintobean]

29. OMG. Do you really think

I was making a constitutional argument? There is a concept of free speech that goes well beyond what the Constitution refers to as "Freedom Of Speech". People and institutions define what is tolerable and intolerable to them. My statement is simply a fact, without opinion. If you don't like my wording, too bad.

[DefenseLawyer]

31. You are free to not know what you are talking about

It's a free country, so to speak.

[pintobean]

34. What a lame response.

Your user name would indicate that you should be capable of much better.

Thank goodness for anonymity?

[PVnRT]

23. Free speech does not mean you are immune from consequences

NPR did not try to censor what he says. He's still free to say whatever he wants. Free speech does not mean you can say whatever you want and just expect everyone to shut up about it and do nothing.

[Brewman_Jax]

18. Took long enough

now FALSE NEWS can hire him full-time. He's been posing for them for years, now they can make it official.

[Statistical]

19. Usually any sentence that begins with I am not a bigot/racist/sexist/homophobe etc....

end with the person proving the opposite.

It is pretty damn accurate predictor.

[mrs_p]

20. well. it's a start.

[kcks]

24. So much

for free speech he was not NPR time and stated his view.

[Ikonoklast]

30. Go piss off your employer, publicly, on your day off.

Give him the 'free speech' excuse, I'm certain he won't fire you.

[gulliver]

26. Offensive stereotyping yes, but it is free speech.

Williams should have been fired for insipid commentary long ago. But I hate to see him fired for these comments. I think it will discredit NPR in the eyes of the poor sorts of folks who watch Fox "News." That is a shame, because Fox "News" info-crack addicts need NPR more than most. (NPR is absolutely excellent. Half an hour spent listening to it pulls an hour of Fox "News" insanity-inducing contaminants out of your bloodstream.)

Out of respect for the Constitution, obnoxious speech should be given wide latitude, not just by the government but by the citizens. Firing Williams doesn't make the stereotype go away. NPR should have given him a chance to explain himself and possibly apologize. It was a stupid thing to say, and an apology admitting that would have helped defuse the stereotype. Making Williams a political correctness martyr reinforces the tension.

I think Behar and Goldberg walking out on O'Reilly was fine, if ineffective. I wish Behar had said, "Bill, when I'm over at Fox News I don't look over my shoulder worrying that they will all try molest me with a loofah."

[spanone]

27. faux loves conservative black people

[athenasatanjesus]

28. Yet the pretend this guy is a liberal. nt

[BrklynLiberal]

32. Best news I have heard in a long time....

Personally, I am thrilled that NPR dumped that asshole Williams. Almost restores my faith in NPR.
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[SoCalDem]

33. Apparently, people are more comfy saying what they really think now.

of course if it's televised or recorded, they get fired.. Juan. Helen, Rick, and others have learned their lessons the hard way.

It must be the world we live in. People see nothing wrong anymore about just letting it all hang out...without any thought of the repercussions.

there are rules for public discourse, and these people knew the rules..they chose to break them..