National Public Radio sounds like something out of the Soviet Union. I often wonder why in a country with thousands of radio channels that we can access for free, why we even have a National Public Radio-which we have to support with our taxes. It would be one thing if this outfit tried to be scrupulously even-handed, but they don't. They are liberally-biased-witness their 1.8 million contribution from George Soros. Yet liberals would rather blast Fox News as being biased as they cheerfully allow their tax dollars to support a channel that few listen to. In other words, this is a channel that is boring, biased and unable to compete in the free market. The only people who listen to NPR are liberals who enjoy side stories about butterflies in Michoacan.
So now, this quasi-governmental entity has fired commentator Juan Williams for violating the rules of political correctness. It has been an open secret that the suits at NPR were not happy with Juan for appearing on Fox News. Now that Juan has admitted (on the Bill O'Reilly show) that he gets nervous when Muslims get on a plane with him, the straw has broken the camel's back.
Fired!
Fired for speaking the truth. Sorry, folks. Millions of people do get nervous when they see Muslims getting on their plane. Do you wonder why?
Of course, there are certain things that one cannot say. In Europe, you risk getting arrested just for mentioning the word "Muslim". It's not so bad in the US-yet. Here you just fired if you admit the obvious.
Oh how I yearn for the days when even Jesse Jackson could say he felt relieved when he saw a group of males approaching him at night and then saw they were white.
Of course, Williams' sin is that he has drifted from the left more to the center. He appears on Fox News-and often agrees with more conservative commentators. Now that he has made what is a truthful statement, NPR has acted swiftly. Off with his head.
Hopefully, this disgraceful episode will lead to an open discussion on why we have to support this outfit.
So who will replace Juan Williams at NPR? Surely, there must be plenty of politically correct commentators out there looking for work........
like Rick Sanchez.
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11 comments:
Boy, you must have been really upset when the PC police came for Helen Thomas and Rick Sanchez to give them the boot! Wait a second...
Juan Williams was the only black male commentator at NPR. Most are white females. So much for diversity.
This subject has been beaten to death at Alexandria, Crossroads of Civilization.
http://aleksandreia.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/all-things-considered-well-maybe-not-all-things/
Just for the record, he was not fired for telling the truth, he was fired for offering an anecdotal opinion, or psychoanalysis of himself. It was a stupid move on NPR's part, and a bargain on Fox's part that they will probably regret, if Williams is as free spirited as he sounds.
On the other hand, I don't listen to either NPR or Fox very much, and since NPR raises most of its money itself, and only a minority from taxpayer-funded grants, the grounds for expecting it to adhere to a higher standard are vastly shrunken.
I suspect that the intense liberal bias comes from having to raise its own funding, appealing to a base of people willing to send donations to support a radio network. In the bad old days, when NPR relied primarily on taxpayer money, any congress member who found its coverage unbalanced could threaten to hold up an appropriation. Now, that just isn't a significant part of the NPR budget. So, they cater to their base, like any institution does.
When I was a child, Wisconsin had a very good state FM radio network, which included a weather round-up from every station in the morning, a few musical programs (classical and folk - commercial stations didn't carry either), some good news programs, story hours for both children and adults, and some good interviews. I think they carried William F. Buckley Jr's Firing Line. I could time when I had to get out of bed and when I had to be out the door to get to school on time by the first hour of programming.
And who were the PC police, anonymous,
The White House and CNN?
Siarlys,
It all boils down to why should we have to pay any tax to support a radio station that would never survive on its own?
I could cheerfully answer your first question Gary, not at all, but the rest of your sentence is simply false. They could survive very well on their own. They have been mostly forced to do so already.
Again, if they depending MOSTLY on taxpayer funding, the management would have LESS of a free hand, be subject to MORE legislative oversight, and might have more balanced programming. Instead, they were forced into relying mostly on free enterprise, and can do as they please, like any other private employer.
It is of no consequence that most of NPR's funding is not from the taxpayer. None of it should be.
It is of consequence -- it gives whatever Republican congressman you write to considerably LESS leverage to try to change what NPR does. You can thank Ronald Reagan for that.
Siarlys,
Let's say that NPR gets no funding. Then they do whatever they want and say whatever they say. It would be their right of free speech. I do not advocate that MSNBC be silenced (as many do with Fox).
Then let's try this Gary: instead of complaining that NPR fired Juan Williams, complain that NPR is still getting a teeny weensy bit of our tax dollars.
If you want a say in their hiring and firing decisions, you should be advocating that they get MORE tax dollars.
I don't listen to NPR, and I don't donate to NPR.
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