NPR's Move to Fire Juan Williams Backfires

From Purple People Vote - This Week in Stupid News - The NPR Edition

National Public Radio fired Juan Williams for comments he made on Bill O'Reilly's show last night. Below is the video of the full interview.



I flew on a flight from New York to Boston a year or so after 9/11. The flight attendant asked a fellow on the flight where he was from, and he replied "Beruit." In that second, every person's head on that flight snapped around to take look at this man. He was an older man who appeared harmless, and after the passangers checked him out they all went back to what they were doing previously. We weren't a plane full of bigots. We were a plane full of wary travellers. Security personel were carrying machine guns; it took an hour or more to get through security; our government had told travelers and citizens alike to be 'vigilant' against terrorism. Passengers heard 'Beruit' and wanted to know if there was a potential risk.

It's unfortunate that numerous people of Muslim faith or background who have done nothing wrong are under increased scrutiny. However, there is a real reason they under the microscope. Terrorists have cited their Muslim faith as a reason for their violent actions. Juan Williams isn't randomly nervous around Muslims, or upset at the Muslim faith, he's nervous around Muslims identifying themselves as Muslims as they get on board a plane. This may not be a 'politically correct' feeling, but it is a completely understandable one. In the full interview there is this discussion about moderate Islam versus radical Islam, and all three participants agree that there are far more moderates than radicals.

NPR firing someone over the expression of a completely understandable feeling is absurd. In stroke of instant Karma they've actually ignited a movement to federally defund NPR. It's hard to argue against that movement since NPR has just shown that our federal dollars are going to an organization that is acting like 'thought police' towards its commentators.

This Week in Stupid News - The NPR Edition