Too much PC

It's really sad when people get fired in this country for voicing their opinions. I am no fan of Juan Williams, but, as Voltaire allegedly said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Juan expressed his own personal feelings on The O'Reilly Factor, and NPR punished him by firing him.

It's sad that an organization like NPR, instead of encouraging intellectual debate from all perspectives, chooses to silence those perspectives it disagrees with or because it is not perceived as politically correct. Actions like these tell me that NPR has no intellectual argument with which to counter Juan's personal beliefs and arguments, and, much like Whoopi and Joy, and other 5 year olds on the playground, has "taken its ball and gone home" leaving Juan without a game to play.

You can read the story here. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101021/ap_en_tv/us_npr_analyst_fired

Well, NPR may get my tax money without my permission, but it will not get any direct donations from me, that is for sure. Given that NPR does get public funding ( http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/21/huckabee-calls-on-congress-to-cut-npr-funding/ , it's questionable as to whether, constitutionally, they can violate the First Amendment this way. In any case, all public funding should be cut if they wish to act like a private employer.

Finally, to top it all off, NPR CEO Vivian Schiller was quoted, saying whatever feelings Williams has about Muslims should be between him and "his psychiatrist or his publicist — take your pick." Now, if that isn't a bigoted comment about people who see psychiatrists, I don't know what is. Although she later issued an apology (hollow, no doubt, and not even to Juan himself), she should be fired for her thoughtless, contemptible, hateful and bigoted statement. She certainly does not follow any journalistic principles she claims she upholds http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101021/ap_en_ot/us_npr_analyst_fired Heck, since it was directed against Juan, perhaps we should classify the comment as racist, as well - after all, that's what the folks at NPR do best - call people names and insult them when it suits their moods. Hate speech, anyone? Shame on Ms. Schiller - she certainly fails to practice what she supposedly preaches.

And if what she claims about journalistic ethics is true, then why wasn't Andrea Mitchell fired from NBC during the heated debates over Obama's health care bill when she opined (remember, she's a journalist, not a commentator) that Americans were basically too stupid to know what's good for them. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2009/07/31/they-may-not-know-whats-good-them "You've got 47% of the people in our NBC/Wall Street Journal opinion poll who have health insurance who don't like what the president is doing. The problem he's got -- 47% of the people who've got coverage don't want change. They don't like what they're hearing. Now, they may not know what's good for them. . . ." Also discussed in my blog here http://anindependentconnecticutyankee.blogspot.com/2009/08/connecticuts-5th-district-rep-really.html
And, let's not forget Nina Tottenberg's opinions and commentaries which are too numerous to mention - this also from someone who is supposed to be an unbiased reporter - not a commentator. Seems like Ms. Schiller keeps tap-dancing around the truth behind Juan's firing, since other journalists aren't being fired for far more "heinous" opinion offenses. but then again, they are speaking the ultra-left wing political mantra, so they don't get fired by their partisan bosses who accept millions of dollars from Soros.