Regarding Juan Williams
The entire nation seems to be focused on Juan Williams. Never mind the two wars we’re fighting. Never mind the dire economic straits we find ourselves in. Never mind an election in less than two weeks. No, let’s spend an endless news cycle discussing de-funding NPR.
Williams expressed a personal opinion on Fox. As an NPR news analyst, that is unacceptable. NPR was wrong to let him occupy these two conflicting roles for so long, but no one should be surprised that they fired him now.
Unfortunately, the charged political atmosphere meant that this was a lose-lose situation for NPR. If they hadn’t fired Williams, they would have been attacked by the same people who are attacking them now for setting a double standard. The Republicans and the tea pots would have screamed about how the liberal media elite sets a double standard—one for any conservative who makes derogatory remarks and another for liberals who do the same. They’d say that a conservative would be hounded out of his job but the liberal media elite protects its own.
NPR can’t win. They’re caught in Act 1 of a nice bit of political theater along with the rest of the nation. Next week: Big Bird—friend or foe?
