All Their Own Things Considered

So National Public Radio fired Juan Williams. What a bunch of Weissies.

They hate Fox News so much, that his mere presence on the network drove the lefties bonkers over the years. Well, they took their shot. Shame on NPR.

Look, I rarely agree with Williams. But a few months ago, I almost wrote a post praising Williams for his willingness to appear on a conservative network and actually debate issues. That alone reflects well on him.

In the end, I did not write that post, because I figured it would do no favors to him to have a conservative blogger praise him. Little did I know.

Those jerks on NPR--and I listen to them every day on my commute--actually believe they are honest and fair journalists. They are not. They show their leftist bias by the topics they cover or ignore and in the questions they ask their guests. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that conservative guests get questions like "Do children run from you in fright over your hateful policies?" while a liberal gets "How do you endure reactionary opposition to your enlightened efforts to solve all our problems?"

I wish Juan Williams all the best. He got a raw deal. But it didn't take long to get a better deal. Good for him. He's a decent and honest man, it seems to me. I at least respected him and how he engaged rather than dismissed conservative views. And NPR acted stupidly.

We'll see if there is a beer summit to resolve this dispute.

UPDATE: Sheesh. It is unbelievable that Marshall thinks Williams is now free to be a "wingnut."  Really? That's what Williams is? A secret NeoCon, or something?

Look, Williams is no hero of the right. I will continue to disagree with him on most issues. But Marshall shows the intolerance of our modern Left with his dismissal of a career of defending liberal ideas. But it just wasn't enough to avoid being thrown under the bus. Yeah, what a "big tent" they have.

It wasn't enough for Juan Williams to make liberal arguments--you must only do it on approved networks to approved audiences. I've said it before and I'll say it again, our language distorts reality by equating the terms "liberal minded" with "open minded." They are two very different things, in my experience.

Let the Left purges begin, I guess. That's what fear does to you, right? I assume Nina Totenberg will only be the first of the next round of NPR stars to get the shaft for violating their pole-up-their-arses pretend objectivity standards.

Until the same rules apply to all NPR staff, the so-called "standards" that NPR holds its on-air staff to is all too clear.

Why do we fund NPR, anyway?