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October 21, 2010
Everything Inside the Party; Nothing Outside the Party; Nothing Against the Party
I have but one comment on NPR -- National Public Radio, a federal funding recipient -- firing Juan Williams; the regular aspects of the shameful episode have been well covered by both media and the blogosphere.
I do not believe Williams was fired for saying anything politically incorrect, because he did not say anything politically incorrect: There's nothing anti-PC about saying that when he sees Moslems board an airplane in full Moslem regalia, he feels nervous... not if he subsequently says (or even implies) that he feels bad that he feels that way, and he doesn't believe all Moslems, the entire class of followers of Islam, are to blame for the actions of radical Islamists.
So why was he fired? It wasn't what he said on Fox News Channel (FNC), it was the fact that he persisted in appearing on Fox News at all, and especially on Bill O'Reilly's show. Williams' appearances put the lie to the idea that FNC is exclusively "right wing," refute the idea that conservatives (or socially conservative economic populists, in O'Reilly's case) reject freedom of speech, and debunk the idea that Fox News is racist. Williams' frequent inclusions on panels, guesting, and even guest hosting on FNC humanize that cable channel and cause the liberal faithful to think more highly of it -- and conversely, to think the less of President Barack H. Obama for so viciously and remorselessly attacking it.
In other words, Juan Williams was fired for giving aid and comfort to "the enemy"... because NPR and other liberal bastions have always considered themselves at war with the Right. He violated the cardinal epistemic closure demanded by the Left: Williams treated the Right as human beings, and worse, as people.
The Right wants to argue the Left into agreement; the Left wants to bury the Right, by any means necessary. Thus became it necessary to throw Juan Williams under the bus: He had strayed off the reservation; and it fell to the Overseer, Vivian Schiller, the CEO of NPR, to teach the runaway a lesson. A good, hard lesson, pour le découragement des autres.
Hatched by Dafydd on this day, October 21, 2010, at the time of 4:17 PM
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Comments
The following hissed in response by: LarryD
And it's looking like another own goal for the Left.
The above hissed in response by: LarryD ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://biglizards.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 22, 2010 9:57 AM
The following hissed in response by: DK
Is it time to dust off the "Kill a Commie for Christ" bumper stickers?
The above hissed in response by: DK at October 23, 2010 6:57 PM
The following hissed in response by: Karl
Having watched the two-minute-hate inspired by Fox News in any number of liberals, I suspect part of the mindset leading to Williams' firing was that Fox News must be perceived as false news.
Fox News can never improve its standards by inviting liberals to provide balance. Fox News has no standards, by definition. Its only effect can be to spread an indelible taint on anyone who dares approach too close. By definition.
The above hissed in response by: Karl at October 24, 2010 6:29 PM
The following hissed in response by: Karl
Um.... "never" bolded, not struck out. Foo.
The above hissed in response by: Karl at October 24, 2010 6:36 PM
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