Virgil

The firing of Juan Williams has to be one of the most unjust media decisions I have ever encountered. What exactly did he say? That he gets nervous boarding a plane with Muslims? Well, we all do. I know I’ve had that feeling. Actually I was on board a plane three weeks after 9/11 and I was looking over every single passenger to detect any sign of a terrorist. And of course, a sign of a terrorist would be any indication he was of Muslim background. That’s what any sane and knowledgeable person would do.

For those that don’t know, Juan Williams, an analyst for National Public Radio (NPR), about as left wing as any media source, was fired today for comments he made as a guest on Bill O’Reilly’s show last night. This is all Juan said:

"Look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Now Juan Williams is black, a passionate Liberal, and has written books on civil rights issues and history. No one can accuse Juan Williams of being bigoted. It is not bigoted to state reality. Almost everyone has hesitations and thoughts when they identify Muslims on a plane. I know I do all the time.

I don’t know who Emilio Karim Dabul is, but obviously he’s Muslim and he defends Juan in this Wall Street Journal piece: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...pinion_LEADTop. It is well worth reading in its entirety, but here are some highlights:

Mr. Williams, whether one tends to agree with him or not, is immensely respected by his fellow journalists and viewers alike for his ability to conduct himself with dignity and respect in a field where extremes of opinion and low-ball tactics have become all too common. He's mostly a moderate liberal who is able to hear other points of view with respect, and he can be nuanced in his own views.

In these times, Mr. Williams's instinct for finding both middle and common ground is no small feat.

And for what offense has he been pilloried by the censorship squad of NPR? For saying out loud what many Americans think—that he gets nervous when he's on a plane and sees people dressed in traditional Muslim garb.

In a world of shock commentators, Juan Williams, though I disagree with him repeatedly, is one of the most genial and compassionate of persons. If anyone is an endearing father-figure, it’s Juan Williams.

That's all Mr. Williams was saying. He didn't say that they should be removed from the plane, treated differently, or anything close to that. He simply said he got nervous. And for that, he was fired.

The reality is that when Muslims cease to be the main perpetrators of terrorism in the world, such fears about traditional garb are bound to vanish. Until such time, the anxiety will remain. In the long run, it's what we do with such fears that matters, not that we have them.

That is the reality, and though I know through Muslim friends and co-workers how unfair it is to brand all Muslims with the terrorist identity, it cannot be helped. Hey, I’m Italian-American. You can’t imagine how many times I’ve gotten the Mafia label. And what’s worse is that my last name happens to be the same as a famous mobster. Do you realize how many times I’ve been asked it? No, there is no relation, and no I have never broken anyone’s kneecaps because they failed to pay me back and no I’ve never killed and chopped up anyone. There is a reality and unfortunately I can’t help associations. Mr. Dabul continues:

But regarding what happened to Mr. Williams, no one should tolerate such intolerant behavior on the part of NPR. This broadcast network is paid for by the American taxpayers, and as such we all have a stake in its decisions.

Anyone who cares about freedom of speech should protest what has been done to this decent and fair man. And even if that were not the case, even if Mr. Williams' views made him a detestable ogre to most, he still has the right to voice them. For many Americans, NPR's consistent tilt to the left has caused them to reject it as a viable source of news.

I have to admit I used to love to listen to NPR. Their programming if it has no political content is very insightful and sophisticated and “artsy,” something I don’t get from anywhere else on the radio dial. Their political slant has definitely pushed me away. I really haven’t listened for a few years. The frequency of its political slants seemed to have accelerated. There is no reason why in today’s plethora of media outlets containing all types of slanted programming that the public should be financing any media or entertainment, especially one with a political bias. Conservatives pay taxes, and their taxes support crap like this.

Due to the political nature of this blog, I've taken comments off. Sorry. My policy.