Last week the company formerly known as National Public Radio, which now goes by the acronym NPR fired one of its most popular employees. Well known columnist/analyst Juan Williams got the boot from NPR after making comments on the O'Reilly's Factor, in which he talked about how he felt about people of Arab descent when traveling on airplanes.
Williams said, “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." These remarks obviously didn't sit well with the brass at NPR and were totally taken out of context in my opinion.
Williams said, “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." These remarks obviously didn't sit well with the brass at NPR and were totally taken out of context in my opinion.
The conversation went on and he also talked about the comments made by Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad at his sentencing hearing in which Shahzad was sentenced to multiple life sentences for trying to set off a car bomb to kill as many Americans as he could.
Shahzad went back and forth with the judge and made some of the following statements: “I would sacrifice 1,000 lives to fight for Allah,” and “The war with Muslims has just begun,” and “If you call us terrorist, then we are proud terrorist. We will defeat you with time.”
People like Shahzad, Nidal Malik Hasan and Osama bin Laden don’t kill in the name of Islam or Allah; they kill because they are bad people.
There is no denying that radical and extreme Muslims have given a bad name to every Muslim out there. It would be moronic for us to stereotype every person of Arab descent in the same category, the same moronic way it would be to place all Black, White, Hispanic or Asian people in the same category. That’s not what Williams did.
Being politically correct in today's time has gone way overboard and people are literally walking around on pins and needles trying not to say something that will be blown out of proportion by some hurt my feeling group looking to make an issue out of nothing.
Don't think for a minute that Williams' contract termination isn't politically motivated and his role as a contributor on Fox News didn’t play a factor in the decision to get rid of him. He has always seemed to be a very level headed guy that is very knowledgeable in the world of politics. Even though I disagree with his political positions on a number of issues, I am on Williams’ side this time around.
Unlike Juan Williams, I don't get nervous just because a person may openly identify themselves as a Muslim first. I am more worried about the guy wearing regular clothes and hiding hate for Americans in his heart.
Being politically correct in today's time has gone way overboard and people are literally walking around on pins and needles trying not to say something that will be blown out of proportion by some hurt my feeling group looking to make an issue out of nothing.
Don't think for a minute that Williams' contract termination isn't politically motivated and his role as a contributor on Fox News didn’t play a factor in the decision to get rid of him. He has always seemed to be a very level headed guy that is very knowledgeable in the world of politics. Even though I disagree with his political positions on a number of issues, I am on Williams’ side this time around.
Unlike Juan Williams, I don't get nervous just because a person may openly identify themselves as a Muslim first. I am more worried about the guy wearing regular clothes and hiding hate for Americans in his heart.
I size up EVERYBODY that gets on an airplane with me.
I openly joke with my co-workers about not only sizing people on airplanes, but sizing up people everywhere I go, especially when I'm with my family. I am thinking in my head, "How am I going to take this person out if they start acting stupid?"
I am a very approachable person and generally don’t meet strangers, but I know bad people come in all shapes, sizes, races and religions.
Juan Williams said out loud what a lot of Americans are thinking deep down within themselves.
NPR just did him a huge favor and gave him the opportunity to make a ton of money by unjustly firing him. Williams is a good analyst and my hope is that he doesn’t shift too far to the right since he will now be making a few million dollars working for Fox News.
Congratulations NPR. You are the recipient of the “Come on Man” award this week. If people aren’t allowed to speak freely about how they feel, we won’t ever know how the other person feels and problems will never get solved. Originally published by the Charlton County Herald on October 26, 2010 http://www.charltoncountyherald.com/articles/2010/10/27/opinion/editorials/doc4cc6eded9dea6644345636.txt
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