And you thought the BBC was biased!

We share so much with our 'cousins over there'.  We have the Baghdad British Broadcasting Company and they have National Public Ramadan Radio.  This fine example of everything that is un-American has just sacked Juan Williams, one of their presenters for over 10 years, because he said on Fox News that when he saw people in Muslim dress on a plane or an airport he became nervous.  As it happens, I have become familiar with Mr. Williams, because Fox News, whilst being impeccably Right-wing - and proud of it - does make efforts to allow alternative voices on their shows.  Thus, I frequently see Mr. Williams on the late night (for us) talking heads panel.  He is the sort of Left-winger you would be happy to share a drink with in a bar.  He's comfortable in his skin, has his views, is prepared to debate them, but scorns vituperation.  Besides being a national figure in the 'commentariat' he is also, I gather, a distinguished and succesful author of books on the civil rights movement which he supported all his life.  He was fired over the telephone, not even given a chance to come into head office and defend himself.  Nice people at NPR!

Oddly enough, Beck had them in his sights last night.  Recently, he has swivelled his guns away from Obama, probably because he recognises that the president is 'dead man walking', and taken aim at George Soros the multi-zillionaire who, Beck shows, has fed millions of dollars into extreme - and I do mean extreme - Left-wing groupuscles inside the American body-politic.  Now Soros appears confident enough to come out from the shadows and has stumped up $1 million for the Huffington Post (somewhere to the Left of The Guardian) to staff an 'investigative newsroom' whose sole purpose seems to be to hound Fox News in general, and Bill Reilly and Glen Beck in particular.  In addition, he has offered to underwrite the salaries of 100, yes, 100, new reporters for NPR.  Gosh, I wonder what they will be briefed to write on?

Perhaps it's time for the Republicans, assuming they take the Congress in November, to summon up the courage so painfully lacking in the Tory party, and cut government subsidies to NPR.  After all, everyone keeps telling me that the rich should pay - and they don't come much richer than George Soros - so he could take on the whole thing like 'Rupe' does with Fox!

ADDITIONAL:  Courtesy of those reprobates at IHTM, here is the transcript of Williams' actual words:

“I hate to say this because I don’t want to get your ego going, but I think you’re right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality. I mean, 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 a plane, I gotta tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they’re identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”

NPR announced that Williams’ comments “undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR” and that “his remarks on the O’Reilly Factor … were inconsistent with our editorial standards.”

 

Comments

[Umbongo]

Of course, our taxpayer funded broadcaster is much more tolerant. As this post on B-BBC shows http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/2010/10/more-bbc-tweets.html if you're coming from the left, a little bit of bias is apparently not "inconsistent with our editorial standards.” I'm sure, had Williams espoused analogous views his job would have been quite safe and his boss would have been as indulgent as this one http://order-order.com/2010/10/20/bbc-bosses-to-left-wing-staff-stop-tweeting/

[Umbongo]

On the subject of Soros financing extremists, it reminds me of a plot from "A Deadly Shade of Gold" in the Travis McGee series by one of my favourite authors John D Macdonald. In the story, the villain - a rich bored pervert - has a hobby of financing tiny but extremely dangerous extremist groups, not for any political purpose but out of just plain mischief. This is slightly different from Soros who is probably not a pervert but who, it seems to me, is serious in seeking to excite dangerous and, ultimately, murderous extremism.

[David Duff]

Crikey! I haven't read a John D. MacDonald in years and I used to devour his stuff by the ton!

Soros is deliberately attempting to use his influence to push down the dollar and I assume that he has converted considerable wealth into gold. As for his infiltration of the American media, at least he is now out in the open so let him and 'Rupe' fight it out in the glare of publicity.

[Dom]

Nina Tottenberg is a popular reporter for NPR. This is what she once said about Jesse Helms, who opposed funding for AIDS research (probably knowing that the funding would pass anyway):

“If there is retributive justice, he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it"

Was she fired? No.

[David Duff]

Yes, Dom, I saw that repeated by Fox yesterday. Tells you all you need to know about NPR!