As I'm sure many of you have heard, Juan Williams, former reporter for NPR, was fired on Wednesday for a comment he made while on the O'Reilly Factor on Fox News regarding Muslims. On Monday, O'Reilly asked Williams if there is a "Muslim dilemma" in the United States. Williams, a longtime Fox News contributor, agreed with O'Reilly that such a thing exists, and added that "political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality."
"I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot," Williams continued. "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, tell me, is that a case where someone stepped over the line and said something that isn't politically correct? Should this have been a fireable offense? Is this much ado about nothing? Where do you stand on this? My take is this, I mean, I like Juan Williams, I think he is good. He has always appeared to be a pretty middle of the road guy, seeing both sides to everything. Should he have been fired, hell no, I don't think so. Was what he said right? I mean, I guess that is a feeling shared by a lot of people. Do I think it's right, no, not at all. Honestly, it bothers me that people feel that way. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, killing 2,402 people and injuring another 1,282, but are you scared every time you see someone of Japanese descent? No, not at all. So why are we blanketly blaming all Muslims for September 11th?
I guess what bothers me about all of this is that we are blaming NPR for everything. Again, shame on them for firing Williams, that wasn't necessary. What I don't think is right though is that we are ignoring the major issue here, which is our intolerance of people different than us. Why do we still have this much hate and fear in our hearts over people that don't look or think like us? If it isn't Muslims then it is gay people. It's always someone or something we are intolerant of. What happened to liberty and justice for all? I'm just saying...
About Me
- Mark
- I've always wondered if people actually read this stuff. I never do when I'm on other pages. Well, in case, for some strange reason, you find it necessary, I'll give you a little knowledge. I was born in The County. For those of you who don't konw better, that would be Aroostook County. For those of you who do, your jokes won't work on me, they are lame. I'm the son of an investment banker that squandered his every penny on tuna fish sandwiches in the late 80's, and my mother was the lead singer for the Bangles. Neither of those is true, but again, I'm convinced nobody is reading this anyways. I met my wife at a carnival, and we were married by the bearded lady in front of the entire clown brigade. I have a daughter who is training for the 2012 Olympics where she will compete in the Triple Jump and Javelin. We live in a nice little shanty in the woods and are hoping to one day have running water. Any questions?
