“If Juan had been plying his personal opinions on Huffington Post or with Rachel Maddow, we most probably would never have had this conversation. Liberal orthodoxy strikes again.”
“If you do not see what organized religion (that uber male tool of oppression of women, children and the weak) is wreaking on the world, why should I even be talking to you?”
Ikhide
Is it being suggested here that the NPR is a liberal medium? There are not many people outside the extreme right in U.S. politics who think so. The NPR tries hard to be both let moderate and right moderate in many of its listeners’, opinion. If there is a truly ‘fair and balanced’ national news medium in the United. States (U.S.) today, it has to be the NPR for critically objective and non-ideological listeners.
How is anyone to know which conversation “most probably would never” have happened had My. Juan Williams been The Huffington Post or the Rachel Maddow Show? Do some commentators not know that certainty (especially of opinion) is perhaps the greatest enemy of the truth?
Who says that personnel issues “ought not be dealt with over the phone or the internet”? That face-to-face communication may be preferable to some, and considered more respectful and appropriate by others, is not to say that there is much that is wrong with telephone or indeed internet communication on personnel matters. All who pay due attention know that in this, the information age, more not less communication happens by wire and in cyberspace.
Do we know enough about Mr. Juan William’s employment contract to pontificate on his rights and possible recourse as a former NPR employee? Mr. Williams is a civil rights’ expert. He may go to court if he believes that his employment and/or other legal rights were willfully violated. He also knows that legal action against an employer must be undertaken with a lot of care and wisdom in the U.S. Mr. Williams knows enough to know when to call in a lawyer.
Mr. Williams is better known as an NPR News Analyst than as a Fox News Channel Commentator. It is not beyond possible that some listeners may misconstrue his opinion on the Fox News channel as that of the NPR. The NPR by law, should be politics neutral. Mr. Williams should know not to be seen to be compromising the NPR’s mission.
It is public information that Mr. Williams was cautioned by his NPR bosses in the past, about his punditry on very highly opinionated Fox News Channel programs. The NPR required him to ensure that he was not described as an NPR News Analyst when he worked for that news channel. Mr. Williams has not denied that he was indeed cautioned on a number occasions as reported.
Organized religion like all enduring human inventions and institutions has its dark parts and past. Government and politics have done at least as much damage and wrong as organized religion has. Ethnicity runs close. Why then is it apparently convenient for some to castigate organized religion more than they do government and politics, and ethnicity? Anyone wanting to debrief, educate, inform, re-educate and reform anyone else is well advised to be inclusive and not exclusive about those they have conversations with.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ikhide
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 7:48 AM
To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: Ederi@yahoogroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NPR CEO Apologises for Handling of Williams's Firing
Our People,
Vivian Schiller, the NPR CEO has now apologised for the botched handling of the Juan Williams saga. They may have a lawsuit on their hands and I see Williams wailing all the way to the bank. Personnel issues ought not to be dealt with over the phone or on the Internet. We should not jettison due process just to get rid of someone we detest. And I really find this distasteful; it comes across as avuncular and condescending. Serves Williams right! A black man who will not sing their tune, so boy gets told to go to hell over the phone. This is a high tech lynching of a boy who is indifferent to his place. Where is the outrage?
I see race and ideology at play here. I don't care for Williams's views but I stand with him on principle. If Juan had been plying his personal opinions on Huffington Post or with Rachel Maddow, we most probably would never have had this conversation. Liberal orthodoxy strikes again. We should be allowed to have a full throated conversation about what ails us. The other day someone told me rather pompously that the attack on America 9-11 was executed by men who happen to be Middle Eastern and moslems. That is the silliest nonsense I have heard in a long time. They make these statements and shut down the lid on dialogue with a firm unctuous thud. If you do not see what organized religion (that uber male tool of oppression of women, children and the weak) is wreaking on the world, why should I even be talking to you?
Enjoy the week, jare!
- Ikhide
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