Juan Williams: Cable Talk Shows Are Where He Belongs

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 11:03:54 PM EST
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Juan Williams' post-firing statement confirms what those who have listened to him over the years have known all along: Fox News is where he belongs.

Two statements say it all:

I say an ideological battle because my comments on "The O’Reilly Factor" are being distorted by the self-righteous ideological, left-wing leadership at NPR.

and

They are taking bits and pieces of what I said to go after me for daring to have a conversation with leading conservative thinkers.

NPR is "Left wing" while Fox showcases "leading conservative thinkers." What more do you need to know? [More...]

His problem is, as I said yesterday, he shouldn't be a news analyst at all. His world is his opinions. Analysis requires objectivity. He's a commentator and a pundit, and he belongs on cable talk shows. NPR recognized this when they demoted him to outside commentator from in house news analyst and reduced his on air time and role. Its mistake was in keeping him on even in that capacity. What value is a commentator to a progressive news organization when the commentator views the network not as a group of leading progressive thinkers but as "left wing"?

His insistence that his statements were not bigoted because he was only expressing his visceral feelings shows an astounding lack of self-perception. It's an irrational fear and it's classic bigotry. It's judging people by their appearance and their ethnicity. If he really harbors those fears, he should be working with a therapist to overcome them. That's what the NPR chief said earlier and then apologized for. Her apology may be a good idea from a PR standpoint, but her comment was valid.

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Juan Williams: Cable Talk Shows Are Where He Belongs | 24 comments (24 topical)

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The one tiny thing (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by gyrfalcon on Thu Oct 21, 2010 at 11:17:32 PM EST

I will say in Williams's defense on the Muslims comment is that it is as impossible to develop a thought, or get your whole thought out, on O'Reilly as it is with Matthews. Given a slightly less chaotic show, I have no doubt he would have gone on to say his instinctive reaction is understandable but needs to be fought against and cannot be used to justify profiling or suspicion of all Muslims.

In fact, he did say something to that effect earlier in that same show.

Williams really is not a bigot, he's a very shallow dope. The atmosphere over at Fox doesn't exactly foster deep thoughts, which is why he's fit in so well there.

The righties at Fox are lovin' him big-time right now, and he's lashing out at NPR (oh, and Soros is behind all this, doncha know, according to O'Reilly) in the framework of the people who love him over at Fox. Pathetic.

He still could have done that after taking the (none / 0) (#6)
by rhbrandon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 07:08:25 AM EST

payola from Fox. He could've clarified his views to reflect that, and - in doing so - move into a role there something like Alan Colmes. But he didn't. In fact, he's already adopted the nutjob conservative rhetoric that the network markets to its listeners and viewers.

He's fully assimilated in the rightist, b.s., psychotic hatred that FNC actively promotes. At this point, he's become yet another useful idiot to the right. Fox would like for everyone to think he's the next Alan Colmes. The fact remains that he's not an alternative voice for anything; in fact, he's embracing his role as the black Bernie Goldberg.


To quote Michael Kinsley (none / 0) (#12)
by Harry Saxon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 09:20:46 AM EST

"Oh, please."

I will say in Williams's defense on the Muslims comment is that it is as impossible to develop a thought, or get your whole thought out, on O'Reilly as it is with Matthews. Given a slightly less chaotic show, I have no doubt he would have gone on to say his instinctive reaction is understandable but needs to be fought against and cannot be used to justify profiling or suspicion of all Muslims

He's been on O'Lielly a number of times, and was warned by his employers earlier, from usatoday(dot)com:

Says Schiller:
There have been several instances over the last couple of years where we have felt Juan has stepped over the line. He famously said last year something about Michelle Obama and Stokely Carmichael. [The quote on Fox News last year: Obama "has this Stokely-Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going" and that she'll be an "albatross" for President Obama.]. This isn't a case of one strike and you're out.

Click Me

Not really, from The Plum Line, at washingtonpost(dot)com:

The most charitable interpretation of those initial remarks, I think, is that he meant to say that the reflexive fear folks may have of those in Muslim garb, while defensible, should not be allowed to justify anti-Muslim bigotry writ large. In other words, he may have meant to say something like: It's understandable that people, me included, have an instinctual fear of Muslims in airports, given what happened on 9/11, but that should not allow us to give way to concerted, institutionalized bigotry.
The problem, though, is that in his initial comments he didn't clarify that the instinctual feeling itself is irrational and ungrounded, and something folks need to battle against internally whenever it rears its head. And in his subsequent comments on Fox today, Williams again conspicuously failed to make that point.
Maybe Williams does think those feelings are unacceptably irrational and need to be wrestled with, and perhaps someone should ask him more directly if he thinks that. But until he clearly states it to be the case, there's no reason to assume he thinks we should battle those feelings and work to delegitimize them.

Click Me


Hmm, perhaps he needs a new beat (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by Cream City on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 10:13:24 AM EST

as a fashion reporter, with his fascination with what people wear, from Muslims to Michelle Obama.

That's it! Juan Williams as a judge on Project Runway, where he can focus on appearances and image to his li'l heart's content while continuing to ignore substance. Make it work, Juano!


: They could have a Tea Party special (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Harry Saxon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 10:34:44 AM EST

with Michelle Bachman, Sharon Angle(for the ethnic diversity), Christine O'Donnell, and a "Mens Uniforms" segment featuring Richard Iott.

I disagree (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Bornagaindem on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 06:53:08 AM EST

I have never understood the need of the left (though that term has come to be barely the middle ) to give right wingers air time(how many Cato op eds do we have to listen to) and I always thought it odd that npr had Juan Williams on since he was a fox news guy (while faux has no competing need to air the left) he is not a bigot and his comments do not rise the level of firing.

As a woman walking down a dark street at night I will watch carefully and keep my distance from an unknown male just to be on the safe side. Does that make me bigoted against men? I may not have the same exact reaction to a woman. So I am a sexist? When you see a person dressed shabbily and unwashed is it bigotry to assume they are a street person and homeless? The self righteous wing of the left do not allow for human reactions and someone simply expressing the fact that they think twice now when a muslim comes onto a plane or into their space is not bigotry. Of course one must at the same time realize that a) being muslim doesn't make them a terrorist and b) not being muslim does not mean they are not a threat. Police need to be very aware of those prejudices but not to completely ignore them.

I do not agree with Juan Williams on much and I suspect that npr has him on as a two-fer ie they can get points for diversity because he is both black and hispanic. But that kind of over striving for diversity is as bad as the assumption that any comment about norms/averages is bigotry.

You're rationalizing too much... (none / 0) (#7)
by rhbrandon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 07:20:11 AM EST

What you are afraid of is crime. Few men are criminals. Women are equally capable of - or disinclined to commit - crime. Few people of any gender or sexual orientation, religion, race, class, or ethnic background are universally uniquely capable of or inclined to committing criminal acts.

What you are afraid of is the unknown character of the unknown person. And that has nothing to do with whether or not they are Moslem. Or anything else. That has everything to do with the subjective fear of the unknown and what we stuff in our heads by way of information. Juan Williams should be smart enough to already know that and differentiate. So should all of us.

Bill-O won't do that because his status and income depend on him being an opinionated, bloviating bigot, and he was desperate to get Williams to agree with him on the air. Williams should have had the guts to tell O'Reilly to differentiate between his fears and reality. But Williams wanted to be a buddy, and so he obliged and rightly got fired from NPR.


: Personally think that Williams' role (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by MO Blue on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 07:50:02 AM EST

on Fox is to agree with most of the opinionated, bloviating crap that people like Bill-O spew. Either agree or disagree in the mildest, stupidest way possible so that it appears that the bloviater is correct.

ok, i see a big problem: (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by cpinva on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 12:28:22 PM EST

"conservative" and "thinker" should never be used in the same sentence, it is an oxymoron. or maybe just a moron. take your pick.

Sounds like a cleaning product: (none / 0) (#21)
by Anne on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 08:28:02 PM EST

"OxyMoron: guaranteed to wash the moron out of anything!"

I can almost hear Billy Mays shouting and I do mean "shouting") its praises to the world...


: by golly, (none / 0) (#24)
by cpinva on Sat Oct 23, 2010 at 10:09:22 AM EST

"OxyMoron: guaranteed to wash the moron out of anything!"
i think you may be on to something here! :)

NPR is "Left wing" (3.50 / 2) (#17)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 12:28:31 PM EST

NPR['s leadership] is "Left wing" while Fox showcases "leading conservative thinkers." What more do you need to know?

I am shocked, shocked, that a fired employee would speak in less-than-glowing terms about the people who fired him.

The whole thing was a setup (none / 0) (#2)
by 1980Ford on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 01:16:34 AM EST

The conservatives have been trying to tear down PBS and NPR for decades. It looks like Roger Ailes and O'Reilly might have half a chance this time. Echos of Acorn.

: Don't think so (none / 0) (#3)
by shoephone on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 03:35:47 AM EST

The righties may have their panties in a bunch, but as far as FOX coming up with a case against NPR, "there's no there there." But sure, we can expect it to be made into an issue of righteous indignation for Huckabee's upcoming presidential campaign.
And it is always entertaining to watch O'Reilly explode. Maybe he'll go on Letterman next and get into a fight with him.

It is a lead pipe (none / 0) (#4)
by Wile ECoyote on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 05:13:07 AM EST

cinch that everybody else on NPR will toe the line in anything they say or report from now on. Now to get Mara in line....

Very few wil understand the firing (none / 0) (#9)
by Saul on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 07:56:04 AM EST

as legitimate and with cause. Too many or the majority will see it as NPR unloading a black man.

This could not come at a worse time for NPR since they are in the heat of their fund raising. This is going to hurt their fund raising big time IMO.

It was ham handed in the extreme (none / 0) (#15)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 12:26:29 PM EST

You don't imply after the fact that Williams needs a shrink. Whatever Williams said, there was no reason to attack him as a person.

Since Nina Totenberg is still around after wishing AIDS on Jesse Helms grand children, then the less said about Williams comments the better.


: Being the grandchildren (5.00 / 1) (#23)
by jondee on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 09:32:00 PM EST

of that scrawny necked, reactionary, old goat scrotum isn't punishment enough?

: But you don't mind political candidates (none / 0) (#22)
by Harry Saxon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 09:11:24 PM EST

who say that God talks to them, just a journalist who has a religious opinion about a despicable politician like Jesse Helms.

Couldn't've come at a BETTER time for NPR... (none / 0) (#20)
by rhbrandon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 03:35:02 PM EST

Thinking donors will appreciate backbone, something lacking in Washington.


this morning I saw (none / 0) (#10)
by Capt Howdy on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 08:15:09 AM EST

the one person possibly in the entire country who can offer an objective opinion on race baiting on tv and its effects on innocent jounalists offer his insight into the Williams firing, Lou Dobbs.

8*P

he said one thing I thought was really interesting. he said (paraphrase, tho Im sure its up someplace by now) "you know Matt, Im not a bigot", no wait, he said "you know Matt, I didnt say anything last year that the main stream media is not repeating now".

and I thought, you know what you freaking d*uchebag, for once in your miserable life you have a point. but its not the one you wanted to make.
the MSM is indeed coming to you.

more Juan (none / 0) (#11)
by Capt Howdy on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 09:16:52 AM EST

"If they want to compete in the marketplace, they should compete in the marketplace," Williams said Friday in an interview on "Fox and Friends". "They don't need public funds. I think that they should go out there. They think their product is so great, go out and sell the product."

: How embarrasing for him (none / 0) (#18)
by shoephone on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 01:01:16 PM EST

Juan sounds just like a whiny six-year old, throwing a little tantrum.

: Well, the Glenda is certainly not in the market- (none / 0) (#19)
by rhbrandon on Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 03:33:28 PM EST

place, advertiser-wise.
Or are we discussing the marketplace of tripe?
Although FNC IS in the marketplace of ideas in the same way the Soviet stores were in the marketplace of consumer goods: no quality and no selection.