# Should longtime NPR analyst Juan Williams have been fired for comments he made on O'Reilly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887 "2010-10-21T14:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/181 "2010-10-22T03:26:41Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The association with those who intend to repeat the action. Ah. Terrorist cooties. You can actually get 'em just by looking like 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/182 "2010-10-22T03:28:22Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > so the rationality in showing nervousness of terrorism when seeing someone dressed in “Muslim” garb is…? Why does the fear have to be rational? My wife is deathly afraid of mice. The irrationality of the fear doesn’t make it any less real. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/183 "2010-10-22T03:44:05Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > First, I love NPR. I listen to it every day. I acknowledge that **its stories skew liberal** , although they are not a shill for the Democratic party. On the whole they try to be balanced. I, too, love NPR, and listen to it every day, but I disagree with the portion of your post I bolded above. Please define what you mean by it, or provide cites exhibiting it. I find that, if anything, NPR goes out of its way to remain neutral on all issues, including controversial ones, e.g., religion, politics, etc. They report the facts, with no embellishment or bias, and they report the complete picture. > [@Skammer](#): > > I think it’s more likely, as implied by the article, that NPR has been looking for an excuse to get rid of him as he’s become more indentified with Fox and the right-wing media, and they seized on this incident to do it. I don’t know about that, but I guess it is conceivable that NPR had its eye on Williams, as it would make prudent business sense for any new organization that happens to share talent with another media outlet, but especially with FOX News. I’ve often wondered why Williams even wanted to be a commentator on NPR based on comments he’s made on FOX News. He’s obviously more comfortable taking and espousing conservative positions than providing straight commentary. I suspect it was the perceived prestige of being an NPR commentator. If not that, then I have no idea. > [@Skammer](#): > > I’m not that worked up about it though, I’m sure Fox pays him well (probably better than NPR). Oh, I’m sure they do. FOX News needs a black face or two to provide cover for the racial insensitivities exhibited in its programming. They’re probably willing to pay somewhat handsomely for that. Anyway, we don’t know what may have occurred behind the scenes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Williams had been spoken to about such matters in the past by NPR execs. He’s been running his ‘even though I’m black, I agree with the conservative argument in this matter’ shtick on FOX News for a while now. Someone upthread said Juan Williams was a liberal. He’s not. I predict Williams will ramp up the conservative rhetoric now that he has no reason remain neutral, and that’s too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/184 "2010-10-22T03:44:07Z")
Jumping on a chair because you’re afraid of a mouse has very few societal effects. Being afraid of people dressed like Muslims has a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/185 "2010-10-22T03:58:23Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Jumping on a chair because you’re afraid of a mouse has very few societal effects. Being afraid of people dressed like Muslims has a lot more. There are soldiers at Ft Hood who would disagree with you if they were still able to describe Nidal Hassan. When Islamic extremists publicly announce their intentions to continue 9/11 type attacks who should people attribute their concerns to? It’s natural to assume that someone from another country who assimilates their adoptive culture is NOT a terrorist. Otherwise, it would be an irrational fear. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/186 "2010-10-22T04:06:35Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > There are soldiers at Ft Hood who would disagree with you if they were still able to describe Nidal Hassan. Nidal Hassan was dressed like a soldier. By this logic, we should react with fear to all people dressed like soldiers. For that matter, there are thousands of Muslim soldiers in the US military. Should soldiers be afraid of all of them? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/187 "2010-10-22T04:18:45Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > Nidal Hassan was dressed like a soldier. By this logic, we should react with fear to all people dressed like soldiers. No, there is no logic to that statement. If you were to say that hundreds of thousand or maybe millions of people dressed like soldiers all around the globe were planning to commit terrorist acts and had actually managed to kill tens of thousands of people so far (and millions if you count genocide), then yeah, there’d be logic to saying that people should beware of people dressed like soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/188 "2010-10-22T04:22:28Z")
Soldiers have been known to kill people (and steal their hash!) from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/189 "2010-10-22T04:25:06Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > So they would never take money from someone who overtly supports a particular party or moderate an election debate using someone who wrote a book about one of the candidates. Yes, they are the model of non-partisanship. They would take money from anyone who wants to give it, and most of their donations are corporate. None of it affects their content, though. They are non-partisan in their content. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/190 "2010-10-22T04:25:47Z")
But the argument at hand is that it’s logical to fear people based on the way they dress. In this case, someone has actually committed a terrorist act while dressed like a soldier. If that’s not a good way to determine who is likely to commit a terrorist act, why is it then logical to fear people who are dressed like Muslims? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/191 "2010-10-22T04:26:40Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No, there is no logic to that statement. If you were to say that hundreds of thousand or maybe millions of people dressed like soldiers all around the globe were planning to commit terrorist acts and had actually managed to kill tens of thousands of people so far (and millions if you count genocide), then yeah, there’d be logic to saying that people should beware of people dressed like soldiers. There are not hundreds of thousands, much less millions of Muslims planning to commit terrorist acts around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/192 "2010-10-22T04:28:44Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > There are soldiers at Ft Hood who would disagree with you if they were still able to describe Nidal Hassan Nidal Hassan was dressed as a United States soldier. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/193 "2010-10-22T04:31:02Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There are not hundreds of thousands, much less millions of Muslims planning to commit terrorist acts around the world. Okay, how many are there? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/194 "2010-10-22T04:34:53Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > …It’s natural to assume that someone from another country who assimilates their adoptive culture is NOT a terrorist… As Eugene V. Debs is my witness, I have no idea…none whatsoever!..what that sentence means. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/195 "2010-10-22T04:38:59Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Okay, how many are there? Cool game! I got one! How many Americans are dead because of something a Muslim did, and how many Muslims are dead from something an American did. Since 2000, say. Whaddaya think? Thousand to one? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/196 "2010-10-22T04:42:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Nidal Hassan was dressed as a United States soldier. yes, [not enough pockets](http://wn.com/nidal_hasan_surveillance_cam_video) to hold the ammunition he carried. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/197 "2010-10-22T04:47:30Z")
Excellent point! Our soldiers deserve uniforms with a higher ammunition capacity! (Seriously, dude. What in the\* hell\* are you talking about?) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/198 "2010-10-22T04:50:04Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Cool game! I got one! How many Americans are dead because of something a Muslim did, and how many Muslims are dead from something an American did. Since 2000, say. Whaddaya think? Thousand to one? What I think is that nobody declared a war on Islam. And if you want to count bodies you’re going to have to address the Muslim-on-Muslim terrorist attacks. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/199 "2010-10-22T04:52:35Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Excellent point! Our soldiers deserve uniforms with a higher ammunition capacity! > > (Seriously, dude. What in the\* hell\* are you talking about?) what I’m talking about is Juan williams made a simple observation about the fear of Islamic extremists. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887/200 "2010-10-22T05:07:29Z")
No. He made an observation about his fear of laundry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-longtime-npr-analyst-juan-williams-have-been-fired-for-comments-he-made-on-oreilly/557887.md?page=11)