Rapid Response Team

This issue is still unfolding as I type this, and this may be the first time I've written about something the same day it happened, but this is just too much. I watch The O'Reilly Factor. Sure, throw whatever you will about Fox News in the comments section, I've heard it all before. I watch Fox, and I listen(ed) to National Public Radio in order to diversify the sources from which I obtained my news. No longer is that the case.

One of my favorite people on both Fox (every so often as a contributor) and NPR (where he was employed for 10 years) was Juan Williams. The guy was a common sense, rational, reasonable, honest liberal that Bill O'Reilly liked to bring on because he was a guy you could have an intelligent discussion with, and at the same time expose the broadcast to varying points of view. On Monday, Williams said the following:

"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 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."

Williams went on to caution O'Reilly about classifying an entire group of people as "extremists", such as Christians for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing.

To sum it up, "I feel this way, but it's not right for me to feel this way, and in no way are all Muslims hateful and terrorists."

On WEDNESDAY, not immediately after the program, or the following morning at work, or even the FOLLOWING morning, Williams was notified of his release via phone call after being employed for 10 years with NPR (which tells me that it wasn't a big deal until someone threw their left-wing weight behind the idea). Reason for the contractual termination was that as an analyst at NPR, public expression of opinion is forbidden and Williams should have kept his feelings about Muslims between himself and "his psychiatrist or publicist". NPR analysts are also forbidden from going on shows that "feature punditry or commentary", which was a second reason given for his firing. The thing is, Williams has been going on The Factor, Fox News Sunday, and Special Report With Bret Baier for MONTHS now, and has even guest HOSTED the show in O'Reilly's absence. That's how much he was trusted and valued, even as a notable liberal personality. So is this timing a coincidence? Not a chance. This is a liberal radio station that is funded with TAXPAYER dollars (and donations from George Soros, the AFL-CIO, MoveOn.org, The Huffington Post, MediaMatters, and the elitist arm of the left wing) becoming even more rigidly entrenched as a leftist organization while sucking up tax dollars. To all of you that think "Hey, well what's wrong with that?": Imagine all of that money that gets withheld from your paycheck and sent to the federal government being channeled to Rush Limbaugh. That's the same thing. It's simply disgusting, and if Jim DeMint passes the proper legislation, NPR will go bankrupt and we'll be one step closer to a balanced budget.

Was the firing of Williams racially motivated? Maybe NPR didn't agree with where an African-American like Williams stood on the political spectrum. Maybe every African-American should be 100% liberal and detest Fox News. Maybe, because Williams wasn't white and a loony lefty like Nina Totenberg (the same Nina Totenberg that, in 1995, "hoped" that a Republican member of Congress, Jesse Helms, contracted AIDS through a transfusion), George Soros and his 1.8 million dollars didn't want him around his radio station.

I digress. NPR's "Contact Us" page is down due to an "unusually high user volume", and 13,431 REGISTERED USERS of NPR have commented on articles relating to Williams. I think if they're going to fire hardworking, honest, reasonable people like Juan Williams, they should give every cent back of those public grants they accepted and used on the stationery that Williams resignation notice was used on, as well as those left-wing broadcasts that just lost the only reasonable person on them. Juan Williams, best of luck at Fox News.

Vivian Schiller, President/CEO of NPR: Shame on you. Take your "ethical journalistic practices" back to the elite left with George Soros, and stop taking my money.

On an unrelated note, the National Football League has implemented a rule that allows players to be suspended for helmet-to-helmet hits. People are up in arms about the new rule, players and former players alike. From the best standpoint that a fan can have, I like the rule, so long as it is used properly. Inadvertent hits should not be punished, but direct, brutal, unwarranted massacres should receive a suspension. Something has to be done. I realize it is a contact sport, but safety standards are necessary.

Ending on a light note, here's a list of things I hate about winter:

-Cold
-Snow
-Wet entryways and shoes
-Shoveling
-Snowblowing
-Shoveling
-Slipping
-Snow in my shoes
-Short days
-Cold floors in the morning
-Getting all wrapped up to go outside
-Cold cars

Things I like about winter:

-Christmas
-Break
-Driving

So, to sum up the wall of text above: Juan Williams got shafted, the new NFL rule has potential to be a good one, and I hate winter. Leave a comment or something. I'd really appreciate it.

Good luck at Fox, Juan.