NPR Cans Juan Williams for Addressing Reality by David J. Rusin • Oct 22, 2010 at 9:34 am _http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2010/10/npr-cans-juan-williams-for-addre ssing-reality_ (http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2010/10/npr-cans-juan-williams-for-addressing-reality) "Political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality." Those _apt words_ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRwok2Ffoys) were spoken by journalist Juan Williams on the October 18 edition of Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, during a segment on how to discuss the jihad. Moments later, he uttered remarks addressing too much reality to suit his other employer, National Public Radio: I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. … But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous. Having described his personal feelings, Williams went on to caution against painting Muslims with a broad brush or depriving them of their rights, but that was not sufficient for Islamists and the left. On Wednesday, after a _press release_ (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=xprnw.20101020.DC85774) from _CAIR_ (http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6176) , NPR _fired him_ (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130712737) , stating that his words were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR." He _says_ (http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/21/juan-williams-npr-fired-truth-muslim-garb-airplane-oreilly-ellen-weiss-bush/) that his boss "essentially accus[ed] me of bigotry." A few PC-free observations overlooked elsewhere: * Based on the history of Islamists targeting passenger airliners — _decades of hijackings_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_hijackings) , _Pan Am 103_ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/panam103/timeline.htm) , the _Bojinka plot_ (http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/project_bojinka.htm) , the _9/11 attacks_ (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/americas/2001/day_of_terror/) , the _shoe bomber_ (http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/richard_reid.htm) , _suicide bombings on Russian planes_ (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5810127) , the _transatlantic airline plot_ (http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/uk_foils_transatlantic_bombings.htm) , the _underwear bomber_ (http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-nsd-004.html) , etc. — Williams' fears are far from irrational or bigoted. No, they are the perfectly logical response of someone who understands the bloody trail of jihad and loves life more than terrorists love death. His concerns are shared by millions of travelers, whether or not they admit it. * Flyers might be less worried about Muslim passengers if airport security were not the _sham that it is_ (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/the-things-he-carried/7057/) . Islamic groups like CAIR have much for which to answer here, given their _record of opposing_ (http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2010/02/islamists-play-shell-games-with-security) numerous anti-terrorism measures, from bomb-sniffing dogs to body scanners to profiling. By the way, serious debate on that last option is _long_ (http://www.danielpipes.org/114/not-profiling-at-airports-a-deadly-error) _overdue_ (http://www.danielpipes.org/3890/time-to-profile-airline-passengers) . * Williams is the latest example of a fresh trend: people pushed out of jobs for offending Muslim sensibilities via words said and deeds done outside of their jobs. _Derek Fenton_ (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/14/2010-09-14_koran_burner_derek_fenton_fired_from_his_job_at_nj_trans it.html) was fired from his New Jersey Transit position after burning a Koran; _Thilo Sarrazin_ (http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,716709,00.html) was forced off the board of Germany's Bundesbank for his book slamming multiculturalism. * An interesting contrast: stating that one is "nervous" about Muslims on a plane is grounds for canning the speaker; stating that one is "_nervous_ (http://www.freep.com/article/20100923/NEWS02/9230446/Arab-fest-volunteer-testifies) " about _Christians calmly detailing their faith_ (http://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2010/09/trend-christians-preach-to-muslims-get-arr ested) at an Arab festival is grounds for prosecuting the Christians.
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