A quick search through Memeorandum shows the left is all over the NPR story — not! Although I did find a few gems.
At Politico, Ben Smith bravely ignored the meat of the story, that NPR chiefs were wiling to cozy up to the Muslim Brotherhood for the right price, to focus on the gristle. He writes that “The resignation of NPR’s CEO is a vindication for James O’Keefe’s guerilla, campaign-style tactics in the a broader political arena.” A pox on all our houses is just the right medicine for Smith.
MSNBC gave it a straight-news writeup, but some of the comments are predictably vile. The very first one says, “Sad when one speaks the truth then he must step down because a bunch of bats$*t crazy loons get insulted, never mind all the hate speech they’ve bestowed upon the President and Democrats over the past two years, nah that’s ok, as long as it’s them saying it.” We’re still waiting for those videotapes of Tea Party hate speech. And waiting.
The Atlantic‘s Chris Good concentrated on the fundraising angle — NPR’s future fundraising, not on what other tainted money it might have already taken. Say, there’s a good story idea for a sharp, investigative journalist. Any takers?
Finally, The Agonist is in suitable agony. The reaction there reads, in part, “Unlike Juan Williams, who was spewing fear-mongering, racist b——-, Schiller simply told the truth. Americans love to say we have freedom of speech, but that only goes so far, the moment you speak an uncomfortable truth, you’re fired.”
Actually, what Williams said was this:
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. Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts.
Hold on, because if you said Timothy McVeigh, the Atlanta bomber, these people who are protesting against homosexuality at military funerals—very obnoxious—you don’t say first and foremost, “We got a problem with Christians.” That’s crazy.
To paraphrase, Williams said, “I have human fears, just like anybody, but that’s no way to make policy.”
Now that’s a far cry from “fear-mongering, racist b——-.” And it’s any even further cry from offering to promote the views of a terror organization in exchange for cold, hard cash. But in any case, unlike Williams, Vivian Schiller wasn’t fired — she resigned. Other than that, The Agonist is spot-on target.
It’s going to be a fun couple more days of blogspotting before this one blows over.
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