National Public Radio (NPR) clearly violated Juan Williams first amendment rights when firing the news analyst and a commentator on Fox News when he told Bill O’Reilly on Fox that he gets nervous when he sees people in Muslim garb on an airline.  So do I.

So do most of the people in the United States since 9/11.  The attack on the United States was carried out by Muslims, they killed Americans, not dissimilar to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, nor the invasion of Europe by Germany in the late 30′s.

No they are not a country, but there are enough of them to form a country.  They are a religion.  I really don’t see the distinction between the two, especially when the non-terrorist Muslims do little to condemn the attacks, even the moderates , like the Emir in New York who wants to build a mosque near ground zero who has been quoted as saying America brought the attacks on themselves.

However, to be politically correct the US selected, at first, to call the perpetrators “terrorists” and an “extreme” small portion of the good ones.

In other words don’t condemn all because of the actions of a few.

And then to be more politically correct the Obama administration removed the word ‘terrorists.’

But then again the shoe bomber who fumbled his mission in blowing up a plane was a Muslim; the Captain in Fort Hood who opened fire on his fellow soldiers killing many was a Muslim and the foiled attempt to cause havoc with a van full of bombs in Times Square was a Muslim.

You see if it looks like a Muslim, acts like a Muslim, it just very well might be a terrorist.

NPR is more likely to be known today as National Progressive Radio, an arm of the Obama administration and a mouthpiece for the progressive movement, or what I would define as a Marxist revolution being implemented by  Obama and his close aide, George Soros, who recently made a contribution to NPR of $1.8 million to hire reporters.  You can count on the new hires being extreme left wing liberals.

Where did this brouhaha all start?

Well it began with Bill O’Reilly’s appearance on ABC’s The View when O’Reilly said that Muslims killed us on 9/11.

This sent left wingers Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar off the deep end and both walked off the stage followed by a strong reprimand from Barbara Walters.  Nevertheless it was an event that had legs in the news industry.

O’ Reilly brought on guests to discuss his appearance on The View.

One guest was Juan Williams.

“Where am I going wrong here, Juan?” O’Rreilly asked.

Williams said that too much political correctness can get in the way of reality.

“I mean, look, Bill I’m not a bigot.  You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country,” Williams said.  “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 are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried, I get nervous”

He went on to say that not everyone in a religious group – Christian or Muslim – should be lumped together with extremist.

(It is interesting to note at this point that Jesse Jackson has been quoted as saying that he feels more comfortable walking down a street when white’s are following than blacks.)

After 10 years working for NPR, Williams was fired over the phone by an underling, who told him the decision was not hers but came from above.

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller said today speaking in Alanta, that controversial opinions should not come from NPR reporters or news analysts and that whatever feelings Williams has about Muslims should be between him and “his psychiatrist or his publicist.”

Schiller later apologized for the psychiatrist comment.  Nevertheless, not being a lawyer, I have a gut feeling that NPR is on tenuous ground from a legal standpoint on the first amendment issue, as well as a libel charge on the psychiatrist comment, despite the apology.

It has been reported that NPR was looking for a way to fire Williams for some time because of his association with Fox.

You see Williams was a ‘senior news analyst’ not a reporter, not a correspondent.  His obligation was to analyze the news, to offer opinion, not at all different from what takes place in this column.

While NPR correspondents also inject their opinions into their articles which by journalistic definition should not occur, do not seem to be objectionable because they appear to represent the left wing agenda and the political administration they represent with taxpayer money.

The issue here goes beyond Williams comments, it represents a fundamental taxpayer question: Why are we funding NPR to the tune of $495 million with taxpayer money when they represent one side of our democracy’s political spectrum?

Juan Williams a likable liberal, who’s comments, although coming from the left, are always balanced and fair. He is a journeyman of journalists. he was a longtime reporter, columnist and editorial writer at the Washington Post.  He has written extensively on the civil rights movement, including a book on the African-American religious experience and a biography of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Fox News announced this evening that Williams has been reassigned to an expanded role at Fox.

This is a travisty for NPR, one that requires a Congressional investigation because taxpayer money is involved in the support of this alleged, one-sided liberal news organization.

Interestingly, Whoopi Goldberg, the dread lock  co-host on The View, who walked off the stage over the O’Reilly comment, defended Williams comment and didn’t believe he should have been fired.

Now Goldberg’s comments are often foul, and she lived up to her image today when calling the firing of Williams by NPR ‘a mistake’, adding, “But I’m like bad gas I’m around everywhere.”

For once Whoopi got something right.