By now, I am sure everyone has heard this story. National Public Radio (NPR) fired Juan Williams, respected author, journalist and political commentator, for comments he made on Fox News’ The Factor with Bill O’Reilly. This story has caused such an uproar that it has crossed the border and is making news here. It isn’t simply Americans, but Canadians are really feeling the pinch when it comes to political correctness and censorship by the left of ideas they find inappropriate. I hope Williams understands that he has those who appreciate his incite and that most Canadians are outraged at the treatment he has received from NPR, especially at the slanderous comments from NPR CEO Vivian Schiller, after a decade of dedicated service.
Being that this is now news within Canada, our own Michael Coren raised the issue on his show today. I will admit that I do enjoy watching his show. Much, if not most of the time I agree with him, and I have blogged about issues raised Michael has raised on his show before. I have also blogged about times when I felt Coren wasn’t being balanced,when I felt he was being unfair, and when I felt that he was drifting towards irresponsibility. Suffice to say, this is one of those times where Coren and I are in perfect agreement. Here’s the video courtesy of SDAMatt2…
The first comment I would like to make is to my American readership. Michael Shapcott is in no way a representation of how the majority, or any significant number of Canada feel about this issue. He works for a non-profit “think-tank” called the Wellesley Institute which is supposed to be “non-partisan” like NPR, so it is easy to see how he can share similarly twisted views. Shapcott’s comments border on the absurd and for him to suggest that Juan Williams, being a public figure, shouldn’t be allowed to think or feel that way, is downright “Orwellian”. People are entitled to there own thoughts and feelings, a concept which escapes this far-left radical.
The second comment I would like to make is that I applaud Coren and the other two panelists for going after Shapcott for his nonsensical ramblings. It shows viewers that this kind of politically correct intolerance will not be tolerated by clear thinking Canadians. As Hot Air’s Allahpundit pointed out, his comments were not the only reason for his firing. The new management at NPR, as Williams himself explains, didn’t want someone who would not only not push their political agenda, but would regularly appears as a political commentator on Fox News, the nemesis of all far-left media outlets. This kind of rabid political partisanship shouldn’t be allowed, especially from a publicly funded media outlet. With that said, I would also support the push to defund NPR. While Canadians have their issues with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), NPR has repeatedly crossed lines that (which was discussed in Michelle Malkin’s column this morning), thankfully, CBC has not ventured anywhere near, at least as of yet.
The troubling issue here is that if this kind of extreme politically correct intolerance can happen in the United States of America, which is relatively more conservative than Canada, it can and will occur here. While we have seen numerous attempts to censor conservatives like Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant, I believe that our own freedom of speech has become far to limited. If the “Ann Coulter incident” is any indication, political correctness, especially within public institutions, has already crossed lines it shouldn’t have.
It won’t be long before Canada has it’s own “Juan Williams”, someone punished not just for his or her associations, but for simply thinking and feeling the “wrong way”… Disturbing…
