Jul 26, 2009
I was in a state of shock this morning watching Juan Williams on Fox News Sunday. Being a somewhat regular viewer of the show and being aware of Juan Williams, I regularly brace myself for some of the nonsense that comes out of his mouth, in what can only appear to be an attempt to cement his spot on the Fox network as the contrarian negro who will sometimes jump in on Obama bashing. It’s not uncommon for alleged liberals to seek job security by eschewing objectivity/reality and joining in on the mindless Obama bashing that far too often occurs on Fox. Alan Colmes did it, Mara does it, plenty of people do it on occasion. The segment on July 26th was completely different. Never before have I seen such a horrid display of shoe shining and Massa pleasing as I saw this morning from Juan.
The discussion was around the incident involving Professor Henry Louis Gates and the Officer Crowley in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We all know the story, Prof. Gates had to break into his own home, someone saw him and called the police, the police responded, Gates was able to show his right to be in the house, a verbal altercation ensued, Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct. The ability to diffuse the situation stands on both of the shoulders of Gates and Crowley, but neither took the opportunity to do so. The charge was subsequently dropped after the public attention. The president stated that the police actions were “stupid” and even went through the effort of prefacing that his perspective was based on what he was aware of but additional facts were still to be provided.
Juan Williams decided on Fox News Sunday that he wanted to say that the president “harmed the nation” by speaking his mind on the issue and referencing the fact that he had worked against police brutality, police misconduct, and racial profiling as a State Senator in Illinois. So Juan’s thought process appears to be, that the president can’t make statements of fact (it is a fact that the actions were stupid, otherwise the charges wouldn’t have been dropped so quickly) if it ends up offending enough white people (especially Fox viewers) because then it becomes a “mistake” in a political sense. Well Juan, not everyone cares about politics. Well someone should tell Juan that not everything is about politics. Sometimes its about life, respect of our rights as citizens, and general dignity. Obama was right to and should continue to speak out against injustices that appear
He then went on to say that Gates was “wrong” for exercising his constitutional right to free speech at what he considered abuse. He cited his own experience of being “deferential” to the police (read shoe shining and acting submissive) and suggested that that was appropriate course for all black men to take. Now SHOULD Gates have been yelling at the officer, demeaning him for doing what according to (flawed) procedures is considered correct? Some would say, yes some would say no. But the fact remains that Gates had EVERY right to do it. I’m not sure if Juan Williams understands this, but there is this little known document called the Constitution of the United States of America that allows for us to speak out against the government without fear of retribution (i.e. getting arrested/harassed). This is the reason why the charges were dropped. The police knew they did not have a case and would have likely been sued had they pursued the case.
Juan Williams should know this, specifically because he portends himself to be an expert on just about everything, and loves to jump in the conversation whenever race becomes an issue. Now Juan has done important work in helping to complete portions of the historical record of civil rights but his consistent efforts to castigate Obama and other African Americans simply to ensure his place as the go-to negro for the Fox News Channel is becoming old. Now we all know that Fox News isn’t going to lose this golden child of theirs who gives space to the idiots on that channel who speak out of ignorance and sometimes hatred when it comes to issues of race. But we can pressure NPR to rebuke, question, or take him off of their air for these idiotic remarks. This guy is a joke. I have left contact information for NPR below.
http://help.npr.org/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=5670&task=ticket
In the section titled “I Want To” select “Contact a Show”.
Juan regularly contributes to “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered”.
You can also contact NPR directly over the phone at (202) 513-3232. They only take calls M-F 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET.
**** This post will be updated throughout the day when the video from this morning’s broadcast of Fox News Sunday becomes available. The video and specific timeframes for Juan’s idiotic comments will be documented in the post as it becomes available*******
Based on your lead-in to Williams’ comments, you clearly had an ax to grind with him before he said anything about the Gates case.
That police “acted stupidly” is not a fect, but merely an opinion that you share with the President.
http://www.masscriminaldefense.com/disorderly.htm defines disorderly conduct. If the police reports are accurate (and we have no reason to believe otherwise), the proper action was taken.
Even though you claim the proper action was taken, the powers that be came to a different conclusion and dropped the charges.
So which is it? Did they knowingly let a criminal go free or were they wrong to arrest him initially?
I completely agree with you about NPR. They are the ones to pressure. It’s still unlikely to help, but the reason Williams is given any credibility at all on Fox is because of his affiliation with NPR.
And his “analysis” on the two shows is so completely different. He tempers his BS when he’s on NPR programs. But is he really the “political thought” they want?
Juan williams and the other jerks refuse to listen to prez obama! He said at the press conf that he didn’t know enough about the case to say it was ‘racial’ but what he DID know from the reports he heard that the cambridge police acted stupidly for arresting a man in his own home after proving he lived there! Turns out our prez was RIGHT again! After gates showed two ID’s the cop should have then granted gates’ request and given him his name and badge #, then he should have left gates ranting and walked out! Cops are trained to take insults and name calling if their EGOS and HURT FEELINGS can take it!
I think class and race did play a role in the Gates/Crowley confrontion. We have to remember that we are human beings, and we also rely on our past experiences to make judgement may it be good or bad. The situation was matter of my penis is bigger than yours. However, when Crowley confirmed Gates ID, he should have left the house. He basically Gates for yelling at him which one would think that a police officer like Crowley should be use to. Conflict resolution is a part of Crowley’s police training and it seemed to have gone by the wayside when dealing with Gates.
Take a look at this story
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/07/officer_suspend.html
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