PrintOctober 24, 2010
Juan Williams Is Living the American Dream
The overwhelming reaction from all sides to NPR's recent firing of Juan Williams has touched something deep in our psyche. Everyone who has ever been fired for reasons he thought were unwarranted has longed for the chance to go public and garner sympathy for his cause. We are all saying, "Way to go, Juan!" as we watch our post-firing fantasies unfurl before our eyes.
This is the stuff of hit Hollywood movies. Juan was fired in a despicable manner by totally unsympathetic bosses over an incident almost everyone agrees is insignificant and unwarranted. On top of this, Juan is a dedicated liberal who devoted himself for ten years to the NPR cause only to get thrown under the bus when CAIR exerted pressure on the people he thought would support him. The best part of all is that this was done in the broadcast world, which guaranteed that Juan's story would be pushed out to everyone in America. Talk about a platform for grievance! To top it off, Juan is immediately offered employment by his conservative supporters, who go out of their way to show support for an esteemed colleague with an even more lucrative contract. Folks, this truly is the stuff of dreams.
We've all been there. Unceremoniously fired over an insignificant event and left to our fantasies for sympathetic retribution that avenges our honor over the uncaring fools too stupid to realize they have made a colossal mistake. Everyone in America is living vicariously through Juan Williams and saying to himself that this is the way it's supposed to be. Even those who don't particularly like Juan's views are cheering him on for living the fantasy they've only been able to dream about until now.
Given our economy, the house with the white picket fence isn't going to happen, but Juan showed it was possible to get even for getting fired. Make no mistake: liberals have created a powerful enemy by denigrating an eloquent individual who knows their side well and will be able to expose their tactics. One could not help but notice the contempt Juan now has for his former liberal colleagues in his appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" Thursday night. I, for one, am looking forward to Juan's inevitable exposés on political correctness and how it is destroying free speech in this country.
When we are denied the ability to speak freely about our concerns for fear of being labeled judgmental, we develop an attitude that suppresses concerns and fosters contempt of the situation and the climate that chills our ability to speak. The comment that might freely be made and met with mild unthreatening criticism is now suppressed, catalogued with similar examples, and left to fester without benefit of alternating viewpoints that might serve to enlighten the individual and mitigate his thinking. He or she is left to seek out like-minded others with whom to share their common views and grumble over their inability to speak freely.
Liberals love to invoke McCarthyism when they are criticized for taking unpopular stands or uttering unpopular speech. They wrap themselves in the Constitution and demand their right to be heard. However, when conservatives exercise their right to free speech on issues offensive to liberals, liberals immediately invoke the cloak of political correctness to silence debate and shame their opponents into guilt.
Bill O'Reilly was right when he said on "The View" that Muslims attacked us on 9/11. Juan Williams expressed the fear we all have about conspicuous Muslims after 9/11 but are unable to expose for fear of the inevitable political correctness backlash. We're smart enough to realize that these were Muslim extremists and resent having to be told so every time. After all, anyone perpetrating evil on that scale has to be an extremist.
Facts are stubborn things, and they don't disappear just because we aren't allowed to discuss them. Muslims did attack us on 9/11, we view Muslims with some degree of trepidation, and we are not comforted by our increased knowledge of Islam. Islam admonishes its believers that upon encountering an infidel (anyone not a Muslim), they are to convert the infidel, subjugate the infidel through a tax, or kill the infidel. No fourth choice. Not a comforting thought when we are bombarded by claims of moderate Islam.
In contrast, Christians are taught to love their enemy, turn the other cheek, and do unto others as they would like done unto themselves. You tell me which approach sounds more moderate. My only conclusion is that a moderate Muslim is one who doesn't really practice his faith as scripturally commanded, which raises the question of why he continues to identify as a Muslim.
Bill O'Reilly and Juan Williams have touched off a debate that has been sorely lacking in America and is crucial to identifying our enemy and dealing effectively with him. Save for the occasional nutjob, Americans aren't attacking Muslims, and Americans continue to abhor injustice towards anyone. We have remained calm and rational in the face of attack, but we are tired of being lectured to by a bunch of liberal elites convinced we are too stupid to run our own lives. Rational and nuanced debate over these issues is crucial to our national conversation and to promoting understanding between both sides.
Political correctness is a dangerous tool employed to silence the opposition by those lacking articulate arguments to support their flawed thinking. This is the message that the enterprising Hollywood screenwriter should endeavor to leave his audience with as he pens what is sure to be a blockbuster movie.
Tom Roberson is an independent conservative doing his small part to save his country. He can be reached at trobe9@gmail.com.
