NATIONAL PUPPET RADIO

Okay. My bloomers have rarely been so politically wadded as during the past few years, but today's firing of Juan Williams by NPR has steam coming from my ears.  I rarely agree with Williams but I believe him to be fair, articulate of his points of view, and most likely a nice neighbor.
Juan has had the nerve, according to the CEO of NPR, to express opinions not in keeping with the NPR guidelines. He had been reprimanded several times prior to his comments on Bill O'Reilly regarding being wary of Muslims on aircraft.  I wonder of Ms. Shiller, said CEO, ever had those feelings of uneasiness when passengers in Muslim garb passed her in first class on their way to the back of the plane?  According to what I have read MOST Americans, since 9/11, are fearful of Muslims in flight - let's just call it self-preservation.
On NPR's website they have used taxpayer dollars to bash Conservative Tea Partiers---  “Learn to Speak Teabag” - ridiculing the Tea Party movement.  I suppose Juan would still have his job if he joined in bashing Conservatives.
Is Sarah Spitz still gainfully employed at NPR?  If you were in the presence of a man having a heart attack, how would you respond? As he clutched his chest in desperation and pain, would you call 911? Would you try to save him from dying? Of course you would. But if that man was Rush Limbaugh, and you were Sarah Spitz, a producer for National Public Radio (Spitz was a producer for NPR affiliate KCRW for the show Left, Right & Center), that isn’t what you’d do at all. Spitz wrote that she would “Laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out” as Limbaugh writhed in torment.
In boasting that she would gleefully watch a man die in front of her eyes, Spitz seemed to shock even herself. “I never knew I had this much hate in me,” she wrote. “But he deserves it.”   So let me understand.  This unbiased fair-minded employee is A-OK, but Juan is done.
Politics aside, this is a scary slippery slope - when journalists are canned for having an opinion. There is sooo much wrong with what is happening to our country now that I don't have the bytes to explain it. I can say - BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID.  Maybe, as my friend says - NPR is actually National Pravda Radio.

Oh and by the way, here are some statistics from NPR's latest Listener Survey:

NPR News listeners are 84% white.
They are 78% more likely to categorize themselves as "liberal" and 2.27 times more likely to categorize themselves as "very liberal."
They are 97% more likely to belong to a country club.
They are 8.86 times more likely to read The Atlantic Monthly, and 5.66 times more likely to read The New Yorker. They are 73% less likely to read The Source.
They prefer Leno to Letterman and Conan to Kimmel, but they do like Letterman 17% better than the rest of America.
They're about 2.5 times more likely to visit Europe.
They are 58% more likely than the average American to play Frisbee, and 3.72 times more likely to go cross-country skiing. They are 2.22 times more likely to do Yoga. They are also 30% less likely to watch Pro Wrestling on TV.
In their leisure time, they are 79% more likely to birdwatch, 67% more likely to play chess, and 42% more likely to collect electric trains.
They are 92 percent more likely to shop at Nordstrom.
They are 41% less likely to buy a rap CD, and 93% more likely to buy a New Age CD.

They are 81% more likely to own an espresso maker.

They are three times more likely to own a Volvo, three times more likely to own a Subaru, and 3.9 times more likely to own a Saab.

They are 68% more likely to buy soy milk, and 67% more likely to buy veggie burgers.

They are 56% more likely to have a housekeeper.

Sound like your neighbors?  I didnt think so!