Are You Scared?

Are you scared?  This seems to be the pressing issue of the day as we draw closer to the November elections.  This past Saturday, no less of an authority of our national emotions than the President of the United States pronounced that, “Part of the reason that our politics seem so tough right now, and facts and science and argument do not seem to be winning the day all the time, is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared … and the country is scared.”  I don’t know about you, but I’m scared … and common sense tells me that I should be!

I think the President is right:  “facts and science and argument do not seem to be winning the day …”

FACT:  the President made a campaign promise to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

FACT:  on May 27, 2010, the House voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

FACT:  on September 21, 2010, the Senate failed to act upon legislation that would have sent the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to the President for his signature.

FACT:  on October 12, 2010, a Federal District court held the policy to be unconstitutional and issued a worldwide injunction against it.

FACT:  the injunction could have essentially ended the issue and fulfilled the President’s campaign promise, which had garnered great political support within the gay community.

FACT:  on October 20, 2010, the Department of Justice swiftly filed for the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals to issue an emergency order to lift the injunction (which the Court quickly did).

Now, keep in mind this is the same Department of Justice that hasn’t been able to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (who has admitted to planning the attacks on 9/11) since his capture in 2003.  It’s also the same Department of Justice that apparently hasn’t been interested in vigorously prosecuting election fraud or intimidation.  Yet, in just eight days, it successfully filed for an emergency order because of the Constitutional implications of the lower court’s action.  … All facts!  If the issue of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” could have peacefully passed away on October 12, why resuscitate it on October 20?  Unless, of course, the court’s action took away from the political victory that could have been won had the Legislature and the President repealed the policy.  If that’s the case, then let’s not pretend that those two entities really cared about protecting the equal rights of all citizens; let’s just admit that the policy was used as a pawn to attract votes … and that it will continue to be used for such purposes.  Are you scared yet?

Then, there’s the issue of Juan Williams.  If you don’t listen to National Public Radio (NPR), which is partially funded by your tax dollars, or you don’t watch Fox News, you may not know who Juan Williams is.  In a nutshell, Juan Williams is a Democratic political pundit who strongly supported Barack Obama during the Presidential campaign.  He has hosted a show on NPR since 1999 and regularly appears on Fox News as a counterpoint to its generally conservative perspective.  In the latter capacity, he dared to express an honest opinion while serving as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor.  As a result, he was fired by NPR.

The controversy began as a result of Bill O’Reilly’s appearance on The View.  Co-hosts, comedians and “noted political experts,” Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the show when their “arguments” pertaining to the proposed Mosque in New York City didn’t “win the day.”  Poor Juan Williams had the misfortune of being cast into a panel that discussed the issue on O’Reilly’s show on October 18.  Williams said, “When I get on a plane ... if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they’re identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried, I get nervous.”  Now, he went to great lengths to make it clear that he was not transferring guilt for the 9/11 terrorist attack to all Muslims.  He merely was honestly admitting to his own personal feelings. 

NPR was contacted by at least one Muslim group after the show aired.  Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations commented, “NPR should address the fact that one of its news analysts seems to believe that all airline passengers who are perceived to be Muslim can legitimately be viewed as security threats.”  NPR did!

NPR’s CEO, Vivian Schiller, and Senior Vice President for News, Ellen Weiss, released just after midnight:  "Tonight we gave Juan Williams notice that we are terminating his contract as a Senior News Analyst for NPR News.  Juan has been a valuable contributor to NPR and public radio for many years and we did not make this decision lightly or without regret.  However, his remarks on The O’Reilly Factor this past Monday were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a News Analyst with NPR.  We regret these circumstances and thank Juan Williams for his many years of service to NPR and public radio."

Yes, it seems that National Public Radio (which derives about 6% of its budget from our tax dollars) believes that Juan Williams needs to be censored.  After all, he’s a reporter and should only “report.”  I’m sure no one else on NPR has ever proffered a personal experience … or, at least, told the truth.  Are you scared yet?

I do away with “political correctness” in The National Platform of Common Sense because of situations like these.  In today’s world, “political correctness” has become a cancer that has eaten away at the heart of the Constitution.  Consider the First Amendment.  It says, ““Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assem­ble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”  It would seem that Juan Williams’ statement should have been protected on two counts:  “freedom of speech” and “freedom … of the press,” but it apparently made NRP uncomfortable with respect to its lack of perceived “political correctness.”

Juan Williams, who provides a refreshing balance to Fox during his guest appearances, fired back by saying, "(NPR) used an honest statement of feeling as the basis for a charge of bigotry to create a basis for firing me. Well, now that I no longer work for NPR let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought."  Since Juan appears to have been “the only black male on the air,” maybe he wasn’t really fired for his comment on The O’Reilly Factor.  Maybe he was really just fired because Vivian Schiller gets worried and nervous when she sees him.

As an aside, Juan’s comment about the dangers of “one-party rule and one sided thinking” reflect upon why I wrote The Left isn’t Right and The Right is Wrong … to get people to consider both polar extremes and make a rational decision.

I wonder if NPR would have fired Mr. Williams had he indicated that he felt a similar discomfort when observing white men wearing pillowcases over their heads with eye holes cut out of them.  Hmmm, let’s see.  While he clearly wouldn’t be attributing Klan membership to every Caucasian on Earth, the comment would be racially specific.  Yep, I’m pretty sure NPR would have to fire him if an Imperial Wizard or two called the station to complain.

Then, there’s the President’s latest discovery.  “Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ads regularly takes in money from foreign corporations.  So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections, and they won't tell you where the money for their ads comes from.”   The comment references the Chamber of Commerce and its support of the Republican Party.  I think he’s finally exposed the “big business” chicanery we all feared.

FACT:  the Chamber has spent tens of millions of dollars on ads that predominantly support Republican candidates.

FACT:  the Chamber tends to support Republican candidates because Republican candidates are more pro-business.

FACT:  the Chamber does take money from foreign corporations.

FACT:  the Chamber has yet to release its donor list.

I just knew it!  But wait …

FACT:  the unions have spent tens of millions of dollars on ads that predominantly support Democratic candidates.

FACT:  the unions tend to support Democratic candidates because Democratic candidates are more pro-union.

Hmmm …

FACT:  foreign corporations constitute and contribute a comparatively minuscule percentage of the Chamber’s membership and funding

FACT:  the President has accepted more money from the British Petroleum’s Political Action Committee than any other federal official.  In fact, in his two successful campaigns and the 143 days he served as a Senator, he accepted more than any other legislator took from the BP PAC in the past 20 years.

FACT:  the President’s 2008 presidential campaign committee was challenged for accepting massive sums of foreign and otherwise tainted contributions (first alleged by Hillary Clinton’s campaign committee and then reiterated by John McCain’s); all because the President’s campaign committee chose to disable Internet donation verification protocols that were designed to verify addresses and United States citizenship; two critical elements required to preclude foreign contributions as well as the evasion of campaign donation limits (through the use of false names) … not that names that appeared on his donor list like “Good Will” or “Doodad Pro” should raise any flags.

FACT:  the President’s 2008 presidential campaign committee also elected to accept prepaid credit card donations, which essentially precluded any ability to trace the identity of such donors.

But, unlike the Chamber, at least the President’s campaign committee released its donor list (fictitious names and all).  Of course, we’re all still waiting for his birth certificate and college transcripts … but those things take time!

Oh … and for those of you who are into irony:  the fundraiser at which President Obama first explained that we all were just “scared” and not thinking “clearly” … was at the private residence of a wealthy CEO of a New England hospital chain (can you say, “Health Care Reform?”) … and cost $15,200 (or 423 sets of my books) per person to attend.  Believe me:  my books would have been a better deal!

Come on … tell the truth.  If you weren’t scared before … you are now!

*****

Copyright © 2010 T.J. O’Hara. To support viral distribution, this article may be copied, reprinted, forwarded, linked, or published in any form as long as proper attribution is given to the author and no changes are made.