Political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don't address reality. I mean, look Bill [O'Reilly], I'm not a bigot, you know the kind of books I've written on the civil rights movement in this country, but when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous. Now, I remember also that when the Times Square bomber was at court, I think this was just last week. He said the war with Muslims, America's war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts. But I think there are people who want to somehow remind us all as President Bush did after 9/11, it's not a war against Islam.
Sarah Palin and her crew are saying that it is proof of how the 'liberal media' is trying to stay politically correct. House Minority Leader John Boehner has called on Congress to stop funding the National Public Radio. I do understand their argument, but the opponents of the firing seem to forget one thing: NPR is a brand first and foremost.
NPR is a company with an image to maintain, if one of their commentators says something that can endanger the image they worked to build, I agree that they have the right (and need) to fire the employee in order to maintain the image. Just because NPR is publicly funded does not mean that it is not indifferent from any other company. Just like most employers, NPR expects its employees to say things that would not reflect poorly on NPR. Yes, Williams' words were his own opinion, but as the saying goes "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." NPR, I assume, wants to keep a pro-Islam image; if an employee says something publicly like what Williams did, it endangers that image.
In social media, there is an adage: "it takes hundreds of posts to build a reputation, but just one to ruin it."
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