Juan Williams on the O’Reilly incident…
FNC’s Juan Williams writes a piece in Time magazine talking about the Bill O’Reilly incident…
The lesson from the rappers and comedians is that any young brother or sister who is proud to be black has to treat education with indifference, dismiss love and marriage as the business of white people and dress like the rappers who dress like prisoners — no comb in the jail so they wear doo-rags all day, and no belts so their pants hang down around their butts.
That was the heart and soul of the conversation between O’Reilly and me. The point of the whole exchange was to defeat corrupt, untrue and racist images of real black people.
So imagine how totally astounded I was when I heard O’Reilly was attacked on the basis of that radio conversation as a “racist.” He was slammed for saying he went to a restaurant in Harlem and had a good time. He was slammed for saying the audience at the concert was nicely dressed. The suggestion was that O’Reilly had racist preconceptions about the restaurant and the concert crowd.
That twisted assumption led me to say publicly that the attacks on O’Reilly amounted to an effort to take what he said totally out of context in an attempt to brand him a racist by a liberal group that disagrees with much of his politics. But the out-of-context attacks on O’Reilly picked up speed and ended up on CNN, where one commentator branded me a “Happy Negro” for allowing O’Reilly to get by with making racist comments without objection.
This is so far from the truth of the conversation on the radio that it is beyond a matter of words being taken out of context. This is a pathetic cowardly, personal attack against me intended to damage my credibility and invalidate any support I offer to O’Reilly against the charges that he is a racist.
Juan’s opinion is critical, since he was party to the conversation and knew the exact context in which everything was said. Case closed.
Now let’s go after John Edwards, who made some incredibly racist comments regarding black men, their mortality and propensity to commit crimes.
Comment by Missy — September 29, 2007 @ 8:20 pm
To view the rebuttal of Juan Williams and Bill O’Reilly in regards to comments made by CNN, go to thirdrailradio.com
Comment by Third Rail — September 29, 2007 @ 8:58 pm
juan williams is one ” happy negro “” he is the uncle tom of the new century !!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by michael — September 29, 2007 @ 9:40 pm
michael… I’m glad that people like you have traded in your white sheets for suits and ties… but we still recognize you for the ACTUAL racist that you are.
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 29, 2007 @ 9:56 pm
INB, I’m not convinced that michael wears a suit - unless it’s an ape costume.
Comment by Amused — September 29, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
It looks like Michael could use a nap or some milk and cookies
Comment by mike — September 29, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
I think some applesauce would be better… it’s impossible to be unhappy while eating applesauce.
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 29, 2007 @ 10:36 pm
michael,
So you hate any black person who is not a rabid left-winger. Instead of respecting people who can think for themselves, you’d rather they all fall in line with only one line of thinking. Real diversity, isn’t it?
Whatever. But can you tell us why you are not offended about the comments made by John Edwards? In case you’re living in a cave and haven’t yet heard them, here they are, again:
“We start with the president of the United States saying to America, ‘we cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”
We’re anxiously awaiting your very well-thought out answer.
Comment by Missy — September 29, 2007 @ 11:06 pm
If Juan wants to talk about cowardice, what do you call someone who allows himself to be bitch slapped, talked over, and shouted down by by people like Britt Hume, Sean Hannity, Bill O’reilly, or any other Fox talking head who wants to use Juan as a punching bag? Fox pays you pretty well, huh Juan?
BTW, how is Juan getting along with Mark Furhman? I’ll bet they’re BFF.
Comment by Dennis M — September 30, 2007 @ 12:21 am
This is the typical liberal mindset. They claim to be tolerant and accepting of everyone and that it’s conservatives who are racists.
Then, a minority like Juan Williams, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Michael Steele, etc. come along… and the knives come out. “Uncle Tom”, “Happy Negro”, etc. Really disgusting stuff, guys. You should be really proud.
And Dennis, I doubt you ever bother to actually watch FNC. If you did, you would know that Juan more than holds his own with Hume, Hannity, O’Reilly, etc. I recall some heated debates he’s had on Fox News Sunday with Brit Hume, but I don’t remember a single time he was ever “bitch slapped”, “talked down”, or “shouted over”.
Williams is one of the best reporters in American and a diehard liberal. You clowns just be glad he eloquently defends your positions on FNC.
Instead, you expose how ignorant your ilk is.
Comment by bigred — September 30, 2007 @ 12:29 am
Juan Williams is so simple minded… as long as the checks keep coming from FOX! Anyway, I don’t think Billo said anythinbg offensive but I enjoyed seeing him get a taste of his own medicine.
After his pathetic smear against Dailykos and anything that is not conservative, after pretending to be offended by rap b/c of how they mistreat women but then telling Howard Stern he listens to him all the time, and after calling for a boycott every 5 minutes ( white america’s sharpton I tell ya, no wonder they get along), it was nice to see him get a taste of his own “phony outrage” medicine.
Comment by Melinda — September 30, 2007 @ 1:07 am
So, Juan is “simple minded” even though you don’t think O’Reilly said anything wrong, therefore you agree Juan is right to agree with him. Um… what?
Now, let’s go over your other complaints:
“Smear against DailyKOS”… or in other words, saying they’re a left-wing site that traffics in promoting the hatred of all things non-liberal.
“Pretending to be offended by rap”… or pointing out the violent lyrics that the libs are too afraid to complain about, for fear they’ll be called racists, and they saying that they have no business being sponsored by companies that advertise to children.
“Calling for a boycott every 5 minutes”… or calling for a boycott of France, about six years ago.
But here’s what really disappoints me about people like you, Melinda… you can go on and on about how awful someone like O’Reilly is… and then gleefully clap when something unfair or bad happens to him. You see, that’s hypocrisy… and shows that you have no spine. Either it’s bad when one person does it, so it’s bad when everyone does it… or you’re just a shill, looking out to smear anyone who disagrees with you… no matter how or why.
Proud hypocrites… I’ll never understand hem.
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 30, 2007 @ 1:28 am
“them” not “hem”
Stupid wireless keyboard dropping letters.
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 30, 2007 @ 1:29 am
I’ve wondered if these comments about Juan Williams are really conservatives trying to make lefties look bad because I have a hard time believing that some liberals could be that stupid AND racist.
Comment by Edward Schatz — September 30, 2007 @ 4:23 am
Who said of African American males: “They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.” Matthews and Sanchez, are you going after this racist remark? John Edwards prepared to be skewered…NOT! Oh, really, it’s just context? So O’Reilly can’t put out there how some in white American perceive their culture due to stereotypical images in the media, but Edwards will get a pass on his stereotypical view of these men. Educated, hardworking, overcoming African-American men, you should be mad as hell and speak up like Juan Williams!
Comment by Else — September 30, 2007 @ 8:18 am
I love it there are so many people that HATE Fox, they can’t stand the fact that there is a network that puts on both sides. Juan, Colms, Gretta and the loopy Rivera along with the conservatives.
Comment by Kirk G — September 30, 2007 @ 10:35 am
Re: O’Reilly & Edwards
1. Obviously “Billo” had never been in a “black” restaurant before. No need to be surprised if he had. Sorry, it was racist, whether or not deliberate,
2. Are you sure Edwards was being racist? Is Jena6 already forgotten? Top of the racist list display strong belief that blacks are second on the list of “different” rules. And unless things have changed drastically, it’s still a problem of blacks killing blacks.
We’re just keeping it honest, Bill. Why won’t you give that a shot?
Maggie
Comment by Maggie — September 30, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I watched Rick Sanchez this morning on CNN and he is back peddling now, his problem with O’Reilly now, is that he is a Bully, what a reversal, and he is really unhappy with the tag given to Juan Williams. Media Matters has a really hard time smearing African Americans, don’t get me wrong they try it just keeps backfiring on them. That is how they operate they smear and hope something will stick. Not this time, and all the people, who followed their lead this time..got the Media Matters “Taint” on themselves. I really didn’t realize just how “LAZY” the News outlets were till this event happened. They want something negative to be true about their competition so badly, the last thing they want to do is fact check a story. Isn’t this what happened to Dan Rather…can’t these folks in the News Industry learn from examples? That is the definition of insanity repeating the same behavior over and over again, and expecting a different outcome. The remedy for Unpopular Speech, isn’t Less Speech, it is More Speech. Don’t like what your watching or listening to? change the channel.
Comment by Ree — September 30, 2007 @ 11:15 am
#15, I know facts are a difficult think for libs like you to deal with, so here’s one for your. Sharpton and O’Reilly have dinner in Harlem every year. This wasn’t the first time.
Thanks for your insightful comments, though.
Comment by bigred — September 30, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
bigred… you meant #17
But to add to what you’ve said… a question, what the heck does that second part mean at all? “Top of the racist list display strong belief that blacks are second on the list of “different” rules.” Um, what?
Comment by ImNotBlue — September 30, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
DennisM, what kind of pinhead thinking is that? Anyone who’s ever seen O’Reilly knows that he uses the those tactics with everyone; black or white, male or female, etc. He states that he cuts people off or argues with them when they won’t answer his questions or are “spinning”. Do you want him to treat Juan differently because he’s black? Wouldn’t that be indicative of bias?
I am still waiting for some liberal SOMEWHERE to come out and condemn the statements made by John Edwards. Iknow, maybe they weren’t discussed on this morning’s political talk because they’ll all be having specials on this horrendous language tonight. And maybe something’s wrong with the blogosphere and the comments are stuck in some queue somewhere. Yeah, that’s it!
Comment by Missy — September 30, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
Uh, yeah Missy, don’t hold your breath. Only conservatives get condemned and forced to resign for any remark that could possibly be taken to be racist in any way. The Democrats on the other hand have a former head of the KKK serving in Congress.
Comment by Laurel — September 30, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Nice to see some of the “intellect” the bubbles up over at Media Matters and KOS come ove here. They have been caught lying (again) and instead of facing that fact, they hurl racist slimes against Williams.
Comment by eddiebear — September 30, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
Spud, your commenters’ propensity for bashing other commenters is getting out of hand.
Comment by Arthur — September 30, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
Missy, I’m a liberal, but I won’t condemn John Edwards. I took him at his word when he said that he misspoke. If it means anything, I also took Trent Lott at his word when he said that he wasn’t meaning to be racist when he made his comments about Strom Thurmond.
Comment by Lark22 — September 30, 2007 @ 6:21 pm