The Politically Correct Folly

Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on
--Tears for Fears

I've long regarded Juan Williams among the sharpest political and social analysts in media. From the get go, he earned my respect not only with keen insight, but with a balanced perspective and a candid, respectful demanor--a rare blend these days.

Yesterday NPR fired Williams for remarks he made on O'Reilly's show Monday nite.

This is a laughably sad move by NPR, an outlet that has squandered any modicum of equity that it was building w/ me.

I saw the O'Reilly segment live Monday nite. The segment was built on a thesis floated by O'Reilly that we, with emphasis on those on the Left, have evolved a culture of 'political correctness' that has gone too far. Routinely, people are being sanctioned for saying/writing things that are factually correct yet claimed as being offensive to some group or individual.

A motivator for O'Reilly's thesis was a recent appearance he made on a Leftist TV talk show where, during a 'conversation' (which resembled more like a 4 on 1 assault) with the hosts, O'Reilly stated that 'Muslims killed us on 9/11,' whereupon one of the hosts cursed at O'Reilly and joined another in walking off the set.

O'Reilly's statement, of course, was factually accurate. But it was deemed as 'offensive' to some.

Williams agreed with O'Reilly's thesis (which may have been the key issue with Leftist overseers). During his comments, Williams noted that after what transpired on 9/11, when he's on an airplane and he sees people in Muslim garb, 'I get worried. I get nervous.'

As this is a self-reported statement of how he behaves or feels, the issue can not be that this statement is not factual or sincere. Rather, it appears that Williams' reaction to the situation--i.e., being worried or nervous when being on a plane with Muslims post 9/11--is what offends some people. His statement were factual and sincere, but not politically correct.

While some claim Williams' remarks are those of an irrational bigot, his reaction can reasonably be framed as a rational response to threat. A properly functioning human mind encodes data from dangerous situations past, and brings those memories to bear when moving thru the present. Occaisionally, the mind recognizes patterns in present situations that resemble those from past dangers. A threat is signalled.

Patterns that motivate a threat signal might include an unlit street at night, dark alleys, high crime neighborhoods, cars with tinted windows and rumbling sub woofers, and, yes, people dressed in Muslim garb on airplanes post 9/11.

I feel exactly the same as Juan.

Another word that describes this pattern recognition process is 'profiling' which, naturally, has become associated with behavior deemed...not politically correct. In fact, objections to profiling have gotten so loud that we discourage police from saying that they profile when investigating criminal activity. Riiiiight.

I certainly hope Mr Williams does not get discouraged from this turn of events and that he does not change his ways. Pls stay the course, Juan.

Meanwhile, market strength of Left leaning media outlets continues to dwindle, while Fox's market power continues to grow. Leftists remain largely clueless in explaining this phenomenon.

In markets, supply follows demand. Perhaps demand for 'politically correct' is not as strong as the Left believes...