It appears Juan Williams’ firing is just what the public needed to realize their tax dollars are being poorly handled through subsidies from the federal government given to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to prop up National Public Radio.
However, “Red Eye” host Greg Gutfeld makes the most reasonable case not to deprive NPR of its taxpayer subsidies. On the Oct. 23 broadcast of his program, Gutfeld explains to his viewers his case for not defunding the radio organization, but not without taking some jabs their decision to fire his Fox News colleague.
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“So, many people are calling for the defunding of NPR – after all, why should Americans have to pay for something that's so fundamentally anti-American?” Gutfeld said. “Let's face it: They didn't fire Juan Williams for expressing an independent opinion, they fired Juan Williams for expressing an independent opinion that didn't jibe with theirs. And it was worse, because he did it on Fox News – two words that bring a pained sneer across the faces of the already contorted NPR listener.”
So while Gutfeld explained there is a double standard, or perhaps another reason – he explained to his viewers we needed the show around to remind us what an entity propped up by the federal government looks like.
“But, hell, everyone can see NPR's duplicity,” Gutfeld continued. “They never police their lefty employees, and suddenly, Juan Williams is fired? If it wasn't because of his views, what was it then? Was it because he's black? Or because he's black and didn't do what he was told? Anyway, I'm one of the few to say, keep funding NPR because if we don't, they go away. We can't have that. We need them around to remind ourselves what subsidized failure looks like. As long as NPR drones listlessly on, we can point to it and say, ‘Yeah, we're letting it live.’ It's like allowing the drunk at the pub to wipe down the tables for pocket change. It's more out of pity, than anything.”
NPR, along with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private non-profit corporation created by an act of Congress to promote public broadcasting. According to the Associated Press, some 15 percent of public broadcasting's funding comes from the federal government. The CPB's latest annual budget was $430 million according to PBS chief Paula Kerger.
Gutfeld associated the situation with what MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow did earlier this week. As Newsbusters’ Jack Coleman pointed out, Maddow accused a member of Congress of having advanced knowledge of Timothy McVeigh’s plot to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma Cityand then attempted to recreate Maddow’s reaction following people pointing out this oversight on her part.
“Which leads me to that thing with Rachel Maddow,” he said. “Remember, she accused a man of having advanced knowledge of the Oklahoma bombing. When exposed for her error, she blamed it on an editing mistake - and then angrily mocked those who corrected her. It was scary. Anyway, if you want to see the face of the angry and the entitled, that was it. How else can you explain someone assuming her mistakes are above reproach? But hey - what do you expect from someone who had a heads-up on 9/11? I kid, Rachel – we'll fix that in edit. And if you disagree with me, you're a racist, homophobic, editphobe.”
