GOVERNMENT GRANTEE PERSONNEL NEWS – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  NPR, the (partly) government-financed radio service sometimes known as Radio Havana North, has made some personnel decisions in the light of its firing of Juan Williams for daring to say prohibited things, and to say them on prohibited Fox News.  From WaPo:

NPR's top news editor resigned Thursday after an internal review found that the Washington news organization mishandled the firing of news analyst Juan Williams over controversial remarks he made on a TV program in October.

Translated into common-man English:  The Republicans won the election.  They're threatening to cut off our federal funding, so let's show them we can behave like adults.

In an additional piece of fallout from the firing, NPR's board voted to cancel the annual bonus of NPR's chief executive, Vivian Schiller, who supported the decision to fire Williams and made some ill-timed comments about it, for which she later apologized.

Ill-timed?  She pretty much implied that Williams needed a psychiatrist.  When is the timing for that good?

Both moves come as a new Republican majority takes over in the House. Partly spurred by the Williams firing, GOP lawmakers have vowed to cut federal funding for public broadcasting. Several NPR staffers said they hoped the latest moves would mollify critics in Congress, but the chief sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), said, "From my perspective, it doesn't change anything."

Ellen Weiss, the 28-year NPR veteran who resigned Thursday, was the editor who decided to terminate Williams after he told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly that he became "nervous" flying with people dressed in "Muslim garb."

He said what millions are thinking, but it wasn't politically correct.  If he'd said he felt nervous around people carrying Christian Bibles, nothing would have happened. 

NPR justified the firing by saying that Williams had ignored years of warnings that he limit his comments to news analysis, and not offer personal opinions, while appearing on other networks. But the firing created a storm of criticism, particularly from Fox News, whose hosts said NPR was trying to stifle free expression.

It should be noted that NPR recently took a huge grant from George Soros, a profoundly left-wing financier and political operator.  People wondered at the time why an organization that has access to that kind of funding needs federal dollars, a very good question.  Many also wondered about the wisdom of taking funds from so controversial a source.

NPR is left-wing.  It's run from the left.  It got caught at it this time, and its government funding should be slashed substantially.

January 7, 2011