Eastwood's thoughts on Obama come from a new interview with Katie Couric (first link below). Says Clint (my alltime favorite film actor, BTW) on Obama: "Nice fella," but Clint's "not a fan of what he's doing at the moment." Eastwood also reportedly "told Couric that the president is not 'governing' and he's [Obama's] laying out lines in the hopes that people will believe him 'so he can stay in his position'" of power.I agree with Clint, but it's not like we're going out on any limbs here -- just look at Obama's current approval ratings, which this week have bottomed out at the lowest level of his presidency. Guess the Chamber of Commerce rants (his primary recent message) have failed to resonate with the American public (to say the least).
As for Juan Williams, whom National Public Radio fired today for his comments this week on Fox News admitting that he gets nervous when he's on a flight with a person in Muslim dress (second link at bottom): First, this has become a highly politicized right-left pissing match issue, the like of which I typically avoid like the plague. But since everyone's talking about it today, and since I like Juan, I feel compelled to say something:
I've been an avid viewer of political argument shows for over 20 years. I grew up watching such old-school shows as Crossfire, Capitol Gang and The McLaughlin Group. As such, I've been watching Juan for at least the better part of 20 years. I've always like Juan because, unlike so many on the left (including a number of folks that I've known personally in my own life), he can express his liberal viewpoints and discuss opposing viewpoints without being hateful, mean-spirited, close-minded and obtuse. He's also obviously a nice guy that one would love to know personally in real life.
I can also say that Juan Williams does not have a bigoted bone in his body. What he was expressing was a truthful admission of the same feeling that many Americans have, and I know that Juan would be the first to also admit that being afraid of the presence of an attired Muslim on a plane is completely irrational (if an Islamic extremist terrorist is on a plane, he/she ain't gonna be decked out in the garb, I can tell you that).
That we can freely discuss, in the open marketplace of ideas, the fact that so many us hold these kinds of irrational fears is only a positive. Such free discussion is the only way that these kinds of fears can be fully exposed for their irrationality. In contrast, it serves absolutely no purpose to silence and/or chill speech on this issue. Someone should tell NPR that.
But let's make no mistake here. Juan wasn't fired because of his comments this week on Fox News. He was fired by the far left-leaning NPR because he's a regular contributor to Fox News programming, and his statements this week provided NPR with a WMD-like pretense to give Juan the ol' pink slip. Which makes the firing all the more ugly and completely antithetical to the merits and fundamental significance of free speech principles.
Put more plainly, NPR should be ashamed of itself. Now, Juan will land just fine through his continued presence on Fox News (which just upped his contract today in response to the NPR firing). But what about the next person that NPR cans for not toting the far left progressive party line? Will that individual land so well? Disturbing stuff. But that's pretty much our daily lot in life as Americans anymore, no?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020393-503544.html?tag=cbsContent;cbsCarousel
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130712737&ps=cprs
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