![]() WHO IS JUAN WILLIAMS! Many years later, NPR unloads one of its hacks: // link // print // previous // next //
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2010 Who is Juan Williams: Juan Williams is a worthless pundita hackneyed, predictable reader of scripts. That said, we havent seen anyone fully explain the recent OReilly appearance which got him canned by NPR. What happened that night was Vintage Williams. In the main, Williams challenged OReillys blustery, gong-show appearance on a recent episode of The View. But remember, this was Vintage Williams: Before he could say that OReilly was wrong, he had to say that OReilly was right! This produced the part of the show which has been widely quoted:
From that point on, Williams basically scolded OReilly for being too blunderbuss in his comments about the danger from the Muslim world. But its the law when Williams appears on the Factor: Before he can challenge his hosts point of view, he must defer to him first. Williams doesnt always challenge OReillys viewpoint during his weekly Factor appearancesbut when he does, this pattern often obtains. On September 13, for example, Williams warned OReilly that he shouldnt make too much of the fact that an associate of Imam Rauf (of the Ground Zero mosque) had turned out to be a truther. Before long, Williams was fighting the good liberal fight, loftily warning Mr. O about guilt by association:
Juan was fighting the good liberal fight! But before he let himself say such things, he had first said this:
Williams went on, in these opening remarks, to batter Rauf on a wide array of points, before he turned and bravely warned about guilt by association. Williams has always been a horrible punditscripted, hackneyed, deferential to power. Last week, NPR made fools of themselves for the way they fired Williams. But long before that, they made fools of themselves for keeping him on their payroll so long. By the way, Williams isnt just hackneyed and scriptedhes also strikingly inarticulate. On last weeks program, he made remarks in both the good cop and bad cop parts of his appearance which were rather hard to parse. You got the drift of what he meant, but the specific point of his remarks was quite hard to decipher. Williams is a lousy pundithackneyed, deferential, not real clear. He also isnt especially honest. In the wake of his firing by NPR, he tried to walk away from the ridiculous comment he made on OReillys program in January 2009the comment in which he described Michelle Obama as Stokely Carmichael in a designer dress. (For Simon Maloys treatment at Media Matters, just click here.) But then, Williams has always earned points at Fox by trashing Democratic first ladies. Just recall his remarks about Hillary Clinton on Special Report with Brit Hume. This roundtable took place on August 23, 1999. A few days earlier, President Clinton had described how he fell in love with his wife when they were students in law school. In response, Hume posted a photo of a 1970s-vintage Hillary Clintona photo he found unattractive. For the next several minutes, Humes all-male panel staged the kind of discussion that was increasingly common within the press corps in the wake of the Clinton impeachment. These remarks were offered on national TV, without complaint from the frightened career liberal leaders who were hiding in the woods at this historical juncture:
This was said on national TV. Apparently, the photo didnt evoke Pamela Anderson in the early years of Baywatch. So Humes all-male panel treated themselves to a good solid laugh, and to several more minutes of mocking discussion. After speculating about how the Clintons were getting along in their marriage, they returned to that comical, decades-old photo. Williams traveled there first:
Hume gained a final round of laughter from his all-male panel. Only Lindberg took a pass on mocking Mrs. Clintons appearance. But Lindberg is a serious, decent person. The other all-stars rushed to join the pleasing ritual laughter. Williams, of course, was cast as the liberal on that evenings program. NPR has finally fired this dupe, making fools of themselves in the process and furthering liberal media narratives. (More on that tomorrow.) But the networks real shame dates to that earlier era, when theyalong with the cowering career liberal worldlet this garbage go. The war against Gore was picking up steam as Williams laughed at that first ladys appearance. But liberals would ignore that misconduct too. And yes, this is your actual historythe history of how George W. Bush actually got to the White House. Eleven years later, NPR has finally unloaded one of its hacks. The way of the age: Days before that Hume roundtable, Gennifer Flowers had appeared on two major cable programs to discuss the Clintons many murders, and to help the world understand that Hillary Clinton was the worlds most gigantic lesbo. On August 2, Flowers was granted a half-hour on Hardball, where she behaved like a total buffoon. Because her performance was so absurd, she was then granted a full hour on the August 18 Hannity & Colmes. (For a partial review of those appearances, see THE DAILY HOWLER, 9/26/03.) In years of research, we have never found evidence of any journalist complaining about this garbage-strewn conduct by Flowers and her cable hosts. Nor did anyone complain about the mocking performance by Hume and his all-boy panel. Soon, the war against Gore would reach a new crescendo, in the month-long gender-trashing dished to him and Naomi Wolf. Over the course of the next fifteen months, no one would say a word about that conduct either. Your liberal leaders were off in the woods. Juan Williams was bringing the Stupid, earning points at Fox. AINT LIFE IN THE TRUMAN SHOW GRAND (permalink): Alec MacGillis penned a fascinating analysis piece in yesterdays Outlook section. That said, the piece appeared one year too lateand it withheld the data the press corps withheld all during 2009. In his piece, MacGillis discussed the remarkable cost of American health care, a topic the press corps tip-toed around all during last years health care discussion. By the norms of the developed world, we Americans pay through the nose for our health care. And good lord! As he started, MacGillis even took note of this basic fact! In this passage, he refers to the health care law passed earlier this year:
Put aside MacGillis claims about the effects of the new law. Instead, note the very limited way he discusses the gigantic cost of American health carea topic the press corps tip-toed around all during 2009. As far as we know, MacGillis factual claims are accurate. According to MacGillis, Americans consume fewer units of health care than people in other developed countries, even as we pay much more for each unit of care. (We pay much more for each hospital stay. We pay much more for each pill.) But as he continued, MacGillis offered no specific examples of how much more we spend per unit. We got no real idea what he meant by the phrase much more. And we never saw the startling data which define the overall problem. Overall, how much more do we spend on health care, despite the fact that we consume fewer units of care? All during last years pseudo-discussion, the national press corps seemed to avoid the startling data which form the basis for any intelligent discussion of our problem. No one ever disputes these data, which come from the OECDbut virtually everyone seems to avoid them (except Paul Krugman). Here they are, the data we posted all last year, in slightly updated form:
To examine these data, start here. Those data help us understand what the phrase much more actually means in the context of health care spending. In fact, the United States spends two to three times as much as those other large, developed nationsnations whose health care outcomes are similar to ours, sometimes better. MacGillis adds an interesting fact to this mix; if his claims are correct, we spend two to three times as much as these nations even though we use fewer units of health care. (We swallow fewer pills. We spend fewer nights in the hospital.) And yet, at no point did he offer this larger perspective about our massive health care spending. He simply said we spend much more (or a lot more) per unit, forcing readers to imagine what such phrases actually mean. How many Americans understand the extent of our massive health care spending? Well take a wild guess: very few. In large part, Americans have little idea how much we spend because the national press corps has agreed, again and again, to withhold such basic facts. In effect, we live in a Truman show. We live in a world where our major news organs persistently withhold the most basic data about our most basic public affairs. We cant tell you why this pattern obtained all through last years pseudo-discussion. But this pattern did obtain, and it continued in yesterdays piece. That said, health care spending is hardly our only Truman show. For a second such show, well again cite the rising reading and math scores in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the widely-praised gold standard of educational testing. All across the journalistic landscape, major news orgs have been promoting the idea that educational reform has failed in our public schools. They do this in the face of the NAEPs striking data, which show major gains by black and Hispanic students over the past dozen years. We cant explain why these data get withheld (though well offer a speculation below). However, we can describe the general pattern driving our Truman shows. Last year, you simply werent allowed to see those stunning data about health care spending. This year, you arent allowed to hear about those rising test scores. Youre asked to form your policy views in the absence of the most basic data. A few weeks ago, we issued a plea to a range of writers: Tell us about those test scores, we said. Report those test scoresand try to explain them. We had planned to wait a month before following up, but we can already guess at the outcome: No will report those NAEP test scores; no one will attempt to explain them. Serious People have all agreed not to color outside the lines of this particular gong-show. How strange! In this particular Truman show, everyone praises the NAEPand everyone agrees to ignore its data. Everyone except Diane Ravitch, who baldly misstates those dataand gets nominated for a prize by a liberal site like Salon. (For a real piece of know-nothing nonsense, click here.) Amazing, isnt it? Even our biggest professional liberals wont tell you that black kids are doing much better! You arent allowed to know such a fact. Instead, they canonize a dissembler like Ravitch. Aint life in the Truman show grand? Health care spending in Finland (permalink): As weve noted, every journalist flies to Finland to examine its high-scoring (middle-class) schools. This furthers a preferred press corps narrative: Our own public schools are a mess! But please note: No one has ever flown to Finland to explore a second question: How do they provide health care at such a very low cost? Here are the OECD data for the U.S. and Finland:
How weird! Why does no one fly to Finland to examine this major achievement? Now, for that speculation about the press corps motive: Finlands test scores let a bunch of know-nothing journos push a preferred press corps narrative: Our public schools are a mess! (Maybe we need to privatize! Its all the fault of the unions!) Finland faces none of the daunting educational challenges we face, of course. But so what! All pundits on deck! By way of contrast, the press corps deference to corporate interests seems to make it shy from the topic of health care spending. Does Finland achieve good health care at a very low price? This topic cant be discussed! Here too, Finland doesnt face some of the demographic challenges we face in the U.S. But the differential treatment is clear: One Finn achievement gets ballyhooed; the other gets deep-sixed. You get to hear that the Finns have good schools. You arent told about their health care spending. One achievement is heralded, one disappears.
Aint life in the Truman show grand?
|