I'm late for the train on this one, but...

I can't say that I blame the folks at NPR for firing Juan Williams.  But they should have fired him for having anything to do with Fox News to begin with.

Of course, that's just me.

As far as what Williams said to Bill O'Reilly, I am concerned that the people on my side of the fence are doing to Williams what the right did to Shirley Sherrod.

Language and opinion are funny things: the points that one thinks one is making -- by perhaps openly discussing one's prejudice -- and rebutting -- by perhaps objecting to similar statements being expressed by others -- can get lost in the shuffle of debate.  When I see the entire clip, I see a man who openly expresses bigotry, but then backpedals away from it, explaining that, whatever his discomfort he understands that the real problem is extremists.  I get that others see it differently -- I am still thinking about the points made by Andrew Sullivan and Ta-Nehisi Coates (whose writing I adore and whose views on most things I agree on).  I am trying to examine my own reactions to Juan Williams in light of what they wrote, and my interpretations of both the statements that got him fired and those he made later to O'Reilly.

There is a crucial difference between the Juan Williams statements and Shirley Sherrod's.  Sherrod's statements were made during a speech.  Speeches are crafted pieces of art: the speaker tells stories and can inject nuance and understanding.  Juan Williams' statements came within an unscripted exchange on a cable show.   More chaotic, less chance for nuance.  A world of difference; rhetorical context matters.

All this is really neither here nor there when it comes down to the fundamental issue: dishonesty.

The dishonesty for me comes in the editing of the clip as it first appeared on YouTube. If the entirety of the exchange is damning, then let it stand on its own. Editing it to showcase the most offensive part, while ignoring the sections where Williams stands up against the bigotry of O'Reilly is unfair not only to Williams but to viewers; the underlying message is that we cannot be trusted to understand what is taking place before us.  While I understand the assumption that this is true for most of the people who get all their information from Fox News, I resent being lumped in with them.  If you think it needs explanation as to why it is offensive in its entirety, by all means, explain.  Or don't: let people see for themselves.

I have often said that the First Amendment does not bring with it a right to any soapbox one wants to stand on.  NPR was certainly within its rights to fire Juan Williams for any reason it wanted to: his comments to O'Reilly, his continuing to appear on O'Reilly's show, budget cuts, the color of the tie he wore to work.  I am not shedding any tears over his departure -- I think any commentator who appears on Fox News has indelibly stained his credibility.

For heavens' sake, though, let's not become our enemies.  Acting unfairly indelibly stains our credibility, too.