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NPR is embroiled in yet another scandal as pressure from conservatives mounts to de-fund the public radio broadcaster. NPR president and CEO Vivian Schiller resigned this morning as a fallout of conservative activist James O’Keefe posting a hidden-camera video of senior NPR executive Tom Schiller (no relation) bashing the tea party movement as “racist” and “xenophobic” and saying that NPR would be better off without federal funding. (Tom Schiller resigned after his statements were made public. On Wednesday, he also pulled out of what was to be his next job, at the nonprofit Aspen Institute, citing the controversy.)
Last year, Vivian Schiller came under fire for the dismissal of longtime analyst Juan Williams over his comments on Fox News Channel that he feels uncomfortable when he sees people in Muslim garb on planes.
“The Board accepted (Schiller’s) resignation with understanding, genuine regret, and great respect for her leadership of NPR these past two years,” board chairman Dave Edwards said in a statement. “I recognize the magnitude of this news and that it comes on top of what has been a traumatic period for NPR and the larger public radio community.”
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Good riddance!
Why do Democrats ALWAYS cave? And Republicans just do whatever they want. They win an election by one Supreme Court vote and show up in Washington like they own the place. You’re a Republican Senator who gets caught with prostitutes, no problem (See David Vitter). A Republican Senator who gets caught sleeping with a friend’s wife, no problem. (See John Ensign) A Republican Governor who has a mistress in Argentina, no problem. (See Mark Sanford) Not one of them resigned. Dems can’t even win an election by 8 million votes without caving. Ugh.
Obama caved in a dozen times. Tax cuts.
And yet Republicans accuse of him being the son of Satan.
Republicans #Winning
Democrats #Caving
Anyway, NPR isn’t really that democrat.
They’re not caving. They’re living up to their principals.
It’s principles.
Its principals, genius.
So NPR has a whole bunch of high school principals? Who knew?
Ha! The guy has principals cause he quit AFTER HE GOT CAUGHT???
that’s rich.
Guess Nixon had principals, too.
And that republican president who lied under oath about an affair in the Oval Office… Oh, wait. What’s that?
And the Democratic Speaker in the House who was cheating on his wife while overseeing impeachment proceedings against that Republican President — Oh wait, what’s THAT?
I don’t remember Ike ever being publicly confronted about his affairs while in office…nor George Bush Sr.
That’s Clinton – another Democrat.
A Democrat VP candidate who cheats on his wife, even when she is dying of cancer, and tries to get sympathy voters based on peoples sympathy for his dying wife.
I think he is going to be indicted soon.
Newt Gingrich ran for VP?
STOOGE, read the Public Broadcasting Act of 1965—- it expressly states NON-partisan broadcasting and comment!
Now let’s see: You drown a woman you were going to fuck on a beach, try to get your relative to take the fall for you, and then when all else fails, you admit only partially to your culpability and then spend not one night in jail. Oh yeah! Your driver’s license gets suspended. (Senator Edward M. Kennedy). You cheat on your taxes wholesale, barely get slapped on the wrist, and continue on raking in the money Washington-style (Representative Charles Rangell, Secretary Timothy Geithner, and former Senator Tom Daschle).
I’m not even going to waste my breath on Bill and Hillary Clinton, except to state the common joke in Arkansas when Clinton was governor: “What do you get when you cross a crooked politician and a crooked lawyer? Answer: Chelsea Clinton.”
“And the beat goes on, the beat goes on. . . “
It’s funny that you should say Democrats always cave. Conservatives are constantly bemoaning the spinelessness of Republican officials.
what a pathetic response to this article.
1) senior NPR exec makes insensitive and ignorant statements (see loudmouth when he discuss racist Tea Partiers)
2) same senior NPR exec says (and i quote) “we would be better off without funding”
so how were you able to twist this into a “caving” issue. the moron gave those same conservatives a fully open door to do what they wanted to do all along – defund this and spend the money on more appropriate (whatever that may be) areas
i certainly don’t want any of my tax dollars going to this hypocritical and ignorant group. if you want to, then you can..just donate directly but keep your brainless mouth shut….you’re embarrassing yourself.
I share your pain about Democrats caving.
Ditto. If something like this happened at Fox News, no one would’ve resigned. In fact, they would’ve found a way to spin it into higher ratings.
If this happened at FNC EVERY LIBERAL OUTLET would blare it for months on end. UNLIKE this event.
Beyond that you dolt, FNC is a private company; NPR is not.
Amazing how dopey liberals can be.
You are so correct.
Legitimize unethical behavior by pointing to other people’s unethical behavior. It’s called defining deviency down. Now, according to you, we can all go out and act unethically and expect no repurcussions!
Mike, agree 100%. I felt the same way after Van Jones resigned for calling Republicans assholes. Next I’ll resign for calling water wet.
give me a break. They were WRONG, they biased and they shouldn’t receive any federal money. I don’t want my tax dollars paying for this dribble. And I think leaving your state and taking up residence in a Holiday Inn just over the state line like the democrats in Wisconsin isn’t caving; running like girlie-men, but not caving.
Dem Pres. having his cigar serviced in the oval office, guess that’s ok (see dress stain). You should be more fair and balanced like conservatives.
That isn’t how the electoral college works, dummy.
The two conservative NPR listeners are surely outraged by all of this…
If senior executives think it doesn’t need funding then by all means defund it.
But they don’t have a liberal bias… ahem…
When will people regain their senses and stop running from these MORONS! An NPR executive speaks the absolute truth about the bulk of the Tea Party (though he failed to mention the stunning ignorance and stupidity about history of tea baggers) and folks run from it?!
Cowards only encourage and embolden these idiots.
so he was fired for speaking the truth, essentially
wait, scratch that, he wasn’t fired….yet
but somebody had to resign because he spoke the truth
so why would a CEO and president step down after an executive bashed the tea party? (and they do deserve bashing)
and HOW could she ‘come under fire’ when Juan Williams was very deservingly removed after such a comment? whether NPR says it or not, they are liberal. if they weren’t, the conservatives wouldn’t be going after them. but that means they need to stick by their guns.
I know there are radicals on all sides in politics, but I haven’t seen any liberal rallies where posters of, say, Alan Keyes or Michael Steele appear on a poster with a bone through their nose. The tea party attracts a racist element and you can’t say Schiller’s opinion is completely unfounded. And that’s just what it is, his opinion. Issued not in front of an NPR emblazoned podium, but at some table-clothed restaurant. You think anyone’s really unbiased? Give me a break.
Perhaps they should just give up government funding and do what they want.
@Ivy Individuals within an organization can have opinions without the organization having a bias. It is ridiculous to expect every member to have no leanings or opinion. It is the news reported that represents the bias.
Anyhow, maybe NPR has a strong bias. If being against racism and intolerance to other races and nationalities is liberal bias then I would rather have slanted news.
This clown was representing NPR in a business setting while making these statements. He thought he was with like-minded people, which is why he pulled back the curtain a bit.
“If being against racism and intolerance to other races and nationalities is liberal bias” — the fact that the racism is completely fabricated makes it a liberal bias. Nice try though.
Agree to an extent. He is a salesman. Anyone dealing with sales people know they will tell whoever is in front of them anything they want to hear to get the deal done. Whether he actually believes what he said is irrelevant. Sales people will say whatever they think their audience wants to hear.
This is the only comment that makes any sense – there have been morality problems in both parties – but hopefully any person who has a position such as the CEO of NPR, also has an educated opinion about major issues. It is nothing to resign over and it is frustrating to see how many folks out there will ignore the First Amendment.
What goes around, comes around. The Juan Williams firing was indefensible.
De-fund NPR and PBS now. No one watches or listens, anyway.
Ahem…
Um, the tea party movement is racist and xenophobic. How is that bashing? Even some conservatives say that and don’t want to be associated with it. I’ve never heard one message come from a tea party member or representative that isn’t filled with hate. It’s one thing to have differences of opinion, it’s another to have those opinions based upon racism and xenophobia.
And if a Drudge report member responds to this with a nasty comment, you will have proven my point.
Why would we have to say something nasty to you. Try googling these names, Allen West, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, Sussanah Martinez . Quit living in your insulated bubble and you might see that things aren’t the way people tell you they are. Think for yourself and maybe do a little research before you just repeat talking points.
No need to say anything nasty. Just google these names, Allen West, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, Sussanah MArtinez, Tim Scott. There’s a whole world outside of the bubble and it really doesn’t look the way you and your friends think it does.
Not only should they be defunded but dismantled.
Why is calling the “tea party” racist wrong?
Besides that it’s a generalization, it’s still basically factual. It’s kind of like saying all white people over seventy are racist. Of course, not all of them are but certainly most. Or like saying Christian Conservations hate gay people.
What percentage of “tea partiers” have to be proven racist for his statement to be true or untrue? How about “birthers”? Can we call them racist without being forced to resign?
Wow. You are truly ignorant. Here’s another generalization — “Liberals are mindless ideologues with no basis in reality.” See how that feels?
Ahhhhh, sweet bliss.
Awesome news. Looks like they should have kept their politics out of the stations wheelhouse.
That’ll teach Tom Schiller to tell the truth.
@Mike – your comment sums things up rather nicely. You refer to the CEO of NPR as a “Democrat” and compare her to elected Republicans. The CEO of NPR is not an elected position, and the fact that you have NPR and the Democrat party so intertwined is reason enough for government funding to stop. In theory NPR should be non-partisan, but as you told us, NPR = Democrat party. Thanks for helping to make that point.
Very sad that he acted unethically but is being chastised for his political views.
What crap. Does anyone honestly think that if O’Keefe were to set up a comparable ‘sting’ with someone from Fox News, say Roger Ailes, that the result would be ‘fair and balanced?’ Or that, if caught in that sort of entrapment, someone from Fox News, say Roger Ailes, would have the integrity to resign? Of course, it wouldn’t happen because O’Keefe only targets ‘liberals’ …but just imagine the loud squealing sounds if someone on the left were to pull the same tactic. Then again, maybe the only sounds would be a broom sweeping it under the rug.
Considering how much effort NPR has been putting into advancing a right-wing agenda ever since George Bush Jr. purged the CPB of any progressive voices, its tragically laughable to see the right-winters continue to use it as their whipping boy.
So here we watch the latest chapter of NPR willingly participating in its own demise. It is doing everything it can to alienate its long-standing audience to please a few venal, greedy politicians who were put into office by ignorant, angry fans of FOX and Rush Limbaugh..
I guess the only reason any arts programs still make it onto the air at all is because one of those odious Koch Brothers is infatuated with the ballet (wonder what his credulous Tea Party minions would think about THAT?)
Republicans are drowning NPR in the bathtub and NO amount of pandering they do to their destroyers will save them. It’s obvious that the Republicans will not be satisfied until NPR/PBS is transformed into a privately-owned subsidiary of Newscorp – giving Mr. Murdoch thousands of more TV/Radio channels at zero or no cost to himself.
While NPR did everything it could to protect the Bush Administration from its own hideous mistakes, their knives have been out BIG TIME for Obama and any Democrat in Congress. I guess it just shows how far the Democrats have caved into corporate money that they passively sit there while NPR tries to destroy THEM.
The SOLUTION is obvious. Obama needs to purge the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and install some decent journalists in charge. But his record of bending backwards to pander to Republicans does not inspire much hope.
It’s funny how all that has a so-called “liberal bias” is mutually exclusive with: facts, truths, rationality, and higher education.
I’m surprised by this. No freedom of speech like the people of FOX News who are supposedly “fair and balanced”? What she’s saying has some merit. Have you seen some of the tea-party signs? One need look no further than listen to what some of these neanderthals are saying…
Have you seen any of the signs in Madison? I guess not.
News flash — Fox News is a private company. NPR is receiving tax dollars to act as a left wing propagandist network. They can be as liberal as they want, but they can’t take public money and act neutral while they do it.
Please cite some of this ‘left-wing propaganda’ – it would really cheer me up to see some.
Ah yes, Republicans get away with EVERYTHING ‘cept for, Barney Frank, the entire Kennedy clan, and on and on and on….