Yes, because he was fired for a harmless remark that NPR chose, arbitrarily, to make a big deal of, unlike Olbermann who was suspended for violating a rule he knew existed.

“Want to tell me again he didn’t do anything he’d been told was wrong”

Maybe you can tell us what NPR’s official policy on what can and can’t be said about Moslems is.

What Williams says is confused and contradictory at best. It’s quite possible he’s against profiling from the reading, but that just isn’t what he said. He did agree with O’Reilly at several points.

However, the article does note that he was told specifically not to be identified as an NPR correspondent while working for Fox, which despite you glossing over the fact, is a political organization. Then the transcript identifies him as an NPR employee. Want to tell me again he didn’t do anything he’d been told was wrong?

Your argument here is that Williams is somehow cleaner and more deserving of sympathy that Olbermann, which is why the right was loudly angry about one and gloating about the other. You’ve failed to show this at any point.

The idea that there was some sort of fiction regarding Countdown as a show is absurd, post hoc and simply untrue.

Regarding Williams: Yes, I think you are exactly right about that, or at least, that is the feeling I had when it happened. But why is this so likely with NPR’s case, but not for MSNBC, even though there is strong evidence that this is the case with the Olbermnn suspension?

Scarborough sought and recieved approval to make a donation. Also, because he is not a liberal like Olbermann, his bosses don’t feel compelled to maintain the fiction he is unbiased.

I personally, by the way, thought Williams should not have been fired for that. But I also think he is not good enough for NPR. I’ve always seen him as not exactly sharpest knife in the drawer. Better for him that he be at fox.

The basic problem with MSNBC’s screwup is the simple fact that Joe Scarborough, who has a news summary morning show, did not get suspended when he donated 9 grand to a Republican candidate, but Keith Olbermann, who operates a highly opinionated liberal opinion show, got suspended when he gave Democrats 7 large.

Explain that.

Greg: It’s not that complicated. I have more sympathy for someone fired arbitrarilly than someone suspended for violating an explicit policy they have been informed about. If NPR had told Williams not to discuss religion, or told him not to go on FOX it would be a different matter.

What does that have to do with anything? Once and for all, are you making the claim that one can only be fired when one see it coming otherwise it is not a valid firing?

You should be fired for thinking that.