NPR 'appalled' at hidden-camera bombshell

Tue Mar 08, 2011 8:55 pm » by **domdabears**

A stunt by a conservative filmmaker catches one of the network's top execs making incendiary remarks.
Senior Executives at NPR meet with Muslim Brotherhood Front Group to solicit $5mm and discuss their federal funding, Fanatical Christians, Zionists in the media, Tea Partiers, Republicans, Uneducated Americans and Juan Williams.

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Former NPR executive Ron Schiller slams Republicans and the tea party movement and suggests that NPR would be better off without any federal funding in a hidden-camera video released Tuesday by conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe.

Schiller, president of the NPR Foundation and a senior vice president for development until just last week, appears on the tape at Georgetown's Café Milano with NPR director of institutional giving Betsy Liley and two men posing as executives from a fake Islamic organization considering a $5 million donation to the network.

The Daily Caller posted the 11-minute video Tuesday, as did O'Keefe's Project ( ADVERTISING IS NOT ALLOWED )—a site that also includes hidden-camera investigations of other conservative targets, including teacher's unions and ACORN. (A full two-hour version is available here).

In the video, Schiller said that the current Republican Party has been "hijacked" by a group that's "not just Islamophobic, but really xenophobic" and suggests the tea party movement is comprised of some "seriously racist, racist people."

Schiller said that he's proud of NPR's firing of Juan Williams for expressing fear of flying with people in "Muslim garb," because it showed that "NPR stood for is a non-racist, non-bigoted, straightforward telling of the news." (Just yesterday, NPR chief executive Vivian Schiller--no relation--talked publicly about how the network "badly" handled the Williams situation).

Also, Ron Schiller doesn't appear to interject when the two men make outlandish comments about Jews controlling the media and laughs when they jokingly refer to NPR as "National Palestinian Radio."

"We are appalled by the comments made by Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for," said NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm in a statement. "Mr. Schiller announced last week that he is leaving NPR for another job."

On the set-up, Rehm said: "The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check, with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept."

O'Keefe did not immediately respond to a request for comment about NPR's statement on refusing the check.

The conservative filmmaker first drew media attention for his undercover "pimp and prostitute" videos in Sept. 2009. But O'Keefe has also attracted criticism over how the ACORN videos were edited. For instance, the edited videos suggest that O'Keefe pretended to be a young woman's "pimp" inside and wore the outlandish costume he donned outside ACORN's offices in the videos (and on Fox News after their release). However, O'Keefe actually told ACORN staffers he was the "prostitute's" boyfriend or friend inside and didn't wear the pimp garb.

Since then, O'Keefe has been involved in other headline-grabbing stunts, including entering the Louisiana office of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu under false pretenses and allegedly trying to seduce a CNN correspondent on camera.

Once again, O'Keefe targeted an issue near and dear to conservatives, who have long talked of "defunding" NPR, arguing that federal dollars shouldn't go to stations they claim expresses a liberal viewpoint. Several Republican lawmakers stepped up that effort following the Williams firing.

Contrary to the perception that NPR is primarily funded by the government, the network only receives about 1 to 2 percent of its funds from federal grants. Individual NPR member stations, located around the country, rely on state and federal sources for about 10 percent of their funding.

Schiller, on tape, points out "that very little of our funding comes from the government" despite claims to the contrary. He adds that "in the long run we would be better off without federal funding."

The video has already been making the rounds on conservative sites this morning. And even though Schiller is no longer with NPR, the video is sure to give ammunition to NPR critics who already claim the network is too liberal and doesn't deserve federal funds.
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Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:09 pm » by **99socks**

All over a glass of wine.... This "more educated" liberal is so ignorant that he missed the wine, all the while spewing more hateful crap than what comes out of the mouths of the people he professes are hateful and ignorant.

Fucking amazing.

Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:21 pm » by **Samael**

Some legit shit said there.

Wed Mar 09, 2011 6:19 am » by **99socks**

Yeah yeah, against forum rules...

BUMP.

Wed Mar 09, 2011 7:00 am » by **7hidden7agenda7**

wow, yet another highly edited hackjob by o'queef... people are so fucking stupid it's not even funny anymore. rightwing fucktards need to get their head out of their arse. fucking astonishing.

Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:46 pm » by **Ademu**

It's all a distraction to keep us looking the otherway, while both parties continue to rape and pillage the land.

Wed Mar 09, 2011 4:57 pm » by **Moofoofy**

Well, let's "Assess" his claims objectively, which unfortunately even HERE people fail to do. 1. He claimed the tea party lobbyists were racist. There's much evidence of this. 2. He claimed these fanatical Christian associations weren't truly Christian. This is ALSO right. These organizations protest at the funerals of soldiers who died in wars, in addition to a plethora of bigoted antics directed at everyone whose socio-political views in any way conflict with their own. Regardless of your individual religions, disrespect of the dead isn't considered to be a very Christian thing to do, especially considering the alleged works of Christ. 3. He laughed when someone made a pun concerning Judaism. Frankly, that's not the same as being forthright and saying something anti-semitic. In fact after chuckling, not busting a gut, the guy went on to assert that although he is affiliated with some Jewish organizations and officials he hasn't seen that many Zionists amongst them!. 4. He said that the station would benefit from a lack of federal funding. I think that everyone can agree that autonomous media are a lot more objective in the presentation of news that privately funded ones. I mean, the guy also has a point that Muslims have been severely under-represented, in part due to people's ignorance to the true state of affairs behind 9/11. And I mean HEAVY ignorance; people still bash muslims with no particular process of analysis aside from the anti-Muslim propaganda in the media. I think NO-ONE should be demonized! That's the point folks! So when you truly assess this guy's speech, it's honestly anti-ignorance, anti-hate.

Wed Mar 09, 2011 6:09 pm » by **domdabears**

NPR chief executive quits over hidden camera video

WASHINGTON – NPR president and CEO Vivian Schiller resigned Wednesday in the wake of comments by a fellow executive that angered conservatives and renewed calls to end federal funding for public broadcasting.

The chairman of NPR's board of directors announced that he has accepted Schiller's resignation, effective immediately.

On Tuesday, conservative activist James O'Keefe posted a hidden-camera video in which NPR executive Ron Schiller bashed the tea party movement as "racist" and "xenophobic" and said NPR would be better off without federal funding. Ron Schiller is not related to Vivian Schiller.

NPR has long been a target of conservatives who claim its programming has a left-wing bias. The budget bill passed by the House last month would end funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports programs distributed on NPR and PBS.

Similar efforts to strip funding from public broadcasting in 2005 and in the 1990s were unsuccessful.

Vivian Schiller was criticized for last year's firing of analyst Juan Williams after he said on Fox News that he feels uncomfortable when he sees people in "Muslim garb" on airplanes. She later said she was sorry for the way she handled Williams' dismissal but stood by her decision to fire him.

"The Board accepted her 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."

O'Keefe, best known for hidden-camera videos that embarrassed the community-organizing group ACORN, posted the NPR video Tuesday on his website, Project ( ADVERTISING IS NOT ALLOWED ). The group said the video was shot on Feb. 22.

The video shows two activists posing as members of a Muslim group at a lunch meeting with Ron Schiller and another NPR executive, Betsy Liley. The men offer NPR a $5 million donation and engage Schiller in a wide-ranging discussion about tea party Republicans, pro-Israel bias in the media, anti-intellectualism and other topics.

"The current Republican Party is not really the Republican Party. It's been hijacked by this group that is ... not just Islamophobic but, really, xenophobic," Ron Schiller said in the video, referring to the tea party movement. "They believe in sort of white, middle America, gun-toting — it's scary. They're seriously racist, racist people."

NPR said it was "appalled" by Ron Schiller's comments. Schiller had already told NPR before the video was shot that he was resigning as president of its fundraising arm and a senior vice president for development. He said in a statement Tuesday night that his resignation would be effective immediately.

"While the meeting I participated in turned out to be a ruse, I made statements during the course of the meeting that are counter to NPR's values and also not reflective of my own beliefs. I offer my sincere apology to those I offended," he said in the statement.

O'Keefe asked supporters to sign a petition urging Congress to review NPR's funding.

"We've just exposed the true hearts and minds of NPR and their executives," O'Keefe said in a letter posted on his website.

CPB is getting $430 million in the current fiscal year, although NPR only gets about 2 percent of its revenue from the federal government. Government funding accounts for about 10 percent of the budgets of its member stations.

"It is very clear that we would be better off in the long run without federal funding," Ron Schiller said in the video, saying it would allow the organization to become an independent voice and clear up the misconception that it is largely government-funded.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in a statement that NPR's executives have "finally admitted that they do not need taxpayer dollars to survive."

Sens. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., introduced a separate bill Friday to cut off funding for CPB.

Mark Meckler, a national coordinator for the group Tea Party Patriots, urged Congress to act in an e-mail to supporters, calling NPR a "clearly biased news organization that is out of touch with Americans across the country."

O'Keefe did not respond to e-mailed questions about the video and his decision to target NPR.

Liley says little in the video, although she can be heard laughing when one of the men says his group referred to NPR as "National Palestinian Radio." She has been placed on administrative leave, NPR said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110309/ap_ ... _criticism

Fri Mar 11, 2011 8:49 am » by **Epicfailure**

1814n95k wrote:NPR senior exec offers to help shield Muslim Brotherhood front group from government audit

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FUCK OFF ZINZANA!