Stung: NPR Execs Caught in Candid Chat With Would-be Muslim Donors.
A video made surreptitiously by a conservative sting artist shows phony, would-be Muslim donors meeting with two NPR fundraisers who are caught on the tape making candid, awkward comments about the Republican Party — and also talking bluntly about the ouster of commentator Juan Williams. The sting operation, produced by conservative activist James O’Keefe, shows NPR fundraisers Ron Schiller (who has since announced his departure from NPR) and Betsy Liley at lunch with two men masquerading as wealthy Muslim donors. That the NPR people appear to tell the supposed contributors what they want to hear is not an unusual approach for fundraisers.But against the backdrop of a possible cut off of NPR funding proposed by the GOP-controlled U.S. House, Schiller can be heard saying that “very little of our funding comes from the government.” That is correct. Then, talking about the GOP, he adds: “The current Republican Party, particularly the tea party, is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental Christian — and I wouldn’t even call it Christian.” In answer to a leading question about the tea party movement, he adds, “Basically, they believe in white, middle America, gun toting — it’s pretty scary. They’re seriously racist.” Schiller, who said Tuesday night his resignation as NPR Foundation’s senior vice president for development would take effect immediately, went on to say that he was proud that NPR let Juan Williams go last year after Williams said on Fox News he would be concerned if he boarded a plane with fellow passengers in Muslim garb. “He lost all credibility and that breaks your ethics as a journalist.” Schiller says. NPR, in a statement, said: “The fraudulent organization represented in the video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check, with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept. We are appalled by the comments made by Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for. Mr. Schiller announced last week he is leaving NPR for another job.” O’Keefe’s Project Veritas gained notoriety in 2009 in another covertly made video that showed individuals posing as a pimp and prostitute seeming to get advice on gaming the tax system from a representative of ACORN, a liberal community activist organization. O’Keefe went too far last year when he and three others were charged with attempting to tamper with the phone lines in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, received three years’ probation, a $1,500 fine and 100 hours of community service.
JAKARTA, Indonesia -President Barack Obama, visiting the world’s most populous Muslim nation, expressed deep concern Tuesday that Israelis and Palestinians aren’t making the “extra effort” to secure a breakthrough for achieving Middle East peace.Obama said he hasn’t seen the kind of progress in negotiations that “could finally create a framework for a secure Israel living side by side in peace with a sovereign Palestine.” Asked at a news conference with Indonesia’s President Suslilo Bambang Yudhoyono about Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem, Obama said, “Each of these incremental steps can end up breaking that trust between these parties.”Obama raised his Mideast concerns while appearing with Yudhoyono during his first visit to Indonesia as president to the country where he lived for four years as a child. He marveled over “sights and sounds” that evoked memories of the past and said that Indonesia’s landscape of today barely resembles the land where he went to live at age 6 in 1967 after his mother married an Indonesian man.The U.S. sees Indonesia as a counterweight to China’s growing strength, though Obama said Tuesday he’s not seeking to stop China’s growth.”We think China being prosperous and secure is a positive,” Obama said. “We’re not interested in containing that process.”Still, with the controversy over how China values its currency looming as Obama heads to the G-20 economic summit in South Korea later this week, Obama said all countries must operate within, “an international framework and sets of rules in which countries recognize their responsibilities to each other.”Without mentioning China by name, he pointedly noted that the global economy hasn’t achieved balanced growth.”We have seen some countries run up very big surpluses and intervening significantly in the currency markets to maintain their advantage,” Obama said.Obama will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao Thursday, but officials say they don’t expect the currency issue to be resolved.The president said he believes the administration has improved relations with the Muslim world but called it an “incomplete project,” saying much more work needs to be done. Obama said policy differences with Muslim countries will linger, but that building better ties between the people of the United States and the Muslim world will foster improved overall relations.He voiced support for Yudhoyono’s efforts to nurture a rapidly growing society even in a time when Indonesia has been hit by earthquakes, a tsunami, and now a volcanic eruption. Concerns about volcanic ash caused the White House to shorten Obama’s stay here and expedite his takeoff Wednesday for the G-20 summit in Seoul.Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most volatile volcano, began erupting two weeks ago, unleashing a flood of volcanic gas, rock and debris that smothered whole villages and cut down people who tried to fleeing. More than 150 people have died.As scheduled, the trip was less than 24 hours, with Obama arriving late afternoon Tuesday and leaving midday Wednesday. The trip was shoehorned into a jam-packed 10-day Asia trip, between three days spent in India and economic meetings in South Korea and Japan that start Thursday.Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived on a gray, humid day in Indonesia’s capital, and were greeted by dozens of dignitaries at Istana Merdeka, a white columned presidential palace reminiscent of the White House. Obama greeted some of the officials in Indonesian as he shook their hands.Indonesians all over this country of more than 17,000 islands gathered around television sets in their houses, coffee shops and office buildings as Obama’s plane touched down.Notwithstanding the likely change in schedule for his time here, Obama’s quick stop to visit a country that is increasingly important player in Asia allowed him to speak to the values of democracy and religious tolerance and reflect on his time here as a boy.The U.S. has increasingly embraced Indonesia as a moderate Muslim nation and partner in counter-terror efforts in the wake of attacks in Bali, Jakarta and elsewhere in the region between 2002 and 2005. The nation of 250 million people is made up of a string of islands stretched through the Indian Ocean between Australia and Malaysia.”Lots of U.S. interests and lots of challenges and opportunities intersect in Indonesia,” Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told reporters Monday.Concerns over the volcanic ash cloud forced the White House to move up events Obama has planned for Wednesday, including a stop at Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque and a speech at the University of Indonesia. However, nearly all of the press traveling with Obama opted to leave Indonesia before the speech in order to make it to the next stop — South Korea — ahead of the president.