• AP, Sunday, October 24, 2010 10:29 PM

Conservatives and some liberals say NPR went too far in axing a longtime news analyst for saying he gets nervous on planes when he sees people in Muslim dress, and at least one U.S. senator said he would start the ball rolling in cutting federal funding to the network. In response to the firing, South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint planned to introduce legislation to end federal funding for NPR. Federal grants provide less than 2 percent - or $3.3 million - of NPR's $166 million annual budget. It is funded primarily by its affiliates, corporate sponsors and major donors.

Williams made the comments at issue while discussing whether O'Reilly was wrong to have said "Muslims killed us on 9/11" during an appearance last week on ABC's "The View." O'Reilly's comment prompted co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar to walk off the set, but Goldberg defended Williams on Thursday. "The point he was trying to say is, 'I get nervous,' and that's OK," Goldberg said. "Firing him for saying that, I think, is kind of ridiculous."

Read the whole story at AP »