A Republican Grows in D.C. (Juan Williams son runs for city council)

The Weekly Standard ^

[hipaatwo]

TONY WILLIAMS, the 26-year-old son of NPR correspondent and Fox News contributor Juan Williams, is cut from the same cloth as the older Williams in some ways, but definitely not in others. Father and son both hold heterodox opinions on matters of race, for instance, but the younger Williams is--gasp--a Republican. He even spent a summer working in Strom Thurmond's office. And now the young iconoclast is making a run for office, campaigning for a seat on Washington's city council, where Democrats occupy 11 of the 13 seats.

[hipaatwo]

More at link. I forgot to hit excerpt. Asked Admin to fix it.

[Darkwolf377]

aims to ensure that tax dollars flow directly where they are needed, to failing schools, job training programs, and housing loan initiatives for city workers.

I know this is mere fantasy, but...what if, for one year, no money flowed from the federal or state governments? How would anyone get by?

An idea for a science fiction story...

[hipaatwo]

Thanks for fixing it :)

[farlander]

Well hot darn! If he gets elected, maybe things are realling starting to turn in the black communities.

[hipaatwo]

I don't know but I wish someone would propose what he is in Philly. The money goes to unions and politicians pockets and the neighborhoods are failing.

[bmwcyle]

I bet he is a worm like his father.

[Samwise]

Father doesn't always know best.

[hipaatwo]

I hope so. This is what is happening here. City run by Dems for ages.

Blight unbeaten in Philadelphia
Despite Mayor Street's plan, thousands of dangerous or uncondemned sites remain.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/15426614.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

[DuxFan4ever]

Why would anyone in Washington DC want to be associated with the city Democrats? That town is an absolute disaster due to Dem rule on the city council.

[Past Your Eyes]

Ayuh. Look at Mike and Chris Wallace.

[dawn53]

Here's his website. There's a video where he explains why he's a Republican.

http://www.ward6fortonywilliams.com/

[Clintonfatigued]

Very true, but that's a BIG "if."

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

making a run for office, campaigning for a seat on Washington's city council, where Democrats occupy 11 of the 13 seats.

First key to success in D.C. is to get caught on tape smoking crack cocaine yelling "the bitch set me up."

Oh wait, that's to win as D.C. mayor...

[GOPJ]

Juan's a good man - and he's raised a son we can be proud of -- it's a twofer.

[billorites]

HUME: Talk to me a bit, if you can, about the experiences you've had. I mean, I remember you were writing a column for "The Washington Post" back in the late '80s, when Clarence Thomas was nominated. Yes, the late '80s.

And you defended him on a number of grounds. Not all, but some. What happened?

WILLIAMS: Oh, well, gosh. Immediately there was a great deal of calls to my desk at "The Washington Post" at the time, saying, you know, what do you have on Clarence Thomas? I said, well, I don't have anything on Clarence Thomas.

And then later I wrote about a body of knowledge, which was that Clarence Thomas was someone who had come along in this town, who had developed his way, found his way in the Reagan administration; was not always the most conservative, was not someone that you could easily pillory as some sort of stick figure, but was rather an intellectual.

And that, of course, then brought down all the heavens on me, in terms of the civil rights establishment -- I think driven by people who said, you know what, we don't like Clarence Thomas' story, as being sort of this young black man from Georgia who made his way up.

We don't like the idea that Juan Williams at "The Washington Post" would lend his credibility to this story. And therefore, one way to get at Thomas was to attack the messengers. In that case, to attack me.

HUME: So what happened?

WILLIAMS: Well, people then attacked me. Once he got into trouble with Anita Hill, and there were all sorts of questions about my behavior - have you told any flirtatious jokes, who have you flirted with at the paper? All sorts of accusations.

I mean, it just felt like the world had crumbled in on my head. I couldn't believe that so many of my friends who were in the newsroom at the time -
really, it was as if, well, you are no longer truly black. You don't belong and have the right to hold that seat.

As a matter of fact, I was, at that time, doing "Crossfire" for CNN. And I was then saying, listen, I think a lot of these charges against Thomas are ill-based.

And at the time, CNN said, well, you can't sit on the left side here and argue from a black perspective because you're not holding the official black position. So, you know, you can't, literally, appear on this show and do your job as the host on the left.

[GOP Poet]

Cool. Juan can frustrate me on some issues, because obviously we have very different political beliefs, but I think he is a good man. I am excited to hear about his son. Hope he wins.

[billorites]

I remember what Juan Williams wrote and said during the Clarence Thomas / Anita Hill business of 15 years ago.

He refused to be a part of a smear and he called it for what it was.

He caught hell for that.

I respect what he did, I think he's a principled man and will cut him a break tfn.

[hipaatwo]

Thanks for that. Good for Juan.

[TexasGus]

I find it heartening that that the intellectual promise of Ronald Reagan, small government, national defense, and a structural reduction in taxes is so sanguine to Mr. Williams. Three cheers and I personally in my heart hope I see more.