Yep. There are two winners in this rat fight: Juan and FOX News with NPR CEO Vivian Schiller as the loser.
This is probably the best thing to happen to Juan in his career. He got a big pay raise and becomes an overnight cause célèbre on the right and the left. Now everyone in the USA except Vivian Schiller has discovered they have really, really liked Juan all along.
As for FOX, the management was astute enough to immediately see Juan was an instant Hot Property. They added him to their full time staff in a way that makes FOX look generous and open minded while reinforcing the idea tha NPR is, at best, clueless and unappreciative.
The contrast is clear: NPR terminated him for speaking honestly while FOX has him in front of the public free wheeling details and commentary on his NPR termination. That has to be pulling in viewers for FOX.
At the same time NPR and Schiller are being publically raked over the coals and each press release seems to make her look less and less professional and more and more petty and incompetent.
I agree with everything you said.
This also shines a honkin’ big spotlight on NPR and whether we should be spending tax dollars on it. This time we MAY get funding pulled.
And ... we may see a new Juan Williams, Yesterday, he rocked. If you missed it, catch the long version on YouTube. He seems like a man who has suddenly seen his path.