No, he’s paid to be an entertaining VERSION of himself. There’s been plenty of discussion around the show (and others like it) about scenes being constructed. Charlie Sheen’s longest running character was a womanizing drunk.
A&E didn’t suspend him until the stink started. If they’d had a problem with what he said they’d have suspended him after the interviews (the Robertson’s say they had a person on site), or when GQ gave them the “courtesy” copy they could use to promote the interview. They didn’t suspend him at either of those windows. They suspended him when public reaction went south, when it turned out to be bad PR, had the interview not raised a stink he wouldn’t have gotten in trouble.
That’s not reducto ad absurdum, that’s people being stupid. If you don’t like the group somebody belongs to so much you don’t want to do business with them you NEVER tell the truth. Because identifiable demographic group are protected from discrimination, so if you say that’s why you don’t want their business you just committed discrimination and you’ll lose that lawsuit. You fudge around it, say you’re booked, say you don’t have the technical capabilities for what they want, quote them an insane price. They used to call it “quiet discrimination”, and it’s quite effective in protecting you from lawsuits.
I’m not bent out of shape at all, I’m pointing out basic reality. And basic reality is that YOU’RE bent out of shape, and you’re wrong. I’m just having fun watching Support Your Local Gunfighter and explaining simple concepts, nothing bent at all.
You speak of “public” reaction. which is the root of my concern, which is that elite opinionmakers in this country have now taken the side of the homosexual lobby in this country and are compelling everyone to conform to their opinion. Since this has been accomplished largely through the courts, which as in the case of California has nullified the results of popular vote in the state, they have made this incident relevant to the First Amendment Rights.