Posted on 12/22/2013 9:28:21 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Something amazing is happening in America. An awakening. More people showed support for Phil Robertson (the star of “Duck Dynasty”) in 24 hours than signed up for Obamacare in its first few months. Which means at this point in time, Americans are starting to come to the conclusion we’d be better off with a duck hunter in the White House than Obama. Heck, we couldn’t possibly do any worse.
Hollywood really stepped in it this time (must have been duck poop). The result is ironically, Christians are coming out of the closet! In other words, the tables have turned. Middle America is waking up from the shock, disarray, intimidation and distractions of the Obama years. We're not scared of the PC police anymore. We are free to express ourselves, and we don't really give a "duck" what Hollywood, or Obama, or the thought police thinks about our opinions. Which must scare Hollywood to death.
A duck hunter has inspired us. Emboldened us. And what middle America is saying out loud is, “We have rights too. We deserve free speech too. We’ve had enough of your oppression and intolerance towards our values and beliefs-and we’re NOT going to take it anymore.”
A&E claims the “indefinite suspension” (ie firing) of Phil Robertson is about “branding.” What they are insinuating is they couldn’t possibly allow a close-minded, Neanderthal gay basher to remain as the face of their billion dollar brand.
Well guess what? The new brand for A&E is "the Christian-hating, Bible-bashing, intolerant TV network." Funny enough, they would have been better off with the gay bashing brand. Because the new brand is dead on arrival…or in other words, "This duck won't hunt."
This isn’t a gay rights issue. I have never cared what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms. The firing of Phil Robertson, star of “Duck Dynasty” is a free speech issue. It’s symbolic of the biased, one-sided way the media and leftist elites treat free speech. People have every right to express opinions considered “progressive” or “politically correct” nowadays. But the same rules don’t apply to salt-of-the-earth, apple-pie, middle Americans who believe in God, country, guns, and yes, the Bible.
You mean Christians and conservatives don’t they have the right to free speech just like Hollywood leftists? You mean Christians or conservatives don’t have the right to express their views in the workplace, without fearing for their jobs?
Phil Robertson only expressed his personal opinions. Those opinions are shared by millions of Christians not only in America, but across the globe. Agree or disagree, he had every right to express that opinion, without losing his job.
I may disagree with the exact words he chose, but I stand hand-in-hand with Phil to support his right to say it.
Oh by the way, Phil is a reality TV star. His success and popularity is based on his opinions. A&E fired a reality star for having controversial opinions? Are you kidding me? A&E executives need to quickly visit the nearest psychiatrist.
The Duck Dynasty scandal is about intolerance. But the intolerance is on part of Hollywood and A&E. The star of a reality show is allowed to have opinions. If you don't like them, you have no right to ban them. That's intolerance. That’s tyrant’s behavior. That’s McCarthyism. That’s the attitude of police states we find in countries run by tyrants like Stalin, or Fidel Castro, or Huge Chavez, or the old East Germany. Is this what America has become under Obama?
I don't have to agree with Phil Robertson to stand behind him. I support free speech. If it can happen to Phil, it can happen to anyone of us. I'm a TV and radio personality. I have opinions. I won’t change them, or back down. If you don't like them, change the channel. That's called FREEDOM.
But Hollywood wants Christians in the closet…silent…fearful…intimidated. Obama, Hollywood and the leftists are petrified of free thought. They keep their modern day Tammany Hall going through intimidation. They cannot afford to allow conservative or Christian values to be affirmed by a pop culture celebrity- for fear it might start a trend. It might stir up the masses. It might encourage conservatives to speak out. It might embolden Christians to quote the Bible without fear. Hollywood cannot allow that. Because they know it could get out of hand. Americans might actually be inspired to fight back. Someone might escape the thought-police plantation.
A duck hunter may have just lit the spark that started a revolution. Phil Robertson just went from TV phenomenon to American hero. Christians have been unchained. We are free to speak our minds. And we're not going back in the closet.
I think Hollywood just "ducked themselves."
Ehrmmm... Sorry.
That remark was not directed at you. It was a statement on just a sample of some of the editorial comments directed this way whenever I made an error in some other writings.
If I thought that you were deserving of such a comment, believe truly that I would not hesitate to state so clearly. I was merely reflecting on just a fraction of some of the editing I have undergone in years past, NOT pushing the slight mistake you made before. I am, after all, no longer a Tech Editor for Publications.
Again, please re-read the comment I posted in its entirety.
If you were too stupid to understand...
Should have read: "If I was too stupid to understand..."
No offence intended, and I can indeed see how you could mistake the previous statements incorrectly.
Again, apologies. I should have stated that much clearer and taken more time before posting.
If you were too stupid to understand...
Should have read: "If I was too stupid to understand..."
No offence intended, and I can indeed see how you could mistake the previous statements incorrectly.
Hollywood has yet to realize that most of America is Happy Happpy Happy and not GLAAD.
For better or worse, the 1964 Civil Rights Act does figure into this. Phil expressed a traditional Christian belief and is being punished for that, presumably because such statements violate the morals clause of his contract. The problem is, the morals clause in a private contract can’t trump federal law. Employers who don’t like certain religious behavior must nevertheless give reasonable accommodation to such behavior. The tricky part is what constitutes “reasonable” here. Phil probably has the advantage in this particular scenario. No employer can exert absolute control over an employee, not even by contract.
I watched SNL last night.
During the News Segment, the Obama loving Democrat Seth Meyers made one joke about Phil and his Supporters. I was waiting for more, but it didn’t materialize.
He showed a picture of Phil and said “apparently you can judge a Book by its Cover”. (hardy har har) Then he made a remark about the evil Republicans and Conservatives that support Phil and that was it. I was actually shocked.
I expected the Show Opening Skit to be all about Phil and us crazy Conservative Bible Thumpers who want to kill all the Gays.
In fact, don’t wee have any kill all the Gays Threads around here? After all, we’re all HATERS you know./s
It seems that the conservatives are saying they disagree with the explicit language he used while the liberals disagree with him saying homosexuality is sinful. I agree that there is no point in trying to whitewash reality. The homosexual lobby are the ones who benefit from whitewashing it because they benefit from people thinking they “love” each other, as opposed to them trying to mainstream and promote unnatural sexual acts.
The homosexual lobby must have put out the notice to retreat on this issue. This is the same thing they did on same-sex marriage. They encouraged supporters not to challenge it in states where they thought they’d lose, because they didn’t want a loss on the books. They are wily, strategic ones. That’s how they’ve become as successful as they have been. They must have been emboldened by the ridiculous decisions in so many states this year about same-sex marriage to think they were more powerful than they were. I can guarantee you they would never have pushed for the firing of Phil if they thought this backlash would occur. They miscalculated. Now like A&E is saying the thinking is there, which is totally in synch with the thinking of GLAAD obviously, they just hope things quiet down, and they don’t have to announce Phil’s back on the show until hopefully no one’s listening anymore so them eating crow doesn’t get much press.
Libs live in denial. They really thought that the great majority of American males were down with their love of deviant lifestyles. It turns out they’re not. Libs are bewildered. Pauline Kael-like they’re stunned that everybody doesn’t love what they love. Everybody they know loves weird sex. Another great cultural disconnect.
I read that the next Season of Duck Dynasty has already been filmed. If true, the only thing they could suspend Phil from are the Commercials promoting the new Season.
This Tempest in a Teapot has turned into a Bomb in the Pressure Cooker for A&E and the Gay Lobby.
“Well he did talk about, well, orifices. A bit crude, but not quite vulgar”.
I disagree, he spoke plain english that anyone with half a brain could understand, even liberals.
They reveal that they are NOT ONE OF US.
Phil Robertson will make it to Heaven... unless something changes in rove’s mind to completely turn himself around... he will burn in hell... for his sins are many and it does not take much reading to uncover them.
I have a poster in my Business of Senator McCarthy... and it states, “I was right”.
Weasel words from weasels.
Yep
“its not easy to swallow (only see a pun if you want to), but a and e can hire or fire in a manner that they feel reflects how they want to be perceived.”
It is true that A&E can hire and fire employees as long as they comply with the terms of any contract they may have with the employee or a union representing the employee. If the employee has no contract and is employed in an “at will” state, the employer can fire the employee for any reason. The Robertson’s are employed under contract so any firing must comply with the terms of the contract.
However, the officers of a publicly held company (A&E is jointly owned by publicly held Disney and privately held Hearst Corporation) have a legal and fiduciary obligation to protect the interests of the shareholders which is generally interpreted as maximizing the profitability of the enterprise. Management is considered negligent, and vulnerable to shareholder lawsuits, if it deliberately takes actions which will reduce shareholder value. In this instance, a management decision to cancel the most popular show in cable television would likely be considered a violation of the fiduciary responsibility of management. Since Disney is a public company, the loss of the Duck Dynasty franchise would likely have resulted in shareholder lawsuits.
This explains A&E’s actions to date. A&E did not pull the show. A&E did not fire Phil and thereby run the risk of the family walking away from the show. A&E suspended him “indefinitely”, which subsequent events have shown was a small bone thrown to GLAAD which A&E intended to quietly allow to expire once what A&E expected to be a two or three day minor public relations problem had passed. Note that A&E even planned and executed a Duck Dynasty marathon yesterday (Sunday) despite the smoke and mirrors it was using to profess solidarity with GLAAD.
A&E management never intended to risk damage to the DD franchise or create a public relations firestorm. It expected Phil to either apologize or be quiet. It expected GLAAD to accept the bone of Phil’s suspension and go away quietly. If other media outlets had not fanned the fires, Phil would have been quietly reinstated in early January and the show would have continued as before.
Thanks to the firestorm, and the Robertson family standing tall, A&E is now backtracking. Since A&E cannot force Phil to apologize, and it knows if it fires Phil the rest of the family will walk away thereby destroying the show, the only way A&E can appease GLAAD is to cancel the show. If it cancels the show, the tort lawyers will begin signing up Disney shareholders for a class action suit. It may also be the privately held Hearst Corporation is telling A&E management it better not destroy a top rated show that is flowing millions of dollars of profits to Hearst.
In the end, money talks. While one or two ideologues in management might be willing to sacrifice the show, most executives will fight to maintain the revenue and profit stream that allows them to maximize their lucrative bonuses. None of these executives want to become embroiled in shareholder lawsuits which could be directed at them personally. It is likely that today the CEO’s of Disney and Hearst have agreed on a plan and are dictating to A&E management a strategy to walk this public relations disaster back as quickly as possible. In addition, the public relations departments at A&E, Hearst, Disney, and likely some outside contract firms are scrambling to message the strategic retreat and are trying to figure out how to turn a public relations disaster into more viewers for the Duck Dynasty show.
The inside the boardroom drama today at Hearst, Disney, and A&E would likely make a great movie. I’m sure the executives are hoping the signals they’ve sent that Phil will be back in January, plus the very public humiliation of Cracker Barrel, has taken the heat off A&E. If the PR people can get GLAAD to be quiet, over the next few days the attention of the DD audience/supporters will turn to celebrating Christmas and away from the secular world.
If GLAAD is stupid enough to demand Phil be fired or the show be cancelled, these highly paid executives will have a difficult choice to make. Likely they’ll sacrifice the A&E CEO, formally end Phil’s suspension, and throw a bone to the gay community by making a large donation to GLAAD or announcing they’ll develop a gay family reality show.
The wild card may be the federal government. It may be the administration is quietly pressuring the Disney and Hearst to force the issue with the Roberstons in order to get the show off the air. Under government pressure A&E might make Phil’s suspension permanent knowing the rest of the family will leave the show, thereby ending it. Then the full weight of the IRS and other agencies will come down on the Robertson family and their customers. All of this can be accomplished with a few well placed telephone calls with no paper trail.
Stay tuned.
...any good and ACCURATE books written on McCarthy?
I have enlisted my kid (the techie one) to research exactly that as an alternative.
I think you are wrong. Understand me, it is not a constitutional issue. Not at all. A&E has the right to their own free speech. they are not obligated to provide a platform for Phil. And the radical gays can say their say also.
But right-thinking Christians and others can express their dismay, can call for boycotts, or whatever, same as the Left.
And they are certainly right to point out that this is an attempt to silence Phil and shut up his views. And was a cowardly move on the part of A&E, which ought to be about free expression, if any thing at all. But no, it isn't a constitutional issue at all. Will it become a legal one? who know?
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