I'm surprised that this hasn't been brought up yet

[protege]

Duck Dynasty fans react to Robertson's removal

Basically, one of the cast members got tossed for his comments about gay people. Naturally, fans are upset about how his rights to "free speech" have been violated. Seriously? Last time I checked, that applied to the *government* restricting speech, not private enterprises. Plus, "free speech" does *not* protect someone from the consequences.

[ebonyknight]

Well, first of all. He talked about both gays and blacks. He basically said that blacks were happy before civil rights.

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once," the reality star said of growing up in pre-Civil-Rights-era Louisiana. "Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. We're going across the field ... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' — not a word!"

Robertson continued, "Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."

The fact that the Blues were composed before Civil Rights is lost on him.

Second, a lot of people think this is a publicity stunt. Why they would need one, I don't know. A&E is running a marathon this weekend. Why do that if you are slapping one of it's main characters on the hand?

Yes you are right about free speech. Too many people are confused about the First Amendment. If the gov't is not directly involved, it's not a violation of your right to free speech. A&E has a contract with these folks and typical in a contract of this type is a conduct clause. They reserve the right to revoke the contract in case of poor conduct. He has the right to express his views, but A&E also has the right to slap his hand for it.

To me, it's just a slow news cycle with this story.

[Gravekeeper]

Before this hit the news I wasn't even aware Duck Dynasty existed.

.....I miss those halcyon days.

[Rageaholic]

Having never even heard of this show until now, I don't know what to think about this.

On one hand, Phil Robertson sounds like a smug dumbass. On the other hand, I think we should seperate the art from the artist. There are a lot of actors I like who probably share similar beliefs. I think their beliefs are idiotic and even harmful, but it doesn't have anything to do with their work.

Unless he stated those beliefs on the show he was on, I see no reason why he should lose his show.

That's just my two cents.

[HYHYBT]

I don't much care what they think or whether they stay on the air or not, but as with the Chick-fil-A thing, it's disheartening to see how many people 1) are agreeing with him and 2) are pretending this is a First Amendment issue, whether they agree with him or not.

[eltf177]

Before this hit the news I wasn't even aware Duck Dynasty existed.

.....I miss those halcyon days.

Me too, and I for one would have been happy to have never known of their existance.

Now all of a sudden all I see is tons of their idiotic merchandise...

[Hyena Dandy]

Unless he stated those beliefs on the show he was on, I see no reason why he should lose his show.

It's a reality show. He's the main draw of the show. The idea is you're watching because you care about him, so him saying this in an interview isn't exactly equivalent to a normal actor. Like, I'll still watch Lord of the Rings, and other movies with John Rhys-Davies, even though he's kinda racist. But when I'm watching a reality show, I'm watching the person, (hypothetically) not a character that they play.

[Gravekeeper]

Unless he stated those beliefs on the show he was on, I see no reason why he should lose his show.

It was a magazine interview specifically and it was pretty profoundly stupid. When the interviewer asked him what he considered "sinful" his response was:

Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men."—continuing rhetorically, Robertson questioned the appeal of same-sex relationships, particularly amongst men; saying: "It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.

So yeah, not only is he in the same sex marriage will lead to turtle fucking group with a side of Damnation, but he wrapped it up with "Come on man, that vagina! Am I right guys?".

[Kheldarson]

I think I twitched harder at the sheer stupidity of his Shinto/Nazi quote...

“For the sake of the Gospel, it was worth it,” Phil tells me. “All you have to do is look at any society where there is no Jesus. I’ll give you four: Nazis, no Jesus. Look at their record. Uh, Shintos? They started this thing in Pearl Harbor. Any Jesus among them? None. Communists? None. Islamists? Zero. That’s eighty years of ideologies that have popped up where no Jesus was allowed among those four groups. Just look at the records as far as murder goes among those four groups.”

[Racket_Man]

Before this hit the news I wasn't even aware Duck Dynasty existed.

.....I miss those halcyon days.

I knew about the show BUT after watching a mere 5 minutes I screamed and quickly changed the channel like I had when I tried watching shows like Toddlers and Tirras, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Bride Wars, Bridezillias and some of the food reality shows. My head just hurt too bad and I wish I had a hangover headache to counter-act the pain.

NOTE this is my opinion: It just seemed to be a camera following around (scripted at that) of a bunch of redneck morons with little intelligence who happened to hit it big in the business world.

I can not see the appeal of the show.

[KitterCat]

I've watched a bit of the show. Mr kittercat likes their duck calls, and its sort of like watching a train wreck. You cant look away even when you want to. Admittedly I can only deal with one or two shows before the stupidity gets to me.

Problem is this sort of ideal is mentioned a couple of time, usually off hand with a line or two between "dilemmas" while hunting or in the buissness. Mostly by their Uncle Sie, whom I sincerely hope is a made up character.If A&E was so worried about their companys reputation they should have put a stop to it then, or any of the times it was alluded to on the show.

A&E also makes a ton of money on this show. It is their highest rated show, and the products bring in a load of money. If I was a betting girl I'd say that after the controversy and the family saying they will quit if Phil is fired, that A&E will back peddle in the next few months.

[Greenday]

I think I twitched harder at the sheer stupidity of his Shinto/Nazi quote...

Gives them all crap for killing other people. Guess he forgot about the crusades.

[Pixilated]

Hey, the Crusades was at least (mostly) a war, with (mostly) two well-armored sides beating the crap out of each other. (Except for when the Crusaders won, and slaughtered every poor bugger in the city, regardless of race, religion or creed ...)

He also forgot about the Inquisition, the pogroms against the Jews in nearly every Christian nation on the face of the planet, the butchery of the native peoples in multitudinous areas of the world, etc. etc. etc. But of course I'm sure he'd have a good explanation for leaving all those out ... (probably since none of those cultures had "Jesus" either, they didn't count for anything).

I'd seen their merchandise around the mall but had no clue what it was about ... don't have cable so don't watch television. Obviously I wasn't missing much, LOL.

[catcul]

"Free speech is an endangered species. Those 'intolerants' hatin[sic] and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us." -Sarah Palin, on FaceBook, December 18, 2013

“I haven’t read the article. I don’t know exactly how he said it,” Sarah Palin on Fox News, December 23,2013

Wait, Sarah Palin is actually defending Phil Robertson's remark without knowing what they were? No wonder Sarah Palin has a reputation among non-GOP for being stupid. About free speech, ...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The last time I checked, A&E wasn't a part of the US Government.

[Anthony K. S.]

"Free speech is an endangered species. Those 'intolerants' hatin[sic] and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us." -Sarah Palin, on FaceBook, December 18, 2013

...

The last time I checked, A&E wasn't a part of the US Government.

One of the worst moments of the 2008 Presidential campaign was when Sarah Palin claimed that the media was infringing on her First Amendment rights by criticizing her attacks on Barack Obama :

"If they convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media." - Sarah Palin


I think Keith Olbermann put it best :

"Uh, Gov? The First Amendment protects free speech by the media, and the people, from interference by the government. It does not protect the government from the media. Read the Constitution some time, Governor, it's fun!" - Keith Olbermann


Palin's critics had a field day pointing out the lunacy of a politician claiming that her First Amendment rights were being violated because the media was criticizing what she said.

Protecting people's ability to criticize government officials had to have been uppermost on the minds of the framers of the Constitution when they established freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

It is truly sad, but not particularly surprising, that even after five years' time, Sarah Palin has evidently still failed to learn what the First Amendment means. And sadder still that despite ... everything, really ... there are still so many people supporting her.