If you feel dumber after having read this, well that’s too bad because I had to read it and then immediately take an ibuprofen.
Louisiana Governor Howdy Doody released a statement today on the suspension of Duck Dynasty star and proud bigot Phil Robertson, and in it he fondly recalled a time when the First Amendment applied to corporations and their employees.
“Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana. The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with. I don’t agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views. In fact, I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended.”
The endless parade of buffoons who would get the right to “free speech” wrong on this day was seen coming the moment A&E suspended Phil Robertson.
Not that it needs to be said, but the First Amendment does not shield you from the consequences when you say things like this:
“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.”
Or this:
“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. 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!… Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”
Here’s a moment I remember far more vividly than the First Amendment applying to corporations and reality TV stars because it actually happened.
It’s quite a spectacle to see the usual suspects condemn A&E and support Phil Robertson less than a month after they called for Martin Bashir’s head for, you know, expressing his views.