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Never saw the show. Not one much for television. But I’ve been following the bruhaha regarding the patriarch of the show who made his feelings known about homosexuality in a recent major magazine piece. The company that makes his show immediately suspended him. Extremists from Sarah Palin to friends of mine weighed in quickly, calling the suspension a dangerous infringement on Free Speech.

I disagree. I think it’s a right-wing dream. The patriarch had free speech. He exercised it. The free market people who make the show he’s in used their discretion to suspend him for those remarks. Isn’t that a perfect example of what the conservatives want? Work for hire and all that? The ability of a boss to fire someone/anyone, regardless of years of service, just because they feel like it? That’s work for hire. That’s unfettered capitalism. So I don’t see the problem here–in terms of a conservative mindset.

But if, and since I don’t know the company very well so it’s a big if, IF this is company policy, then that’s that. If this is a new policy, then I’m not sure. The way they phrased it in the press release, that this has been their policy, well, if that’s true then there really is no argument with A&E, other than they put their money where their mouths are. Everyone knows the basic rules: You keep your mouth shut or pay the price. And in the conservative agenda of late, the free markets, the right to work states that are busting unions, this has never been more clear. That was my point: You want right to work, that means right to fire on a whim. And there is no complaining if someone is a right to work advocate. So no one who is an advocate for right to work/union busting has the right to say a single word about this. This is what they worked for, this is what they get. In terms of this particular guy, the suspension will probably last a few months when the show is shut down and he’ll be asked to deal with the issue when the show starts up again. The company will not have the balls to follow through, and I’m sorry about that. I root for his right of free speech/I applaud a company willing to forego dough in the name of what they believe in.

15 COMMENTS

  1. Extremist like Sarah Palin… hahahaha lefty hacks writing articals are always so enlightening… Just pass around same old boring lefty talking points. What’s an extremist Peter? Tell me… A guy who knowingly destroys America’s healthcare system, and cancels what will be 100 million policies from everyday working Americans? Is that an extremist? No of course not. Right Peter?

  2. Drivel, this article makes one of the most delusional arguments I’ve seen. A capitalist would make decisions on performance. I imagine this show is one of the channel’s top performers. So, your conclusion is terrible.

  3. So, if a conservative is punished for expressing a position many conservatives might hold, conservatives should applaud the action because they also believe in market forces?

    Isn’t conservative action towards A&E a market force?

    Gay feminist liberal extremist Cammillia Page Finds the reactions of the professional grievance groups fascist and Stalinist. Is she wrong?

  4. Has anyone considered that this action by the right wing is all a bunch of hoopla instigated in order to divert national attention from the great success of Obamacare, and the reactions of a grateful nation?

  5. This has zero to do with A/E and everything to do with the group that buys advertising. A/E may care about what Phil had to say, but it had nothing to do with the suspension. This is about the power of the person who buys up the advertising blocks on these various networks and the threats they issue……

    • Looks like advertisers are sticking with them, and apparently GLADD has gotten a lot of negative feedback.

      Chick-fil-a redux. Ca-Ching! Market forces rule over grievance-committee declarations, again.

      BUT, given Phil’s wild youth, and his southern origins, I think we can assume that he, like the loathsome and banned Paula Deen, likely uttered SOMETHING offensive towards any number of grievance groups.

      Can’t we just destroy him based on that? Think of it as the civil trial used to correct a miscarriage of criminal justice.

      • If we were to “destroy” careers based upon past or current thoughts against humanity abd the community of man (and if we could truly examine the “hearts’ of all those involved) the trashy manipulative liberal media would spontaneously combust (in my humble opinion).

        • Everyone over 40 has likely violated a PC law, decades before it was made illegal. Look at Paula Deen – there is no statute of limitations.

          The walls have ears, comrade.

          • Non PC commentary is not “illegal”,– as the columnist George Will says “The latest entitlement in America is the “right” NEVER to be offended.” We must never hurt anyone’s feelings, don’t you know…(except for Texans, rednecks,congressmen, Palin etc.)

  6. Look…Peckerwoods are going to be Peckerwoods. Now, these specific Duck Peckerwoods are presently knocking down big dollars with their act, week after week…. which happens to be the American Way. Up until now, it always has been our way. I grew up in the piney woods of deep East Texas. You could throw a rock from my home place & hit the Louisiana border. My Great-Grandpa is buried in the Texas State Cemetery in the Confederate section. My daddy, who I dearly loved, participated in the lynching of a Negro boy in East Texas in the 1920’s, while the Sheriff stood and watched, with his hands in his pockets. Daddy was a Deacon in the local Church. It has a big Seminary here in Cow Town. It’s basis, the Church’s foundation, was the principal that Negros didn’t have a soul ( were not human), but were highly developed mammals, and therefore were forbidden socially from the house, much less the church (same as monkeys, or mules). That’s our past, I pray we begin doing better than we do now. Way past time… Please Lord, Amen.

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