A “witch hunt” is a frenzied mass hysteria casting about for something that doesn’t exist.
Witches aren’t real; bigots are.
A&E suspended Robertson on their own — I don’t recall any “witch hunters” calling for his head. It does slot nicely into the right-wing whining^W narrative about conservative white men being a persecuted class though.
“Who is surprised that a cartoon hillbilly with his own reality show is a bigot?”
Except he’s not a cartoon hillbilly, he’s got a master’s in education.
Basically, the audience of the show either agrees with his statements (sadly) or simply don’t care. The people who are offended don’t watch the show in any significant numbers - the blowback to the suspension (which was ever nothing more than “Let’s make it look like we’re doing something while we figure out what to actually do”) is clear testament to this.
Those who took militant offense to his statements are more offended that A&E has decided their opinions hold less weight than the people who watch the show, buy the products, and in brief, pay the bills. A&E has committed the sin of making a decision based on money.
The controversy has given the Robertson clan a bigger platform than ever before for their beliefs, drawn more eyes to the show than ever before, and once again made the most innocuous acts (ie watching a TV show) akin to a political statement.
I think perhaps the better question would have been “who cares if a cartoon hillbilly with his own reality show is a bigot?” People like Robertson, or Bono, or Paris (or Perez) Hilton have no power, save that we give them. The proper reaction to anything political or controversial that comes out of a reality star’s mouth is polite laughter, and a request for them to quit preaching, and keep dancing.
Fucking public personas, how do they work?
Namely because A&E didn’t give them time to complain. Indeed, that was one of their mistakes. If they’d actually waited for GLAAD’s letter to arrive, GLAAD would have been the bad guy here. Instead, A&E chose to do it themselves, so they became the target of the rage, instead of just being “one of those poor companies under GLAAD’s thumb”.
Phil is a very bad man and he needs to be punished for saying things I disagree with. Is that better?
A rather outspoken friend of mine on Facebook started referring to Robertson as DoucheBeard and the name stuck.
I was already asked twice by random strangers if my own long beard has anything to do with Douche Dynasty. The first time I had no clue what they were talking about, not being a TV watcher. The second time, I’d already seen dizzying amounts of merch in stores like Michael’s. I am seriously considering cutting the damned thing off so that nobody else asks me that again.
(My beard doesn’t look a damn thing like theirs, for what it’s worth. It’s chin-width, generally well maintained, thin and blows in the wind. It doesn’t look like there are rodents living in it. I grew it out so my wife can braid it, after we discussed the possibility of doing Halloween together as Loki and Odin.)
redesigned, your “stupid things” are another man’s truth. No one hold’s a leash on ultimate opinion. By blasting the beliefs of a man who had no connection to those are lambasting him they have become exactly what they claim to find so repugnant in him. The only instantly effective way of disarming the celebrity of someone you disagree with is to stop talking about him.
Ah. Hate speech. Opinion is falling under that dirty umbrella awfully fast. The fact is that what the hate speech legislation was originally intended to has been quite effective. Sadly, it is so overused now as to be completely meaningless.
That’s the point, it’s not real – they’re not really hillbillies, but rather an animated featurette of mainstream America’s imaginary hillbilly.
Yes, America surely faces more problems with people objecting to hateful opinions than it does with open hatred of homosexuality. That is the direction of slippery slope to worry about, because there is no sign we should be concerned any of this might ever affect innocent homosexual people.
That doesn’t address what I said, but no, that wouldn’t be better to me. Because it’s still pretending bigotry is nothing more than opinion the same way preferring chocolate ice cream is nothing more. It’s not, it hurts people and society, and we still have the right to hate that injustice.
You know, if expressing an opinion, no matter how unpopular, is all it takes to suppress homosexuals, then they must be different from “ordinary” people after all. This all-hands-off, nurturing, full-acceptance-or-else mentality is not helping the homosexual agenda. But that’s just my opinion. Or is it hate speech?
Uh… told you so?
Voting with your wallets only works when you’re actually a meaningful part of the demographic, and even then, only if you’re a moremeaningful part.
This is why in a free society, the correct answer to people mouthing of is the same strategy we encourage our children to use when their schoolmates say things that bother them: Ignore them.
This “boycott-happiness” is a symptom of people believing that capitalism and justice are synonymous. Acquire the attention of more significant matters.
Mitch, I believe that the thinking is that there must be 100% buy-in. Anything less is just a bunch of isolated opinions.
You sure are using “homosexual” a lot there pal. And “homosexual agenda” too. Is that like having a “colored agenda”? Hate speech leads to persecution and violence against gays, which is why it’s simply not an “opinion”. Not an “opinion” any more than the saying the Earth is flat is an opinion, or that The Jews are the cause of all your problems…
Right. Labeling for clarification is hate speech.
No, there’s nothing out of the “ordinary” about homosexual people. Constantly hearing other people explain that you’re an abomination and calling for actions to limit your place in society would hurt anyone. Some people are just lucky enough they don’t have to suffer through it.
I’m not sure, but I do recognize the term homosexual agenda, and hope it doesn’t say too much about why you might worry more about freedom to express bigotry without public response than about equality.
Bzzt, he’s both. If he’s “smart”, that makes him no less an asshole for acting in this particular role.
Actually, I’m totally in favor of absolute equalization for the entire LGBT community. I just get sick of prickly little “defenders” rescuing folks who, if they are to be truly equalized in this society, can become individuals like everyone. As long as people assume a group who shares some similarity is some kind of “movement” with a “goal” short of just being recognized as human as the next person, those small minded folks like Mr. Robertson will have a pulpit from which to spread his opinion. I believe he is as innocuous as any other right-winger.
But you are right about one thing. I stupidly used a hot button word like “agenda”.
I worry as much about “The Homosexual Agenda” as I do about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
