Fuck A Duck
This Duck Dynasty debacle is breaking my spirit.
When A&E suspended Phil Robertson from their airwaves, they obviously meant well. They were justifiably upset at his homophobic and racist remarks in GQ. Fearing the loss of sponsors and watchers, they made the move.
Two weeks later, he is reinstated. Angry viewers, wishing they could say what Phil Robertson had said, hemmed and hawed until the network got bullied into bringing Phil back. They cried out for free speech. They cried out for tolerance.
It really shows what America is made of, you know? It just shows how far we have to go before we have equal rights in this country. It shows that ignorance is obscenely alive, champing at the bit of decorum, just waiting for a chance to finally display itself without fear of reprisal. Millions of people out there, finally hearing what they were thinking, clamored to give this dumb hick a second life beyond his little show. Now he is an icon. He is an emblem of free speech, they say. He was persecuted for his beliefs, they say.
Now that everyone is all of a sudden interested in civics, we should examine this peculiar thing called free speech. Everyone has it. But you can't go consequence-free because you said something controversial.
Let's take an international example. By now, most of us have at least seen some mention of the phenom band Pussy Riot. They were thrown into the Russian gulags for saying nasty things about Vladimir Putin in song. They had the freedom of speech. But they paid a price for their speech. I love Pussy Riot and all it stands for. But theirs is a classic example of the things that can happen when you open your mouth. Pussy Riot was held accountable and was not afraid to be held accountable. Pussy Riot, unlike Phil Robertson, knew exactly what they were doing. And they didn't bitch and whine about freedom of speech. Even North Koreans are at least allowed to have their own private thoughts, but one word said to the wrong person and you go to a labor camp. These are just a few examples of what can happen when you exercise your right to talk about something.
We like to think America is different. Absolutely, it is. Somewhere in our founding documents is a mention of "freedom of speech". This must mean we can say what we want whenever we want to whomever we want, no? Not according to the letter of the law. Go look at it. It says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. That's it. Your government is not allowed to make laws governing your speech. Pussy Riot would love it here. Sort of. That's right; we can say any jacked up shit that we want to about our government. We use it to effect change. It's undeniably American. It is a Good Thing. Your speech, in and of itself, is NOT guaranteed. Oh, sure, say whatever you like, but expect a response. This Phil Robertson thing has nothing to do with the First Amendment. Phil got yanked because he's a lazy hillbilly, forgetting to check his stupid mouth at the door for that interview. A&E was thinking about their bottom line when they suspended him. Then something strange happened. The fans flipped their wig. They demanded that their beloved duck call guy be reinstated. A&E, sensing the sea change, put him back to work.The fans wanted Phil to speak because really, unknowingly, he is speaking for them. Phil now stands for the right to condemn homosexuals and to spin tales of happy darkies before civil rights. It's a right wing wet dream. It might be your in-laws wet dream, given how pervasive homophobia and racism is. One of their own wins the epic battle over the forces of the politically correct.
At the heart of their plaints is "tolerance". Somehow, we are supposed to be tolerant of their shitty thoughts because the Constitution says we are. Uh-uh. Not so fast. It's the 21st motherfucking century. We don't have to be tolerant of a view that in itself is intolerant. It is too damn bad if you think homosexuality is a sin; you don't get to condemn gay folk and expect to get away with it without comment. Your religion is not your shield. You don't get to get away easily from making ignorant whitebread remarks about today's African-American. Your experiences don't make you an expert.
But Phil, you did get away with it, didn't you? Because that's how much America sucks today. Enough people got mad at your network that they looked at their bottom line, and realized you are an even bigger moneymaker for them now that you have said what a million bigots have been thinking.
We are the laughingstock of the free world because we celeb-ritize the dregs of society. We lionize the worst examples we can find. And we cover for our bad thoughts by claiming the bedrock right to speak them. I can choose to ignore this spectacle if I want to. But it says too much about the society we live in. Sadly, we will probably never be free of Phil and those who think like him. I just thought we had more to us than this. Our collective response to this is nothing short of embarrassing.
When A&E suspended Phil Robertson from their airwaves, they obviously meant well. They were justifiably upset at his homophobic and racist remarks in GQ. Fearing the loss of sponsors and watchers, they made the move.
Two weeks later, he is reinstated. Angry viewers, wishing they could say what Phil Robertson had said, hemmed and hawed until the network got bullied into bringing Phil back. They cried out for free speech. They cried out for tolerance.
It really shows what America is made of, you know? It just shows how far we have to go before we have equal rights in this country. It shows that ignorance is obscenely alive, champing at the bit of decorum, just waiting for a chance to finally display itself without fear of reprisal. Millions of people out there, finally hearing what they were thinking, clamored to give this dumb hick a second life beyond his little show. Now he is an icon. He is an emblem of free speech, they say. He was persecuted for his beliefs, they say.
Now that everyone is all of a sudden interested in civics, we should examine this peculiar thing called free speech. Everyone has it. But you can't go consequence-free because you said something controversial.
Let's take an international example. By now, most of us have at least seen some mention of the phenom band Pussy Riot. They were thrown into the Russian gulags for saying nasty things about Vladimir Putin in song. They had the freedom of speech. But they paid a price for their speech. I love Pussy Riot and all it stands for. But theirs is a classic example of the things that can happen when you open your mouth. Pussy Riot was held accountable and was not afraid to be held accountable. Pussy Riot, unlike Phil Robertson, knew exactly what they were doing. And they didn't bitch and whine about freedom of speech. Even North Koreans are at least allowed to have their own private thoughts, but one word said to the wrong person and you go to a labor camp. These are just a few examples of what can happen when you exercise your right to talk about something.
We like to think America is different. Absolutely, it is. Somewhere in our founding documents is a mention of "freedom of speech". This must mean we can say what we want whenever we want to whomever we want, no? Not according to the letter of the law. Go look at it. It says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. That's it. Your government is not allowed to make laws governing your speech. Pussy Riot would love it here. Sort of. That's right; we can say any jacked up shit that we want to about our government. We use it to effect change. It's undeniably American. It is a Good Thing. Your speech, in and of itself, is NOT guaranteed. Oh, sure, say whatever you like, but expect a response. This Phil Robertson thing has nothing to do with the First Amendment. Phil got yanked because he's a lazy hillbilly, forgetting to check his stupid mouth at the door for that interview. A&E was thinking about their bottom line when they suspended him. Then something strange happened. The fans flipped their wig. They demanded that their beloved duck call guy be reinstated. A&E, sensing the sea change, put him back to work.The fans wanted Phil to speak because really, unknowingly, he is speaking for them. Phil now stands for the right to condemn homosexuals and to spin tales of happy darkies before civil rights. It's a right wing wet dream. It might be your in-laws wet dream, given how pervasive homophobia and racism is. One of their own wins the epic battle over the forces of the politically correct.
At the heart of their plaints is "tolerance". Somehow, we are supposed to be tolerant of their shitty thoughts because the Constitution says we are. Uh-uh. Not so fast. It's the 21st motherfucking century. We don't have to be tolerant of a view that in itself is intolerant. It is too damn bad if you think homosexuality is a sin; you don't get to condemn gay folk and expect to get away with it without comment. Your religion is not your shield. You don't get to get away easily from making ignorant whitebread remarks about today's African-American. Your experiences don't make you an expert.
But Phil, you did get away with it, didn't you? Because that's how much America sucks today. Enough people got mad at your network that they looked at their bottom line, and realized you are an even bigger moneymaker for them now that you have said what a million bigots have been thinking.
We are the laughingstock of the free world because we celeb-ritize the dregs of society. We lionize the worst examples we can find. And we cover for our bad thoughts by claiming the bedrock right to speak them. I can choose to ignore this spectacle if I want to. But it says too much about the society we live in. Sadly, we will probably never be free of Phil and those who think like him. I just thought we had more to us than this. Our collective response to this is nothing short of embarrassing.
posted by RonB at 4:26 PM
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