Ah, the power of hate speech and the people who bring it to us. Does it matter who the source is? You bet.
You may be dismissive of this as a good ol' boy just speaking his mind, maybe even on some hootch or moonshine. But consider this... Phil Robertson has a huge following and he's got political clout.
Back in November, I wrote a post called: Tea Party, Jindal, Cantor Get Slapdown From Duck Dynasty And Voters. It told about how Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame came to the support of a Louisiana congressional runoff contest between favored Neil Riser and newcomer Vance McAllister. McAllister was trailing badly until he got the Duck Dynasty fellows to come visit and support his campaign. Well, damned if things didn't turn on a dime and Vince pulled off a huge comeback win. And he knew how it happened. It was the huge popularity of the Phil Robertson and his clan.
So when these guys and their wives speak, millions listen. When the speech is hateful, evil and vile, sadly it brings out the nutcases. Among the quick to speak out for their defense:
Sarah Palin immediately jumped onto her Facebook account with this:
Free speech is endangered species; those "intolerants" hatin' & taking on Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing personal opinion take on us all — Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) December 19, 2013
And she's not alone in defending the indefensible, offensive and reprehensible. HuffPo:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Thursday became the latest politician to defend Phil Robertson, a cast member of the reality show "Duck Dynasty" who was suspended from the television network A&E after making graphic anti-gay comments and saying African-Americans were "singing and happy" before civil rights in the South. "Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana," Jindal said in a statement. "The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with."
And no indefensible stand would be complete without wackadoo-in-chief, Ted Cruz. From Talking Points Memo moments ago:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday defended 'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson after he wassuspended from the television show for making controversial anti-gay remarks in an interview with GQ magazine.
"If you believe in free speech or religious liberty, you should be deeply dismayed over the treatment of Phil Robertson. Phil expressed his personal views and his own religious faith; for that, he was suspended from his job," Cruz wrote on his Facebook page. "In a free society, anyone is free to disagree with him--but the mainstream media should not behave as the thought police censoring the views with which they disagree."
Time will tell who else will join the whackadoo bandwagon but this should be a warning sign. The Tea Party is on the march, armed with rifles and duck whistles -- coming soon to a hunting blind near you.
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