Phil Robertson "Fired"

[D'Snowth]

A&E has become one of those channels where they carbon-copy all of their shows; BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR became popular, so next thing you knew, reality shows about pest companies, and gator hunters, and such were all the rage.

Same with truTV; WORLD'S DUMBEST... is popular enough, so they keep rehashing countdown show after countdown show of clips of people doing dumb things.

TV Land keeps cranking out a new original sitcom cast with has-been sitcom actors every single year.

 

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For any activist group that praises A&E for this, I have three words for you: "Growing Up Gotti." A&E is not about tolerance or respect. They don't deserve your support.

 

[Drtooth]

I happen to be reading Atlas Shrugged right now. I'm viewing it as a window into Rand's political ideals, and...well, I won't get into that. I will mention that while she was rabidly against "entitlements" she accepted Social Security checks.

And all of her followers, rich entitled snotballs, get corporate welfare and hire the very same illegal immigrants that they pay Rush Limbaugh to whine about so they don't have to adhere to such socialism as paying minimum wage, having reasonable working conditions, and those horrible benefits that keep them not sick.

There was a Cracked video I can't post here that brings forth the consideration that Ayn wrote those books as an experiment to make the worst people on the planet even worse. If you search up on Cracked, you might find it.

I just think that is a sad state of affairs when a man is asked what he believes, and then is fired for saying what he believes. Everyone has to be so policaicly correct, that no one can say anything lest someone get offended. Everyone is just looking for the next big scandal to make money off of. He was asked what he believed and then fired for his answer. We don't have freedom of speech anymore, it's freedom of speech for those who can not offend.

Except what he said was offensive. Forget the whole "it's in the bible so it's true so let's hate gays" stuff. he also said African Americans were happier when they were oppressed. That is offensive. That's what TRUE political correctness is. This isn't "we can't call it peanut Butter" or "we have to make every pancake gluten free" this is racist blanket statement about a people.

Yes, I'll agree he shouldn't have been fired, but really!?! For someone who won't incite hate, he sure does a good job inciting hate. Even if he doesn't mean it, what he's saying is boneheaded and ignorant. I also agree A&E only cares about money. They're afraid of a boycott (which is also freedom of speech) costing them big. And frankly, if someone on a reality show said something boneheaded and I actually watched, I'd stop watching right then and there.

And yes... we have a freedom of speech that shouldn't be encroached. But we also have something just as good, if not better that's an unspoken agreement... You also have the right to shut the heck up and not say controversial garbage that gets you in trouble!

 

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I don't agree that his intention was to be racist. It's not like he was some wealthy plantation owner ordering people around. He worked with African Americans because he was on that same economic level. From his point of view, living at that time, he saw African Americans working hard (like he was) and not asking for hand outs. Yes, Jim Crowe laws were wrong but welfare isn't fixing anything either. To call him racist based on what he said in this particular interview would be unfair in my opinion.

At worst, he's guilty of the same thing John Lennon was once guilty of, being inarticulate at the wrong time, lol.

As far as inciting hate, people incite themselves. No one can do it for you.

 

[Drtooth]

If his intention wasn't racist, he could have put it in better, not racist sounding terms. There are problems, clearly... but instead of addressing them, he essentially said they were better of when people treated them like crap legally instead of saying "wow... you guys need help and I sure as crap don't want to pay for it."

Still, why the crap did he feel the need to say any of this? Just stick to the catchphrases that made people actually like your terrible program. Seriously, he should have kept the poorly worded controversial dookie so himself. Look what happened when Rosie O'Donnel got political. EVERYONE hates her now, even people who agreed with her.

 

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What you are calling "racist sounding terms" I think are more the way average people talked (especially back then) without being worried about every little thing they said being dissected. He's an unsophisticated, unpretentious working class guy (at least before the family made money, heh). He's not always going to put things the best way.

Like I said, John Lennon could have but it better too when he said "we're more popular than Jesus now." I understand what he was trying to say, but that's because I cared enough to understand. Most people freak out before thinking. Bottom line Lennon wasn't always very articulate when he spoke (his strength was song writing). He was a regular working class guy suddenly having every little thing he said analyzed to death. Phil Robertson is in the same position.

 

[D'Snowth]

Let's put it this way: if Phil had said what he said 20 years ago (or heck, even back during the Bush era), he probably wouldn't have gotten in trouble. That was then, this is now.

 

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To me this type of thing is no better than the McCarthy trials. It starts becoming a witch hunt of everyone who doesn't say the exact right thing all the time. It's thought police nonsense.

 

[Drtooth]

What you are calling "racist sounding terms" I think are more the way average people talked (especially back then) without being worried about every little thing they said being dissected. He's an unsophisticated, unpretentious working class guy (at least before the family made money, heh). He's not always going to put things the best way.

Saying that African Americans were better off when people wanted to outright kill them and they were legally forced to be humiliated because the South lost the Civil War and couldn't get over it is pretty offensive. That's a special kind of "I'm not racist" racism. I hear horrible stuff that follows the terms "I'm not racist, but..." It's not just African Americans that "abuse" Welfare (though the cases of welfare abuse are in the minority of cases, and we have to give welfare to working class people with 3 jobs because the rich jerks don't want to pay fair wages)... whites do it to.

But my beef isn't so much what he said was racist/homophobic or whatever... my beef is that he's just another Christian Conservative that's one side or the other when it's convenient. You know... like well to do people who own businesses that whine about entitlements and the gumment commin ta take their monies but when it comes time to hire anyone they conveniently roll their eyes, pull their collars with their index fingers and whistle.

Seriously... it's terrible prioritizing like that that gives Christianity a bad name. A footnote being more important than everything else is what really should offend Christians.

 

[D'Snowth]

And as I've said before, it really is that kind of negativity towards certain groups of people out there that turn more and more people away from God, because when you have such conservative, far-right Christians going off on gay people for being gay, well that basically sends the wrong message to people that, in order to accept Jesus, you have to reject certain people for who they are, which then leads people to turn against Jesus.