The duck with them!
What to do when a redneck TV star speaks — loudly, unfiltered and with a deep sense of Christian morality about gay sex acts he finds distasteful, disturbing or downright gross?
The star must immediately be thrown under the proverbial bus — then it’s backed up and he’s crushed some more.
Heads are exploding among the urban suits at the A&E cable TV network. In an interview with GQ magazine, “Duck Dynasty’’ star Phil Robertson, a self-described piece of Louisiana “white trash,’’ proselytized against the habit of men who get naked with those of the same anatomy.
He did not — I repeat, did not — bash any individuals, the way former TV chef Paula Deen hurled the N-word at African-Americans, whether these people be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or any combination of politically correct genital identity.
For his thought crimes, Robertson was put on filming hiatus indefinitely on Wednesday from his hit show — shut up, possibly for good, along with his crossbow and biblical beard.
In knocking Robertson off the air, A&E slimed its own star in deference to the powerful gay lobby. One that wields disproportionate influence over what we all watch, think and read.
The network essentially defended the bruised feelings of the homosexual industrial complex, while refusing to stand up for Robertson’s right to express personal displeasure with practices that he believes violate his religion.
It never should have happened. A&E can still apologize for the slight.
It won’t.
Robertson used the kind of crazy language that made him a household name to tell GQ magazine something that, according to a recent poll, 37 percent of Americans, and a probable majority of “Dynasty’’ viewers, already think even if they’re too scared to say it out loud: Homosexuality is a sin.
“It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me,’’ Robertson told the magazine in a fit of too-much-information, taking care to point out that it’s just his opinion. It’s also one that’s shared by millions of men, and more than a few lesbians, who don’t possess Robertson’s unique way with words.
Then, in comments that have been grossly misinterpreted, Robertson further waxed red about his Christian beliefs.
Asked by the reporter to name other things he finds sinful, Robertson ticked off a list.
“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.’’
He did not equate same-sex relations with sex with animals, as has been erroneously reported. Robertson simply reminded readers, who likely did not get morality lessons in school, that bestiality is not just creepy and unhygienic. It’s a sin.
Oddly, organized sex workers have yet to speak out against Robertson’s clear distaste for opposite-sex promiscuity. I guess straight sex is not an activity that’s protected from criticism.
Season 4’s premiere of “Duck Dynasty’’ snagged nearly 12 million viewers, cementing the show as cable TV’s most widely watched reality program. The Robertson clan is country, but also lavishly wealthy from the duck calls and hunting and fishing equipment the family sells through its Duck Commander company. These seeming bumpkins are smarter and savvier than they look. New episodes of “Duck Dynasty’’ are scheduled to air next month.
You ask me, the Robertsons should take their duck calls and tell A&E to duck off! It’s one way to protect the American value of freedom of speech.