Ducking A&E

In another shot across the bow of the culture wars GQ magazine sent a reporter to....well report on the Duck Dynasty clan.
And it seems he got just what he was looking for. If you read the preamble to the article the first thing that jumps out at you is that the interviewer isn't exactly a neutral observer.

How in the world did a family of squirrel-eating, Bible-thumping, catchphrase-spouting duck hunters become the biggest TV stars in America? And what will they do now that they have 14 million fervent disciples? Our Drew Magary toured the Louisiana backwater with Phil Robertson and the Duck Dynasty gang to find out

As you read the rest of the article you see that the guy can barely contain his disdain for what he perceives as backwater rednecks (of course not having it occur to him that they are very happy and successful backwater rednecks).

Eventually he asks the question that produces the mother lode: What, in your mind, is sinful?

What I find interesting about this is why would a bunch of effete leftists give a tinkers damn about a show about a family that made it's fortune by doing what they love and live for faith and family?
Of course you can't dismiss the disdain that they feel about the family's insistence about not hiding their faith so they realized that a few choice quotes can take them down a notch or 2.
The author of this hit piece probably tinkled himself a little bit when he got the money quotes.
Simply put, in my opinion, this was a trap. A chance to possibly purge an embarrassing show about people who believe in God,guns and country.
The "gay" rights groups were notified who then fell in line to condemn Phil's opinion and then pressure A&E to do something about it. So they suspended him from the show.
Then the crap storm happened.
A facebook page set up almost 24 hours ago to support Phil Robertson currently has 947 K likes and growing, it should go over a million sometime this evening.
As much as everyone wants to make this about 1st amendment free speech rights A&E is a private company and has the freedom to determine what is and is not acceptable. But seeing as how the Robertson family is wealthy anyway they don't really need A&E, however Duck Dynasty is A&E highest rated show....ever.

What this is about is the free market, if the rest of the DD clan stands behind Phil and decides to walk away the question becomes can A&E give up the ratings and money that DD brings to the network.

You have to wonder if the suits at A&E are so stupid as to pander to what is really a small minority demographically that, until GQ wrote their hit piece, couldn't have cared less about Duck Dynasty.

The Robertson Family Official Statement