ALWAYS The Victim.

[JaneyVee]

An actual ad:



Silencing Christians?! Amazing how these people use the bible as a scapegoat for bigotry & oppression, yet the minute they get some pushback or any objections to their bigotry, hate, & oppression they ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS play the victim. Never mind the ACTUAL victims of their bigotry, it's all about THEM and THEIR oppression. The party of "personal responsibility" never seems to take responsibility for anything. Always just points fingers and blames others. Not even an apology, ever. Lied us into war, no apology. No WMDs, no apology. Blew a surplus, no apology. Ignored warnings about 9/11, no apology. Financial collapse on their watch, no apology. War on women, workers, unions, middle class, poor, gays, students, minorities, veterans, elderly, education, healthcare, science, etc. NO APOLOGY. Racist and homophobic statements, no apology. Just play the victim. Always the victim.

It's the Sarah Palin strategy: Say something offensive in public, then when others criticize you for it play the victim.

[arcane1]

1. And shameless liars, too.

"Silencing Christians" indeed

[Dawson Leery]

2. For ALL religious fundamentalists,

"oppression" equals others not conforming to your beliefs.

[cyberswede]

24. "especially Progressive Humanist fundamentalists"

[giftedgirl77]

27. Oh good god.

are u lost?

[rustydog]

3. Hey, patriarch of the Dick Die-nasty

It is painfully obvious you are a Cafeteria Christian as best, on a good day.

Now shut the fuck up, pull your head out of your ass and go back to making duck calls...

[rdharma]

4. That poor fellow! Leave Phil Roberts alone!

[gtar100]

5. They forget that freedom of speech is not a one way street.

This isn't a First Amendment issue because no one is being forced into silence by threat of punishment. It's about a dialogue and how we feel disgusted by their bigotry and hatred of our friends, family, and those we treat with equal respect. So if they don't like our "free speech" telling them they are wrong and that we find their words so offensive that we won't support it on our airwaves, they can stuff it. Community? Morality? They don't hold the rights to those words.

[abakan]

7. freedom of speach is for protection from congress...

not meant to allow any inbred, racist redneck, to claim as his right to say anything he wants about those he feels superior to. Given that the subject probably has a shoe size IQ explains most of the problem, but does not excuse hatred in any form.

[JHB]

6. So the "National Council for Freedom and Free Enterprise" is against...

... A&E conducting their business as they see fit?

Whaaaaambulance chasers.

[pacalo]

8. Great post!

This is a fine example of why I've been enjoying the new pope's comments on the true meaning of Christianity.

[Martin Eden]

9. Maybe they should think twice about making Phil Roberston the FACE of Christianity

Unless ignorance and bigotry are supposed to be the core values.

[cbayer]

10. A&E doesn't silence christians, it just chooses to not promote bigots.

Big difference.

[Rex]

12. Well said.

I would think they should be tired of hiring morans by now.

[cbayer]

13. I don't get that station so I don't really know.

I'd never heard of this guy before this week.

Color me lucky!

[Rex]

14. I have friends and relatives that Luv Duck Dunisty.

You are very lucky...one of them just WUVs that show...because at the end they say the Lords Prayer right before dinner! Okay, a lot of people do that...and? Oh gee...how nice, um what about the other 29 minutes of the show?

Didn't A&E hire Palin for something just recently? I think they are doing really well in hiring the RWing wackadoodles.

[Rex]

11. Tell a corporation what to do to one of their hired actors rights to free speech under contract?

YOU MEAN LIKE THE DIXIE CHICKS?

Free Market assholes make the worst economists on the planet earth. They have an active 'destroy humanity' trait that I dislike.

[hfojvt]

15. this sounds like projection

that you are offended because they are playing the victim whereas it is WE who are the real victims. Victims of their "oppression" and "hate speech".

We, on the left, seem to have a strategy of "look for the offensive". That whenever one of our "enemies" speaks, sift over it with a fine tooth comb looking for something offensive. Then wave it around and cast aspersions and call for retribution.

What, for example, was so offensive about what Sarah Palin said? She said that "being deeply in debt is like slavery".

First, how is that not true? And second, even if it isn't true, how is it so offensive? Third, Palin was not "criticized" or "corrected" by Bashir. She was called a bunch of names and then he suggested somebody should defecate in her mouth.

There's a qualitative difference between telling somebody "you should not have said that" or "you were wrong to say that" and "you are a complete moron and really bad things should happen to you".

That's crossing the line into hate speech, and yes, when people publicly say hateful things about you, then you are, at least a little bit - a victim.

[CJCRANE]

20. You don't need a fine tooth comb! A lot of prominent conservatives like offending people and they're

proud of it. It's a badge of honor for them.

No one here is campaigning to prevent conservatives from getting married or the other freedoms they want to take away from various people. We're just saying we disagree with their opinions.

And a lot of liberals didn't like what Martin Bashir said and accept it was understandable that he lost his job.

[spanone]

16. so bigotry is part of christianity? bullshit.

Jesus wept.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. I know where I've seen that dude, before!

[bvar22]

18. Who got "silenced"?

A&E is a Private Enterprise Operation that markets a product.
As such, A&E CAN decide who represents them,
and HOW they want to be represented to the Public.

Unless I'm mistaken, this asshole had and still has the opportunity to say anything he wants to say.
A&E is within their rights to decide whether or not to let him say these things on their channel.

Asshole & Palin can still say whatever they want to say,
and are saying it daily.
If this is an example of "silencing",
then it is not a very good one.

If Palin or anybody else comes in MY home and starts mouthing this nonsense,
it is MY right to show them to the edge of my property with a copy of the 1st Amendment indelicately shoved into their front pocket.

I don't believe any of these assholes wailing about their 1st Amendment Rights have ever READ the Constitution:

1st Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A&E is NOT "Congress",
and neither is MY home.

[CJCRANE]

19. He doesn't speak for Christians. He's not the Messiah. nt

[Prophet 451]

21. and they NEVER pay a price for it

Martin Bashir says some unkind things about Palin, the right screams until he's fired. A fundie says/does far worse things, the whole reich of them gather around and scream about how victimised they are. They NEVER pay any price for this shit.

[Demo_Chris]

22. Yeah, they do, and it's costing them dearly...

The American people are not, by and large, ignorant, racist, sexist, homophobic, or even particularly religious. Even in the south they simply are not. And while it might seem like they are based on the volume of noise coming out of the right wing social conservative fringe, the volume is not a reflection of any real foundation. It's just the Christian fundamentalists and Southern Baptists doing what they do.

Everyone else looks at this stuff with indifference at best and outright revulsion a great deal of the time. The Duck Dynasty people might be heroes and role models to someone like Palin, but to the average American they are nothing but clowns in the literal sense. They are someone you laugh at, they are the color TV version of the Beverly Hillbillies.

And keep in mind, the folks from Duck Dynasty know it as well. They know that this is a short term thing at best, and the backwoods bullshit only goes so far. Which is why they are trying to spin their program into something more significant by grabbing some political capital. If the imbeciles on the right will take Sarah Palin seriously they will take ANYONE seriously, and the Duck people know it.

[giftedgirl77]

28. Fuckin priceless.

You're violating the TOS with your ramblings.

[cyberswede]

29. I love it when you guys come over here and remind us how ridiculous you are.

Tick tock.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

26. Finally, a critical conversation about someone other than Bernie or Hillary.

Pointing the accusatory finger at the actual guilty ones for once.