About Phil

There's been a lot of opinion posted, broadcast and printed over the dispute between Phil Robertson and the A&E Network.  So why not add a few more electrons to the mix.

First off, this is not about the 1st Amendment.  Go back and read the actual text of the Constitution. (FWIW, I've thought that Obama should do the same, but that's for another post.  But it did let me get in a swipe at The One.)  It's a prohibition on governmental restrictions on free speech.  Nothing in it prohibits individual or corporate restrictions.  So while the concept of "freedom of speech" is definitely in play, let's leave the 1st Amendment out of this.

Which leads to the question, just what is the basis for this confrontation?  It's plain and simple.  The corporate entity A&E finds that the speech of a contractor, Phil Robertson, is offensive to its corporate sensibilities.  As a result, it wishes to alter the terms of the contract between A&E and Phil.

That's it.  There's no "censorship".  There's no trampling of liberties.  It's a dispute that deals with the contract over a television show.

However.....there's more to it in terms of viewpoints.  What is happening is that A&E is saying "we don't want to provide content that features people with a certain viewpoint with which we disagree."  And they are perfectly within their rights to do that.  Any network can air what it chooses.  Logo is a totally gay network, proudly proclaiming it.  MSNBC is a progressive mouthpiece.  What we now have is that A&E has come out to say that they don't want Christian values on their shows.

Fine.  Works for me.  A&E used to show some great television.  Then it lost it's way.  Some have speculated that A&E scheduled "Duck Dynasty" as a way for the coastal elites to have folks to chuckle at and to feel superior over. Those rubes in the swamp...they don't eat arugula, they don't read the NY Times, they don't vote "the right way".  But it didn't work out that way.

Turns out, there are tens of millions of Americans for whom the Robertsons resonate.  And they don't like what A&E has done.  In other words, to satisfy their progressive social leanings, they have alienated a huge marketplace.

The Robertsons have shown that they are savvy businessmen.  A&E owns the name "Duck Dynasty". Now the question is....what network will run the sequel show?  Anyone for "Duck Empire"?

Seriously??

Jonah Goldberg, author of the new book Tyranny of Cliches, posted this on National Review Online's The Corner:

I'm Embarrassed

So, I was on Piers Morgan’s show on CNN tonight. It was a shameful spectacle. He pretended to be a serious interviewer and I spent far too long pretending he was one too. My apologies to everyone who tuned in. I will have a more comprehensive response tomorrow on the Tyranny of Cliches blog.

Now, if everyone else on the right will come to that same conclusion.  And apply it to most of the rest of the MSM.

Great "homage"

If you like those DirectTV ads that present a crazy chain of events (and I do), and you are against Obamacare, you've gotta love this new ad from the National Republican Congressional Committee.



Gotta admit, I played it over and over again.

Super Bowl Ads & Politics

From the folks at Powerline comes this flashback:

Courtesy of The Hill (and an Instapundit link), the following ad from MoveOn.org was rejected for the 2004 Super Bowl because it was “too political.”  But they miss the obvious irony here: watch it all the way to the end (it’s only 30 seconds long), and ask yourself if MoveOn.Org would run this ad today.  (In fact, it looks a lot like one of the runners-up in the Power Line video contest).  Interesting how things change.

Change just ONE word, and you have the situation today. Actually, you need to increase the numbers as well, but you get my point.

Hypocrisy, thy name is liberalism.

Milton Friedman on "Greed"

Milton Friedman had a wonderful way of taking complex economic issues and distilling them into conversations that the common man could understand.  Not with demagoguery, not with double talk, but with a straight-forward presentation of facts and logic.  This short exchange with Phil Donahue is just one example (courtesy of Powerline).




I just discovered that Friedman's classic 1980 television series "Free to Choose" is available through Google Video.  In addition, the 1990 follow-on, plus some recorded interviews, are also available to watch for free.  You can see them through THIS LINK to miltonfriedman.blogspot.com.

Well worth your time.  Watch it with your family.  Send the links to your friends.  It's not too late.