Phil Robertson and Pajama Boy

Okay, lets talk about this.  Two iconic images this week, first from the ObamaCare .  We've got pajama boy wearing a onesie and talking about insurance.

Then we've got Phil Robertson, who was recently suspended by A&E for his unabashed defense of Christian values.

Now, for the record, I know nothing about pajama boy.  I'm sure that he's a fine, upstanding, pillar of his community.  And, I don't watch Duck Dynasty.  It doesn't air at a time that's convenient for me to watch it.  But I'm also sure that Phil Robertson is likewise a fine, upstanding, pillar of his community.

Yet Phil got fired (excuse me, suspended) for sharing an opinion.  What did he say, among other things?

… “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
… ”We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ‘em, give ‘em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ‘em out later, you see what I’m saying?”

So, Phil's got an opinion on homosexuality, and it got him fired (excuse me, suspended) after he said that he didn't judge, that he loves everybody, and he'll let God be the arbiter between heaven and earth.  In the meantime, Phil will love everybody and pray for them, his opinions aside.  That sounds terrible, doesn't it?

You see, the article I linked makes the argument that there are two Americas, and I agree.  We've got the elite, urban America that wears onsies and we've got rural, fly-over America where we pray for everyone, even folks we disagree with.  And some of us wear onsies.  I think I saw my sister wearing a set, once.

I don't understand what Phil said that was so wrong, and I don't understand why the urban, elite America thought that Sarah Palin was foolish, or why they think that guns are bad, or why having an opinion that is outside the politically correct meme du jour might be a bad thing.

Ed Morrisey has a pretty good take on it, over at Hot Air, and I like some of what he says.

That’s what makes this decision by A&E so absurd. Duck Dynasty is clearly on their schedule for the latter purpose — because the Robertsons are so different from their target audience that they may as well be aliens.  That’s fine for the Robertsons, who have a large following, and A&E too, for that matter, even if it’s not my taste.  I wouldn’t demand that they stop airing reality television; I’m just not going to participate in it, that’s all.

Which also serves to highlight the two Americas argument.  Phil is on reality TV because he's real, and his reality conflicts with the political correct reality to the point where it seems almost... alien.  But, Phil's views are very mainstream to a big part of America.  I'm not proposing that this is a First Amendment issue; the government isn't censoring Phil, the network is doing it.  The fact that they're firing (excuse me, suspending) him for his mainstream views only highlights the hypocrisy of them putting him on a REALITY TV show in the first place.

A&E doesn't have a clue about reality.  I haven't watched them in years, and I don't watch Phil unless I happen to surf across him.  But I respect the man, I share a lot of his beliefs, and I'd love to share a duck blind with him.  We'd let pajama boy come too, but he'd have to dress better, and he'd have to bring the hot chocolate.  He might learn something about the other America.