Miscellany: 12/23/13

Quote of the Day
I must create a system, or 
be enslaved by another man's.
William Blake

More on the Duck Call Man

I never intended to have a prolonged discussion of the Duck Dynasty kerfuffle, but last night I was on a libertarian GOP blog when I noticed a self-professed Jewish libertarian post link which suggested that A&E was right in suspending Robertson. The whole piece was rather strident and judgmental; he goes on a ludicrous rant identifying conservatives with social conservatives; it is true that social conservatives are part of the conservative coalition, but hardly synonymous: for example, there are atheist conservatives (SE Cupp in fact wrote a book about her experience), secular pro-lifers, pro-abortion choice conservatives (e.g., Barry Goldwater). I have repeatedly promoted the independence of church and state, oppose school prayer, and do not want the teaching of science compromised by political considerations (e.g., the teaching of evolution). I wasn't thrilled with Bush's expansion of domestic spending as part of his "compassionate conservatism".

I think the guy has an agenda because I saw a rant he wrote against what he considers improper Old Testament citations/translations that seem to condemn the practice of homosexuality. (This reminds me of a similarly disingenuous nitpicking argument of pro-abortion choice Christians and/or Jews, arguing that sanctions against someone responsible for the loss of a preborn child are less severe than for born children.) The guy does acknowledge that he is not an orthodox Jew; here is an example of a rabbi whom thinks that those who argue such are in a state of denial. (Familiar readers may recall my first conversation with a Jewish fellow high school student. I asked him about eating kosher; he rolled his eyes and contemptuously told me that he was a reformed Jew, not an orthodox Jew.)

But the writer went on to claim that Robertson had a morals clause in his contract, citing an LA Times' piece.  The piece only suggests that there was probably standard boilerplate. That assumes that expressing your opinion on your own time is a legitimate implementation of a morals  clause.  But given the fact Robertson expressed similar points of view in publicly-accessible media before he was ever hired makes it clear A&E's action was arbitrary. Given the fact the Robertson clan pushed back on a network attempt to end the episode-ending prayer, how likely is it that Robertson would have agreed to not talk about his religious views off the set? I'm sure that A&E probably was never entirely happy with Robertson's views on homosexuality, but when the gay activists went after A&E, they decided to throw Robertson under the bus. Morally reprehensible.

O'Sullivan does a good job in an NR piece (also see FB Corner below) summarizing points I have also been making. Here are relevant excerpts:

For what GLAAD has been operating is a classic blacklist operation. Its object is not to persuade those who disagree with it over the morality of same-sex relationships to change their minds. Nor is it principally intended to prevent such views being expressed publicly (though that is one of its purposes). Its main purpose is to drive those who hold such views out of their professions and to deprive them of their livelihoods unless they recant, promise not to offend in future, and remain within the boundaries of acceptable opinion laid down by the blacklist operators. And if that is done, it should make anyone think twice or three times before using his freedom of speech to express similar views.

As several people have pointed out (mainly those arguing that all this is no big deal), the First Amendment is not at issue here. That is because the government is not operating the blacklist. But freedom of speech is still threatened even if law and regulation are not the instruments of intimidation. The government was not operating the blacklist in post-war Hollywood either. Here is how the GLAAD spokesman characterized Robertson’s remarks “Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe. . . . Phil’s decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT . . .  ”

You want offensive? This is truly offensive. It combines lies about what Robertson said, a ludicrous attempt to define “true” Christianity along lines prescribed by GLAAD, and appeals for Robertson’s livelihood to be cut off. It is a blacklist in operation, and it is an odious thing. It has worked before, though, and for a while it seemed to be working here.

Political Humor: The 12 Days of TSA Christmas




Sweetie Delaney Brown Gets Her Christmas Wish: Caroling

For contributions to help with Delaney's medical costs, see here

 Eight-year-old Delaney is dying of a rare form of leukemia. Let me quote:

The singers fulfilled one of 8-year-old Delaney Brown's wishes: a huge holiday sing-along outside her home in West Reading, Pennsylvania. "All she wants is carols? We can do that," caroller Meghan McGee said.. Her family confirmed earlier this week that doctors have given Delaney only days to live.

In one scene, you can see the beautiful sweetheart waving from her multi-story window below. After the clip is my song selection dedicated to Delaney.





Facebook Corner

(Tom Woods). Libertarianism 101: It is not a violation of your liberty if someone doesn't want to sell you something. It would be a violation of the seller's liberty to force him to transact with you.

Civilized people exchange with one another only when both favor the transaction. Only a thug brings in the state when a baker won't bake him a cake.

Class dismissed.

They were mostly doing it for publicity, also, and to embarrass the vendor (classic passive-aggressive behavior).

I find it odd no one has commented (that I've seen) on the judicial tyranny here: it constitutes a form of slavery.

(Separate comments to other discussants.)

 Too much discussion of "bigotry" in this thread. There could be many reasons I decide not to sell to a customer, including a disrespectful attitude. In one of these cake incidents, the gay "customers" decided to berate the baker as "homophobic". Total incivility and unacceptable. I probably would have sold them a cake until they acted like judgmental jerks.

As to [discussant's] comment, it's clear, by the very survival of blacks in the South, there were markets for blacks. Of course, a lot depends on nature and extent of a group; about 13% of Americans are black. I am left-handed; about 10-15% of the population is left-handed. Most items sold are for right-handed people. But there are specialty companies, especially in the Internet age, where you can find sufficient scale.

In another group, I pointed out there are bakers (e.g., in NY) that cater to gay couples, there are tons of suppliers of "gay marriage" toppers on eBay, and I don't see why you can't buy a standard wedding cake and decorate (or hire someone to decorate) it yourself.

Via Citizens Against Government Waste

The "Do-Nothing" Congress is certainly good at one thing: arguing. From the government shut down to the change of processional rules, the 113th Congress has spent a lot of time and tax payer money with few notable accomplishments made. 
Actually, given a regulation-happy, tax-and-spend Senate and White House, I welcome speed bumps along the Road to Serfdom.

(Illinois Policy Institute). Obamacare signup deadline extended to Christmas Eve
 NSA's making a list, IRS is checking it twice, gonna find out if you're naughty or nice. Because Santa Obama is coming to town...

 (National Review). John O’Sullivan condemns the offensive bullying of Phil Robertson by GLAAD and other groups as an odious assault on free speech. Read more: http://natl.re/J9GOvN

Should I be surprised by all the "progressive" and/or pseudo-libertarian discussants in this thread? People citing Salon, the Internet's version of toilet paper.

First of all, personally attacking POTUS in front of a foreign anti-American crowd for cheap pops is not the same thing as singing a war protest song or giving one's opinion on foreign policy. It was the incivility and knowingly alienating country fans, many of them whom supported POTUS and consider themselves patriots. Second, people forget that the Dixie Chicks sold out at least 51 of 59 appearances on the first day tickets went on sale after the incident. So cry me a river if fickle music fans tuned them out; almost every performer goes through peak periods. The more salient point is that Phil Robertson's relevant opinions were not unknown to A&E when he was hired; to argue their position was principled is absurd.

Second, I'm getting impatient with intellectually shallow people whom don't understand the First Amendment issue. The Bill of Rights is all about protecting negative liberties. That includes any majoritarian abuse of power, not just the government, e.g., lynch mobs. In this case, the fascists went beyond protesting Robertson; they were trying to attack his livelihood--because he said things they didn't agree with. If Americans have to worry about fascists on any ideological issue going after their livelihood for things they say off the job, what is "freedom of speech"? 

Finally, many people assume employers have all the power in a relationship. Not true; the Yankees wanted to tame notorious bad boy Babe Ruth's conduct off the field, and they negotiated some incentive/morals clauses, some of which the Babe rejected. A&E didn't like the episode-ending prayer feature, but the Robertsons rejected any change. Why would Robertson agree to be silent about his religious beliefs off the set after he had previously released relevant material on social media? What's clear is that A&E decided to throw Robertson under the bus in an attempt to placate the fascists. A&E has painted itself into a corner; the fascists will attack them if they back down, and I think they've lost the confidence of the cast of the #1 cable show.

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Bob Gorrell and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Holiday Series

Pro-Liberty Selection: Red Skelton, "The Littlest Christmas Tree". Not on my iPod, but a family favorite from childhood. It's hard for the next generation to remember Berlin was once divided, and the US and USSR had massive nuclear weapons aimed. The Iron Curtain separated east from west Europe and seemed permanent at the time I defended my dissertation. There's a strong pro-liberty message in this skit.



Gene Autry, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"