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    UngratefulDeadTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:25pm

    The popularity of this show is baffling to me, and I'm not one of those people that generally hates on reality TV like it scores me intellectual points to say "oh, I'm not familiar with the Kardashians."

    I think the problem is that, despite being the highest rated show on TV or whatever I have never once encountered anybody discussing it. Hell, I hadn't even heard about this brouhaha until this Gawker article. It's just confusing, none of the elements it combines (hunting, Cajun accents, ZZ Top beards) seem to scream "hit show" on their own but together they are some kind of phenomenon. Is it just the Christian thing? I just never realized American audiences were crying out for a hairier, less intelligible Pawn Stars with fewer antiques. Between those two shows we are clearly in for an endless deluge of "four white guys with a store" knock-offs.

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      MarianLibrarianUngratefulDead
      12/19/13 1:28pm

      Yes. Apparently conservative churches in the South actively encourage their members to go home and watch it on Sunday nights.

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      stacyinbeanUngratefulDead
      12/19/13 1:31pm

      I watched the first season and thought Si was hilarious, then it got really bad, really fast. I stopped watching a few episodes in to the second season.

      About six months ago my mother started talking about the show and that the family is "Church of Christ," which is the church she grew up in. She loves them dearly. I actually bought her a Duck Dynasty ornament for her tree a few weeks ago (for which I now feel even more shame than I did in the first place!) She is a Palin-loving, Fox News-watching, claims to be an "Independent"-type, which is probably their target audience at this point. She'd be in a major uproar over this man's rights being trampled or something but her little sister is gay and she hates homophobia so I'm hoping that saves me from hearing about it.

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    heywhatTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:29pm

    I knew this was going to happen. These guys were already right wing poster children. I knew they would be turned into martyrs for the cause. Is anyone shocked that he's a backwards hick? I can't believe anyone would bother being offended by what this hillbilly has to say anyway.

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      Ceraunographheywhat
      12/19/13 1:31pm

      The sad part is that these guys are not even backwards hicks. They're all college graduates and successful businessmen. They should be a step above the Honey Boo-Boos, but that family at least knows when to shut the hell up and keep their opinions to themselves.

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      templeofgloomCeraunograph
      12/19/13 1:43pm

      Actually, the Honey Boo Boo family is really progressive and I've never heard them say anything about religion. I haven't watch every episode and they definitely could have said offensive things I'm not aware of, but everything I have seen from them has been nothing but an outpouring of love to everyone.

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    Johnny ChundersTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:24pm

    I look forward to hearing more of the ass v. vagina debate during Christmas dinner.

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      BKKKevinJohnny Chunders
      12/19/13 1:34pm

      50 Shades of Grey...

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      spanther22aJohnny Chunders
      12/19/13 1:50pm

      hey lets not forget mouth! where does mouth come in? does the bible or perhaps the koran (i went there!) have a ranking table? is it vag, female mouth, female ass, male mouth, male ass? i went for mouth over ass basically for the sake of convenience.

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    doublylinkedlistsTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:40pm

    As a gay white mostly-cis dude, I agree that his racism was really way worse than his homophobia. Maybe it's because I can laugh it off on my own behalf, or maybe it's because his homophobia was so predictable, but the racist shit came across as way more vile and insidious. I think it's really terrible that the official statement only recognized the harm done to LGBT people and says nothing about Black Americans who were also targeted here.

    Am I way off here?

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      bnceodoublylinkedlists
      12/19/13 1:43pm

      Just to use the quotes in the article, the Chicago/Salt Lake City comparison is not racist. Chicago isn't the safest place in the world, especially with the rash of gun violence. The other thing, meh. Not that overly racist, but I can see where it can be.

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      doublylinkedlistsbnceo
      12/19/13 1:46pm

      That's not how contextualized meaning works, and I can only assume you are a disingenuous racist asshole. Go away with your apologetics.

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    rccola11Taylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:34pm

    As a person who personally advocates for gay rights let me be the first to say that I do not care what some dude from Duck Dynasty says about gay people.

    I like Noam Chomsky's quote on the subject, "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

    If anything, it is a bad play to go after him and inadvertently give credence to his statements as if he is some sort of arbiter of social policy. In other words, when homeless people shout racist statements on the street no one takes notice. It might be wise to do the same thing with him.

    Is he a well paid TV star? Yes. Does that mean something probably needed to be done on the part of the networks? Of course. But just because we happen to watch dullards on TV these days doesn't mean that there is any great benefit to censuring (not censoring) him in a feeble attempt to homogenize his views and simultaneously elevate the importance of his comments. He isn't important, even if he is on TV, he just isn't.

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      cesariojpnrccola11
      12/19/13 1:41pm

      You have a right to say what you want. You just gotta be ready to accept whatever consequences might be brought down upon you, even if you are right.

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      RhinestoneEaterrccola11
      12/19/13 1:56pm

      That's true, but not suspending him could be read as an implicit endorsement of his views on the part of A&E. They couldn't afford to let it go.

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    NefertittiesTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:30pm

    We know that we would not be okay with him saying negative generalizing statements about Chinese people, for instance, and not be reprimanded. Or if it were pointing towards the typical redneck choices of Blacks or Jews or really anyone other than themselves. I wish, however, that instead of conducting the utterly useless and unhelpful "hiatus" that they would do a show that educated him, and by extension the viewing audience that agreed with them, why their views are no longer what many people believe and subscribe to.

    That would have been a better response than the immediate need to punish someone who was put on tv because of their own otherness, because he is a certain segment of the population that is perhaps less open-minded and then turn around and punish him for that same lack of worldliness. It makes the rest of us look as extreme and intolerant as your average Sarah Palin quoting Tea-partier.

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      KIKROXNefertitties
      12/19/13 2:14pm

      That is an awesome idea! Why not educate him to the ideals he claims to represent? That message would reach sooo many people!!!

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      gometzNefertitties
      12/19/13 2:46pm

      The one problem I see with this idea is that he did not say he hated gays, he thinks they are sinners. My guess is that if he met a gay person he would treat them as he would anyone else, but then go home and pray for them. He is one of the people who thinks "hate the sin, not the sinner" (pretty sure I got that saying wrong, but the message is there). There really are plenty of people who think like this, they may be coworkers, neighbors and friends with gays, but in the end think that their "lifestyle" is a sin. The same is true with their "drunk" friends.

      Not defending his statement or views, just saying that it wouldn't really change his mind about anything. My guess is he has met gays and probably has never yelled anything at them or been rude simply because of that.

      However: I kind of feel like his statement about African-Americans is much worse than what he said about gays...

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    GregoireTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:28pm

    Tomorrow I go home for the holidays to a family in a Midwestern state that is such a big fan of Duck Dynasty that they all actually dressed up like them for Halloween. When I asked my sister what to buy my nephews, she said, "Anything Duck Dynasty." As a side note, they have an entire room in their house devoted to hunting weapons of various sorts. Most rooms are decorated in camouflage.

    Not only will Duck Dynasty be on television at many points during my trip, it will be used to fill the voids of conversations that often happen when I am around these people.

    My question: Is it okay to mix hard liquor with copious amounts of Xanax?

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      kumfinemyyGregoire
      12/19/13 1:35pm

      I wish I could send you painkillers, you sound like you may be pained.

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      wingz4evaGregoire
      12/19/13 1:37pm

      Xanax is to alcohol as hot sauce is to pizza. And I like hot sauce and pizza.

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    inProductionTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:26pm

    I'm not sure if he is a bigot or an idiot.

    I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and lean towards idiot, because there is no way a smart person can believe that Happy Negro bullshit.

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      cesariojpninProduction
      12/19/13 1:39pm

      You're probably right with the latter. They guy probably was thrust into the limelight and even though he get's a nice hefty paycheck, he would rather be out hunting than have a camera shoved into his face.

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      BuffaloRudeinProduction
      12/19/13 1:45pm

      ...because there is no way a smart person can believe that Happy Negro bullshit.

      If that was his experience growing up in the segregated south I can see it. It's not like the blacks in the south were all Malcolm X up in their grill. Jim Crow had a way of keeping people "in line" around certain company. Doesn't mean he's not an idiot, though.

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    9.3VectorTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:34pm
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      diggitydawn19779.3Vector
      12/19/13 2:03pm

      at my desk, read this, and laughed so loud i had to pretend i was coughing. thanks!

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      gossipninja9.3Vector
      12/19/13 2:28pm

      That is a brilliant tweet.

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    Montauk MonsterTaylor Berman
    12/19/13 1:47pm

    Over the past few months it’s hit me how much these people much make from merchandising alone. Duck Dynasty shit is everywhere. I visited Wal-Mart with my mom when I went home for Thanksgiving: there were multiple displays, from jewelry to floor mats to what-the-fuck-ever. I saw some of their shit at CVS. I saw some of their shit at the Hallmark store. Not since the heyday of Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls have I seen so much tat strewn about America. They must have licensed their image for literally thousands of items.

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      stacyinbeanMontauk Monster
      12/19/13 2:24pm

      It's unreal how much there is. I saw a ton at Michael's and Jo-Ann Fabrics as well. My mother LOVES this show and I got her a Duck Dynasty Christmas ornament, I feel really dirty about that right now...

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      opiespankstacyinbean
      12/19/13 4:39pm

      I think I read somewhere that the latest contract that they signed got everyone on the show $20k an episode, but they get millions from the merchandising alone. They have been making and selling duck calls since the '70s along with videos. Phil has been wanting to get out of the show, I think this is just going to be his way of doing it.

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