Duck Dynasty: Who Are The Real Winners? We Are (LGBT folks, of course).

Pretty much as expected (to me, at least), A&E decided to lift the token suspension of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, and the show will begin taping it's new season with the whole clan of fake-ass rednecks intact.  In their statement, A&E (who sold out the "Arts" part of their name long ago) had this to say.

"After discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family."

"While Phil's comments made in the interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the 'coarse language' he used and the misinterpretation of his core belief based solely on the article," A&E executives said in a statement. "But 'Duck Dynasty' is not a show about one man's views. It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family … a family that America has come to love."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-20131228,0,7784571.story#ixzz2ouRP8iq6

This reversal should come as a surprise to no one.  Everything that A&E has done in regards to this issue has been all about the business end.  The suspension was merely a token gesture designed to placate Gay rights groups.  There was no way that they were going to let go of a cash cow like "Duck Dynasty".  Their "cave", as some are calling it, is merely a business calculation.  After all, how many Gay (and Black) folk actually watch "Duck Dynasty" (vs. the number of barely educated morons for whom the show is the second coming of "Hee-Haw")?  The reaction from both sides in this debate is just as predictable.  Righties are calling this a victory for free-speech (even though this was never about free-speech), while the Left is crying and whining about how A&E sold us out and talking about boycotts (by the way, how's that MSNBC boycott going?).  However, both sides are missing a much larger picture.  The fact is Phil Robertson's views on Gays (or Blacks) mean exactly dip as far as marriage equality is concerned.

Let's put this in some perspective.  The Gay rights movement is at a place no one even dreamed it would be five years ago.  More people are FOR same-sex marriage than are against it.  And just look at what has been accomplished since Obama has been president.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell - GONE.  Defense of Marriage Act - OVER.  Proposition 8 - OUTTA HERE.  Even the Boy Scouts of America will be allowing Gay members starting January 1st - though they still can't be Eagle Scouts or Scout Masters (we're working on that).  Same-sex marriage is legal in 18 states and counting, and we're just one good SCOTUS case away from it being legal nationwide.  And in the ultimate "in your face" to the haters, a same-sex marriage will actually take place atop a float in this year's Rose Bowl Parade.  All of this is because the haters have never had any real legal, logical, or even moral reason for being against it beyond their own twisted interpretations of the Bible.

There is one other thing in which we can also take some comfort.  Phil Robertson is going to die - probably sooner rather than later - just like all of the other like-minded old folks who long for that non-existent conservative utopia where there are, as the song goes, "no Blacks, no Jews, and no Gays".  And young people coming up behind them don't carry the same baggage, probably because most of them know someone who is Gay (likely in their own families), and they are seeing that Gays and Lesbian aren't the Godless predators that faux-Christians make them out to be.  So I say we let the Righties take their little victory-lap on this one.  Let them have their scripted reality with their fake-ass rednecks.  From where I and a lot of LGBT folks are standing, REAL reality is far more desirable.