A&E declares war on 'Duck Dynasty's' Christian values

Duck Dynasty has been sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
By now you probably know that A&E indefinitely suspended Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family, for following the teachings of the Holy Bible. Nothing says tolerance and diversity by silencing the Christians and shoving them in a closet.
Between you and me, I think Duck Dynasty ought to indefinitely suspend A&E.
Phil ran afoul of intolerant leftwing bullies after making comments about homosexuality to GQ magazine. When the writer asked Phil what he considered to be sinful behavior, he replied:
“Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” he says.

Sadly, Duck Dynasty values are not Hollywood’s values. And that’s why I’m not surprised A&E dropped the hammer on Phil.

Then he paraphrases Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers -- they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”
That comment went over about as well as a Chick-fil-A sandwich at a gay pride parade.
“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," said GLAAD rep Wilson Cruz. "He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans -- and Americans -- who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples.
Before you could shout tolerance and diversity, gay rights organizations were demanding Phil be tarred and feathered. And A&E was more than happy to oblige.
“The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely,” A&E declared. “His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community.”
Let’s not mince words.
A&E is apparently run by a bunch of anti-Christian, bigots. Duck Dynasty worships God. A&E worships GLAAD. If Phil had been twerking with a duck the network probably would’ve given him a contract extension. But because he espoused beliefs held by many Christians, he’s been silenced.
Perhaps A&E could provide the nation with a list of what they believe is politically correct speech.
Maybe they could tell us what Americans can say, think and do. S
hould the U.S. Constitution be amended to prevent Americans from holding personal beliefs that others might not agree with?
I suspect A&E’s decision is going to create a firestorm of controversy. If you thought feathers got ruffled over Chick-fil-A, wait until Duck Dynasty fans take to the streets. I’m one of those fans.
I was a Duck Dynasty fan before being a Duck Dynasty fan was cool. And for the sake of full disclosure, I drink my sweet tea from green Tupperware glass just like Uncle Si.
There was something wholesome and heartwarming about the story of the Robertson family from Monroe, Louisiana. It harkened back to the days of black and white television when Father Knew Best, when afternoons were spent down at the fishing hole and Mary Ellen said good night to John Boy. It was a time when right and wrong were black and white.
It’s no surprise that "Duck Dynasty" became the most-watched non-fiction cable television show in history. American moms and dads have been clamoring for quite some time for family-friendly television programming – and Phil and Miss Kay and Uncle Si delivered the goods.
The Robertsons showed America that you can make it in show business without cursing, backstabbing people, or getting butt-naked. Each episode was sort of like a modern-day parable, wrapped up with the family gathered around the supper table, holding hands as somebody prayed.
Sadly, Duck Dynasty values are not Hollywood’s values. And that’s why I’m not surprised A&E dropped the hammer on Phil.
It’s not about capitalism. It’s about driving an agenda and shoving it down the throats of the American public. And Hollywood is beholden to an agenda that is anti-Christian and anti-family.
Fathers are portrayed as bumbling idiots and Christians are portrayed as intolerant bigots. Anybody remember “Good Christian Bitches”?
But these days it’s open season on Christians and Hollywood has both barrels aimed at folks like the Robertsons and anyone else who loves God and the traditional definition of marriage. Maybe President Obama could hold a Duck Dynasty summit in the Rose Garden duck blind.
I would encourage you to read the GQ article. I think you’ll find it both entertaining and thought-provoking.
For me, the most poignant moment near the end of the story when Phil inquired about the GQ reporter’s plans for the afterlife.
“So you and your woman: Are y’all Bible people?”
“Not really, I’m sorry to say,” the reporter replied.
“If you simply put your faith in Jesus coming down in flesh, through a human being, God becoming flesh living on the earth, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, being buried, and being raised from the dead—yours and mine and everybody else’s problems will be solved,” Phil said. “And the next time we see you, we will say: ‘You are now a brother. Our brother.’ So then we look at you totally different then. See what I’m saying?”
Phil Robertson was, in the words of the great hymn writer, a wretch – once lost, now found. He was a sinner saved by grace. And his life’s mission is to help others find the path to that oh so amazing grace.
It’s a message that I find compelling. It’s a message Hollywood wants to silence.

Rodman returns to North Korea amid political unrest

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea on Thursday to help train the national team and renew his friendship with the North's young leader, Kim Jong Un, a visit unaffected by the recent execution of Kim's uncle in a dramatic political purge.
Rodman was met at Pyongyang's airport by Vice Sports Minister Son Kwang Ho. He made no public comments, but told a mob of reporters earlier at Beijing's airport that he expected, as on previous visits, to meet with Kim and make final arrangements for a Jan. 8 exhibition game in Pyongyang marking the leader's birthday.
"I know (Kim) is waiting for me to come back. So hopefully we will have some conversation about some things that's going to help the world," Rodman said.
His visit comes less than a week after North Korea announced the execution of No. 2 official Jang Song Thaek, an unprecedented fall from grace of one of the most powerful figures in the country.
Jang's execution marks North Korea's most serious political upheaval in decades and has sent North Korea watchers speculating over the stability of the Kim dynasty. However, Rodman's visit -- should it proceed uneventfully -- could be a sign that Kim is firmly in charge and unconcerned with any potential challenges to his rule.
Asked about the execution, Rodman said that had nothing to do with his visit. He said he wasn't worried about his personal safety in the North, despite the recent detentions of two Americans there, one of whom, Kenneth Bae, has been held for more than two years.
Rodman and Kim have struck up an unlikely friendship since the Hall of Famer traveled to the secretive Communist state for the first time in February with the Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.
He remains the highest-profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011.
Known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, Rodman has mostly avoided politics in his dealings with the North. He's mainly focused on using basketball as a means of boosting understanding and communication and studiously avoided commenting on the North's human rights record, regarded as one of the world's worst by activists, defectors and the U.S. State Department.
Defectors have repeatedly testified about the government's alleged use of indiscriminate killings, rapes, beatings and prison camps holding as many as 120,000 people deemed opponents of Kim, the third generation of his family to rule.
Rodman said he planned to return to North Korea in two weeks with a roster of 12 American basketball players, but offered no names.
"I hope this game brings a lot of countries together, because as I said, sports it is so important to people around the world," Rodman said. "So I hope this is going to engage American people, especially (President Barack) Obama, to just to try to talk to them."
Bailey Comment: " It's all about the money".

67 percent say delay Obamacare, 53 percent would vote to repeal it

Americans remain unhappy with the health care law: Majorities say they wish it had never passed, would vote to repeal it if they could, and think implementation should be delayed until the kinks are worked out.  At the same time, a shrinking majority believes the law will survive.
That’s according to a year-end Fox News poll released Wednesday.
Click here for the poll results.
The number of voters who want implementation of the law delayed continues to grow. The new poll shows 67 percent think it should be postponed a year “until more details are ironed out.” That’s up four percentage points since last month -- and up 10 points since October.
Those favoring a delay also now include a majority of Democrats: 54 percent support delaying implementation. That’s up 10 points from 44 percent last month.
Overall, by a 54-38 percent margin, people wish the health care law had never passed and the 2009 system were still in place.
Similarly, 53 percent would vote to repeal the law if given the chance, while 41 percent would keep it.
Republicans (86 percent repeal) are 14 points more likely to want the health care law repealed than Democrats are to want to keep it (72 percent keep).
About one Democrat in five would vote to repeal the law (22 percent).
Sixty-one percent of voters believe the Obama administration knew ahead of time that not everyone would be able to keep their doctor. What’s more, almost everyone says it’s important to them to be able to choose their doctor (82 percent “very” and 13 percent “somewhat” important).
Most voters are troubled that a couple of the basic guarantees Americans were given before the health care law passed -- are now broken promises: 32 percent find it more troubling that people were told they could keep their health plan, while 15 percent think it was worse that the administration told people they could keep their doctor. Another 25 percent of voters say those are equally troubling. Just 27 percent finds neither of these is troubling.
President Obama’s job rating on health care remains extremely negative. By a wide 22-point margin voters are more likely to disapprove (59 percent) than approve (37 percent) of the job he’s doing. His current approval rating on health care is just one point above his record-low 36 percent approval in November.
Will Obamacare succeed? Voters aren’t convinced it will: 38 percent feel confident that enough people will sign up to make it successful, yet many more -- 60 percent -- don’t think that will happen.
The number thinking Obamacare will eventually be repealed or defunded is up: 40 percent feel that way, an increase of 13 points since October. On the other side, 54 percent believe it will remain the law of the land, down from 64 percent two months ago.
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,027 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from December 14-16, 2013. The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Sen. Rubio, Strong Opponent Of Obamacare, On The Defensive After Signing Up Family

Confronted by a reporter and camera crew from the Miami Herald on Monday, Republican Senator Mario Rubio defended himself over having signed up his family for the new federal health care coverage.
“I don’t endorse Obamacare,” Rubio said, responding to a statement by the Democratic former Florida governor Charlie Crist, saying, “Rubio’s endorsement of Obamacare for his own family should end the rhetoric” against the Affordable Care Act.

“It’s an [employer] contribution. It’s available to every employee of the federal government.”

- Sen. Rubio, of the $10,000 Obamacare subsidy

Rubio pointed out that, under the law, congressmen are required to register. “I much rather would have a vibrant private market where individuals like myself and others can buy health insurance from any company that will sell it to us,” he added.
Rubio, who voted against Obamacare and has aspirations for the 2016 presidential campaign, is also under fire for having registered via the congressional exchange rather than his home state’s exchange, in the process accepting a $10,000 subsidy that many conservatives are rejecting as a “special deal.”
“It’s an [employer] contribution,” Rubio told the Herald. “It’s available to every employee of the federal government.”
Others have shied away from the subsidy to insulate themselves from political attacks that Congress enjoys a special perk under Obamacare.
So far, about 10 senators – the bulk of them Democrats facing difficult re-election campaigns in 2014 - and a handful of representatives have rejected or avoided receiving the annual subsidy.
The most recent elected official to decline the subsidy was Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who issued a press release last week reading, “I don’t think members of Congress should get a special deal. Obamacare is being pushed on the American people and we should live under it just like everyone else.”

ObamaCare may hit smokers, obese

     A HEALTHCARE WORKERS union official says that people with conditions penalized by wellness programs, like smoking or obesity, may be forced by their employers to pay much more for their health insurance under ObamaCare.

GOP BUDGET CUTTER

Obama has yet to enroll in health insurance under Affordable Care Act

The White House said Monday that President Obama has yet to sign up for health insurance through a federal website created by his signature health care law.
“The president will purchase insurance on the exchanges,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters. “When we have an update on that, we’ll provide it to you.”
Carney, who has been asked about the president's plans at least once since enrollment in ObamaCare started Oct. 1, pointed out the deadline is not until March 31.
Obama is not required to enroll through an online exchange like members of Congress and staffers who want to keep insurance through their employer, the federal government.
Republicans and other critics of ObamaCare were quick to criticize the president, considering enrollment is behind projections, largely because of glitches on the HealthCare.gov and some state-run exchanges.
"It must be a technical problem, because surely the president can afford the higher costs he’ll have to pay," said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.

Thousands of ObamaCare web purchases not recorded, incorrect

The Obama administration acknowledged this weekend that the federal ObamaCare website failed to record insurance-policy purchases for as many as 15,000 Americans.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Saturday said the transactions were either not recorded or had errors and attributed the problem to “larger technical system issues.”
Agency spokeswoman Julie Bataille said the so-called “834 transaction forms” are processed by health insurance companies when consumers choose a policy on the site, which has been plagued by technical glitches since enrollment started in October.
“As the technical improvements to HealthCare.gov continue making a difference to consumers using the website, our attention remains on addressing issues with the more ‘back end’ parts of the system,” she said. “Our priority is working to make sure that every 834 form is accurate.”
The story was reported first by The Washington Post.
Bataille said the errors occurred from Oct. 1 to Dec. 5, such problems have been “significantly” reduced since last month and that officials are contacting every consumer who selected a plan on the site -- or marketplace -- to remind them to pay their premium and connect with their insurer.
Americans have until Dec. 23 to purchase insurance that kicks in Jan. 1.
The administration said it has fixed more than 70 software glitches over the past several weeks related to 834 forms.