I concur. Maph has not been consistent in his reasoning on this

This is a good point. +1.

Oh, yeah... kumbaya.

for all we know it's all orchestrated. A & E makes their public statement - Phil is spanked, there is a network/show battle(excellent for ratings) and money is made. I predict a kumbaya shortly. I hope I didn't offend anyone by saying kumbaya.

It appears to be backfiring already. Sponsors and viewers are siding with Phil. I think they are mostly supporting his right to state his opinion. From a business perspective I think A&E should have stayed out of it until they saw the ratings. If people were offended they would have stopped watching.

I don't understand the 3 dollar bill analogy-like straight as a board? I completely understand the anger people are expressing over a vocal minority trying to shang hai free speech in the name of phobias and racism. No offense intended to the chinese who are living in Shang hai currently or in the past. But for any chinese who will attempt to shame me from using a euphemism which is not intended as hate, what nonsense.
A racist is someone who has an irrational opinion about people based solely on their ethnic group. It doesn't have to be negative either. One might say Asians are more intelligent than any other race. That is an irrational statement. However, making broad statements about groups is not irrational.
Blacks have the highest out of wedlock birthrate in the US is a rational statement.
As long as one's irrational beliefs are not affecting your rights, there is no conflict other than an intellectual one. However, there is concerted effort to underway to publicly shame people for anything anyone believes offends. That is irrational and many fear with good reason that rights are in danger of being violated (free speech) if we keep on this path. In fact, this has come true. Instead of murder being murder-it can now be a crime of hate.
Murder is murder. A is A

Snark is never attractive.

You claim to be an Objectivist and a producer, and then you go on to quote George Soros puppet-megaphone "Think Progress"?

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you might have some premises which need to be untangled.

But Maph wouldn't..that was my point.

Contradiction:
"Privately an employee of a network can say whatever but reputations are important." then " I support the network 's right to censor their public employees."
So you work for Verizon. You go to a protest about NSA spying. You appear on TV with a sign saying "NSA Bad, Spying Bad" . You are fired. By your logic, Verizon is perfectly justified. Nope, not buying it.
Phil answered the questions put to him, and answered them as he saw fit. He gave HIS Opinion. He never said "A&E believes...." One of our problems is freedom has been eaten away in little bits by various little justifications for wrong actions, and day by day they have added up. Just like the Presidents who have passed all the little "Executive Orders" that pretty much mean with one declaration, boof: Martial Law and internment. Go look them up. if people do not draw the line at the loss of freedom, soon there will be no freedom to lose.

I think

Sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings out there. 3 dollar bills are really not gay.

If Phil were the CEO of Apple, I would quickly shed my Apple stock! But Phil is as much a character as a real person, that is the whole point of the series. These are some serious, o0ff the wall loons! But very rich loons. And if the CEO of Apple was interviewed by GQ and asked his views on homosexuality or whatever trick question prompted this, I would still sell all my Apple stock if he replied withother than "No comment". That still does not get around the fact this guy was interviewed by a magazine/show and asked specific questions. he answered them as honest as he does most things. Straight up responses. If A&E didn't want the dude doing that, they should have vetted the questions, and it should have been a restriction in their contract. Short of that, he still has every right to express his opinion, his way. If people don't like it, don't watch the show. But turn off the "our hurt feelings" drivel. It is obnoxious and annoying, especially from a bunch of opportunistic, in your face, rub it in I'm gayer than a 3 dollar bill and you have to love me for it organization like GLAAD.
Thank you, much better now....

Public vs private. If Phil were the a
CEO of Apple, wouldyou find those comments appropriate in a public setting?

I would. Even though I support A and Es right to make the decision they did I think it was a poor one. Everyone knows that these guys don 't necessarily reflect the opinions of an AaE business persona. And his comments weren't hateful. I
think this will backfire on them actually. We 'll see.

The network has avested interest in protecting its viewership. While employed by the network and in a very public eye, one has to be careful in expressing certain opinions. Say the employee was going around saying Ihate Bush! This could negatively affect viewership. It 's up to the network to determine how damaging ti them such statements are. Privately an employee of a network can say whatever but reputations are important. I support the network 's right to censor their public employees.

Since the term "Homophobic" dates from 1955-1960, and the Bible dates from a few years before that, using the term is like filing a complaint with the FAA that the Wright Brothers never met the on time schedule. It just doesn't work. Also, you are using it in a denigrating way, since you are claiming a person has a specific mind set, and calling him a disparaging name. Sounds a lot like a member of GLAAD would.....

Then why was he unfairly removed from the show? For his speech. Ergo: He has been denied the right to free speech. The same people that are whining and crying about how "mean" he is, are the ones who will be first in line to tell you all about "their rights". It goes both ways, and they have accused him of some really bad things, that bear no relation to his comments. It is pure, special interest "we can do but you can not" B.S.

As for your disparaging comment about the Bible, I'll make a deal with you since we will never reach agreement about the value of that book - I'll not tromp on you gods, don't tromp on mine. Some of us have bled, lost limbs, been confined to wheelchairs and lost many friends defending our right to believe and exercise those beliefs as we see fit. That's about as kind as I care to be on this subject. The word of God is not homophobic, but it is sharper than a two edged sword. If it cuts, there may be a reason.

I don'r see it.

NOT racist, Maph... unless you're referring to the part where he called himself 'white trash'. You're argument has worn so thin in here your thong is showing.

No, speech is speech. Any one genius enough to determine it is "hate speech" is probably so smart and perfect they are God's 2nd cousin. No one has the right to muzzel anyone, which is exactly what A&E and all the LGBT community mouthpieces are trying to do. They just love to do a screaming knee-jerk reaction to anything they do not agree with, and cover it all with emotionally charged terms that simple minded Americans love to render things down to. Example: the infamous "30 second soundbite" And censorship by a company can only be limited to a company in regards to their property. The Duck gang are not A&E's property, they are engaged in a contractual relationship for services, that's it. Phil expressed his opinion outside that (unless they have a clause that prohibits any outside communications, which no one has yet to mention). He has every right to speak his mind. I don't necessarily subscribe to his interpretations and beliefs, but it is not my place (or anyone else's) to tell him what he can and cannot say. A&E and GLAAD need to have a Constitutional Retreat where they actually read it and then follow it, rather than engaging in all this screaming and whining.