Amidst the controversy swirling around Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson's indefinite suspension from A&E for labeling homosexuality as "sinful" during an interview with GQ, virtually every left-of-center commentator has jumped on the train to railroad him. However, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show gave a more nuanced approach Thursday night by directing his attacks on Phil Robertson's defenders over at Fox News.
In a segment titled, "Words with Fringe", Jon Stewart first began by falsely stating Phil Robertson compared homosexuality to bestiality - a slanderous charge by all accounts since Robertson's remarks, including a paraphrase of promiscuity.
Stewart also referenced some of Robertson's lesser reported statements from the interview where he recalled a pre-civil rights south where blacks lived happily.
In response, Stewart stated:
Look, I think what the guy said is ignorant, but I have an inclination to support a world where saying ignorant sh*t on television doesn't get you kicked off that medium, but I guess I stand with the free speech absolutists at Fox News who don't believe you should pressure people to have to adhere to cultural norms of speech mostly...
Stewart then attempted to paint Fox News commentators as hypocritical defenders of free-speech by referring back to the "War on Christmas," rolling several clips of Gretchen Carlson, Jesse Watters, and Mike Gallagher expressing outrage over phrases like "Happy Holidays" and re-naming "Christmas Trees." Once the clips finished, Stewart proceeded:
Alright, their belief in free-speech doesn't extend to the holidays where the word Christmas is mandatory in 'word', 'thought', and 'plant'. Of course, Fox wouldn't actually pressure people to use the phrase 'Merry Christmas.'
On cue, several clips rolled of Fox commentators openly sponsoring boycotts and protests over the recent Rhode Island Christmas controversy where Governor Lincoln Chafee changed the State Capitol Christmas Tree to "Holiday Tree".
Jon Stewart did not explain how boycotts and protests infringe on free-speech or how his examples compare to the Phil Robertson controversy. The only equivalent would be if Fox News had fired someone for saying "Happy Holidays" over "Merry Christmas," but no Google search yields such results.
Stewart capped his segment with a clip from the Duck Dynasty cast themselves wishing their audience a "Happy, Happy, Happy Holidays" in a quick TV spot and shrugged, wondering why Fox didn't express outrage then. A fair point, but as TruthRevolt pointed out, the Duck Dynasty cast danced with political-correctness at A&E previously when they attempted to cut 'Jesus' from their family prayers.
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