A&E introduced America to the Robertson Family, of West Monroe, Louisiana, back in 2012. A simpler time. The show, Duck Dynasty, depicted a simple family whose main passions included ducks, God, and each other. At the end of each episode, cameras rolled as the Robertsons held hands and prayed. Soon, America grew to love Phil and Miss Kay and Uncle Si and Willie.

Well, not everyone. Now that the show is off the air, Rolling Stone wanted to get something off its editorial chest:

Their article called “Fowl Play: Saying Goodbye to ‘Duck Dynasty,’ TV’s Worst Show."begins:

These days it's tough to find reasons to be cheerful about the state of the nation – but an America without Duck Dynasty is a good place to start. No show in television history has ever sucked quite like this one. And if the TV gods are willing, no show ever will. 

What did they hate about it?

The Robertsons weren't even fun to watch on a reality-trash level, because they were too phony to believe – so artificial in their micro-scripted dialogue, so cynical in their piety, so bone-headed in their recycled sitcom plots. Hell, even their beards looked fake. So their family values always came across as a made-for-TV shuck; however sincere they may or may not have been in real life, the Robertsons never failed to turn into show-biz frauds onscreen. In one episode, Miss Kay confides that Phil never remembers their wedding anniversary – the only dates he can remember are Christmas and Easter. Aaaaawww. 

So, they hate that they pay attention to religious holidays. What else?

Writer Rob Sheffeld, continues:

It's poetic justice that 2017 is the year the Robertson family is finally heading off to the duck pond in the sky. The show represented the pre-Trump Christian right's fantasy of itself – a family of hairy but God-fearing bootstrappers bowing their heads in prayer over the dinner table. Just a year ago, this was the most feared demographic in American politics – the bloc that couldn't be bought or sold. But when the Christian right fell in line behind the most flamboyantly secular presidential candidate of the past century – a pussy-grabbing New Yorker who didn't pretend to owe Jesus a damn thing – they sold themselves out, ensuring it'll be a cold day in heck before they get another chance to vote for one of their own. The right is a whole new bird hunt now, as the godless white nationalists take over from the church ladies. And that makes Duck Dynasty look pitifully dated, in addition to everything else that blows about it.

Of course, this is yet more evidence of the yawning cultural divide that makes everything about the ideological divide in America hard right now.  I have a feeling that Rolling Stone's main beef with Duck Dynasty is that it gave one of its main stars the ability to get on Twitter and defend a Supreme Court nominee. You can almost hear them in their editorial meetings: "Gasp! Regular Americans aren't supposed to have that much power in this culture!"

Welcome to 2017, Rolling Stone.  Get used to it.