Phil Robertson, A Modern-Day Rosa Parks

Unfortunately, we can’t ignore the Duck Dynasty call heard ‘round the world, especially when it’s sparked so many Fringe-worthy responses. Fringe Factor favorite Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association praised the anti-gay comments, which got the A&E reality star suspended from his show. On his Christian radio broadcast saying, Fischer said “What we need is about 150 million Phil Robertsons out there.” Meanwhile, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wasted no time defending Robertson, a Louisianan, issuing a statement arguing that “the politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with,” and “It’s a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended.” 


Sarah Palin also took the opportunity to call Robertson’s suspension evidence that “Free speech is an endangered species.” But the winning response to the Duck Dynasty brouhaha came from Ian Bayne, an Illinois Republican congressional candidate who compared Robertson to Rosa Parks. Yes, Rosa Parks. Bayne’s exact words, in a fundraising email, were: “In December 1955, Rosa Parks took a stand against an unjust societal persecution of black people, and in December 2013, Robertson took a stand against persecution of Christians. What Parks did was courageous… What Robertson did was courageous too.”