The Friday "Document Dump" refers to the practice of the White House to release certain news stories and documents late on Friday, so that the news coverage of the released items is minimal. Many fewer folks check the news on Saturday, so much of the Friday stuff just goes by unnoticed by the bulk of America. This evening, we had a different sort of document dump. A&E Networks announced that it was caving in to massive outrage from its audience and was returning Phil Robertson to "Duck Dynasty". Indeed, although Robertson was suspended for expressing his view that homosexual behavior is sin, no filming took place during that "suspension". That means that A&E never had to omit Robertson from the hit series for even ten seconds.
It is not surprising that A&E chose late Friday for this announcement. There is no doubt that just as the original suspension led to a huge backlash among supporters of Robertson's right to express his views, the lifting of the suspension will provoke a similar sort of upset among the gay groups like GLAAD that got so incensed when Robertson first expressed his opinions. A&E is undoubtedly hoping that many people just miss the story altogether.
It is interesting to see the Hollywood elites succumbing to the pressure exerted by ordinary Americans who understood that the suspension of Robertson was a gross over-reaction by the network. Not everyone sees describing a gay lifestyle as sinful as something improper or inappropriate. When it became clear to A&E that it had likely damaged its biggest series and hurt the entire network to the point that its revenues would suffer, the executives quickly decided to reverse course. In other words, they stuck to their principles until they realized that there might be some adverse consequences to the network for doing so.
It is not surprising that A&E chose late Friday for this announcement. There is no doubt that just as the original suspension led to a huge backlash among supporters of Robertson's right to express his views, the lifting of the suspension will provoke a similar sort of upset among the gay groups like GLAAD that got so incensed when Robertson first expressed his opinions. A&E is undoubtedly hoping that many people just miss the story altogether.
It is interesting to see the Hollywood elites succumbing to the pressure exerted by ordinary Americans who understood that the suspension of Robertson was a gross over-reaction by the network. Not everyone sees describing a gay lifestyle as sinful as something improper or inappropriate. When it became clear to A&E that it had likely damaged its biggest series and hurt the entire network to the point that its revenues would suffer, the executives quickly decided to reverse course. In other words, they stuck to their principles until they realized that there might be some adverse consequences to the network for doing so.
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