The Pulse: Let the public do the firing

I find Phil Robertson's comments about gays appalling, but that doesn't mean I think A&E should have suspended the Duck Dynasty star. Professional death sentences for politically incorrect, even hateful, speech were all too common in 2013. Just ask Martin Bashir, Alec Baldwin, and Paula Deen.

Bashir made a disgusting comment about Sarah Palin and lost his job on MSNBC. Baldwin lost his cable program after pillaging the paparazzi and then lamely attempting to argue that he'd shouted "fathead," not a slur for homosexuals that begins with an "f." Food Network, among others, had its fill of Paula Deen after she acknowledged, in a lawsuit deposition, having used the n-word and confirmed her desire to stage a "true Southern plantation-style theme" wedding for her brother, Earl "Bubba" Hiers.

As each, like Robertson, is dependent upon fickle viewers for a livelihood, why can't the court of public opinion render its judgment instead of employers? Robertson, Bashir, Baldwin, and Deen should all lose their TV shows when public scorn impacts their ratings, not because media outlets have exercised their discretion on our behalf.

These cases could also use a little more consistency. Too many tend to evaluate controversial speech through partisan prisms, allowing feelings toward the speaker to cloud the debate. You can't have it both ways. Either they should all be fired, or none of them should. Anything else is splitting hairs.

In the latest example, voices that once cried for Bashir or Baldwin's ouster now try to defend Robertson's right to free speech and practice his religion. But wrapping himself in the Bible makes Robertson's speech no less offensive. And make no mistake: He didn't just quote scripture and cast doubt on gays' admittance to the Kingdom of God. He equated a lifestyle predetermined at birth with a choice to kill 3,000 on 9/11:

"We never, ever judge someone on who's going to heaven, hell. That's the Almighty's job. We just love 'em, give 'em the good news about Jesus - whether they're homosexual, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort 'em out later, you see what I'm saying?"

Yes, we can all see what you're saying, namely that you believe in a moral equivalency among gays, drunks, and al-Qaeda, a pretty un-Godly view.

Still, A&E should not have put the star on "indefinite hiatus" from filming - a status that ended Friday with his being restored to the series.

In a statement at the time he was suspended, A&E said, "We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community."

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The Pulse: Let the public do the firing