Ducks and dumb decisions

Rights uninfringed

As the year comes to a close, it’s only natural to look forward while musing over what’s now past. For some, that means making resolutions: to lose weight, to ask for that raise, to get that new job, to be kinder.

For many in the news this past year, perhaps the best resolution would be to keep their big traps shut (though I think all of us need to make that one every once in a while).

More than a few politicians should probably resolve to either stay off Twitter or at the very least have someone read their tweets before they post them. Who could forget state Rep. Nate Bell’s insensitive tweet during the manhunt for the Boston bombing suspects? Or that he apologized not for the content of the message but its timing?

Or what about U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin’s “violent rhetoric” tweet following the Capitol Hill shooting in the midst of the government shutdown?

Or just about anything Rep.

Steve Stockman of Texas tweeted?

And Anthony Weiner should just resolve to give up technology … and politics, too, while he’s at it. Nothing good can come of either for him.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford still has his job (for now, anyway) though he admitted to the press that he had smoked crack cocaine, and has repeatedly made that city cringe with his videotaped rantings and antics in council meetings.

But politicians, while prolific, are not the only ones this year who’ve suffered from major cases of foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Reese Witherspoon is still lying pretty low after her arrest on disorderly conduct charges when her husband was arrested on drunken-driving charges in Atlanta. After video of the arrests and her “mouthing off” to police leaked, she spent some time apologizing on late-night talk shows for her behavior.

Pretty much everything that Miley Cyrus said, tweeted or did over the past year was cringeworthy (yes, I’m blaming her for making twerking so pervasive that the Oxford Dictionary added it to its canon online). But I guess when you apparently can’t keep your tongue in your mouth, it’s pretty hard to keep your mouth shut.

Paula Deen lost her Food Network job and several contracts after depositions in which she admitted using a racial epithet leaked. Her sometimes bizarre apologies seemed to do little but add more fuel to the fire.

The latest scandal, though, involves Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty, who was suspended by A&E after he made homophobic and racist comments in a GQ interview.

I’ll admit I do watch reality TV, but not Duck Dynasty (though I did read the GQ article). I limit my viewership to reality competitions, as shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and others of that ilk have the tendency to be little more than barely cloaked efforts to make fun of those featured (especially if they’re Southern). And when the participants know the cameras are there, true reality is lost in the effort to look good or to make exciting television.

The reaction to Robertson’s suspension has, sadly, been pretty predictable, with most people focusing only on what he said about homosexuals, then claiming censorship or infringement of his First Amendment rights. Reaction to the rather explicit nature of the comments and his just-as-offensive remarks about blacks has been much harder to find.

The fact remains that Robertson has not been, nor is he currently being, censored, nor are his rights being infringed. Police are not at his door to drag him away for spouting off. He is perfectly free to say what he wants, but he has to understand the limitations of the laws.

However, considering he has a contract with A&E, he’s lucky he’s only suspended (at least as of now). Morals clauses are pretty much standard in contracts for sports and on-air personalities (as well as appearance clauses; want to suddenly dye your hair purple and get a nose ring? Better talk to the producer!). Those clauses spell out in broad strokes what behavior is acceptable in public; by signing, it is an acceptance of those conditions for employment.

And according to the Los Angeles Times, a producer familiar with the situation said that, before the show premiered in 2012, A&E had warned Robertson “not to overshare on hot-button topics such as gay rights and race relations.”

It’s obvious to me that both A&E and Robertson knew what the deal was. A&E knew of his views beforehand, but was banking on the show becoming a huge phenomenon, which it has, judging by the amounts of Duck Dynasty paraphernalia you trip over at Wal-Mart. Robertson knew that he had to behave and keep a lid on those views in public appearances and interviews.

Sure, it was probably inevitable that Robertson would cross the line at some point, but it would be disengenuous of the network to claim surprise, or for the family to say they’re being treated unfairly in the wake of Robertson’s very public remarks.

Companies are well within their rights to use these contracts, and those who don’t agree to sign them are within their rights as well … they just won’t be employed. And for those who do agree, they know they must respect what they signed to remain employed.

Justine Sacco, the now-former PR exec for Internet giant IAC, could perhaps tell Robertson a thing or two in the aftermath of her tweet about AIDS in Africa. That is, if she’s not too busy trying to find a new job.

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Assistant Editor Brenda Looper is editor of the Voices page. Read her blog at blooper0223. wordpress.com.

Editorial, Pages 21 on 12/28/2013

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