Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Juan is wrong


"It is not about moral judgments of right and wrong, fair and unfair. The angels above will have the final say on those matters," says Juan Williams in his claim that the firing of Martin Basher, the restoration of Phil Robertson, and the debate about Perry-Harris' comments are not about morality.
Well, money drives the corporate decision making process, but it does not drive our outrage. People get mad about a lot of things. Some times people turn their back on a business, and never plan to return. That individual decision could come from poor service, low quality merchandise, or the actions of the management. If it was a one time deal, then nothing comes of it. The store loses one customer, maybe two or three, and likely never misses them. Low quality product runs deeper. The bad taste of low quality lingers long after the glow of a saved dollar has ceased to warm the heart. Stores from Alco to K-Mart have suffered due to cheap merchandise. Some have shut their doors, others regroup and move forward. The actions of management though are what we are looking at. When Cracker barrel took Duck Dynasty gear off the shelves, they were responding to flaming liberals whose skewed sense of right and wrong tells them that perverse sexual conduct should be applauded. People with a moral foundation grounded in sound Biblical theology responded, and the decision was reviewed.
People did not get upset in this matter because  they were going to be out cash, or because their favorite show was going off the air. Prior to this blow up, I had never watched an episode of Duck Dynasty. Heck, I don't think I'd watched more than a commercial. A&E was not on my favorites list. But I chose to support Phil. Why? Because of morality. Phil spoke truth to power. The immoral masses responded and got their undies in a bunch, and A&E jumped as did Cracker Barrel. then the moral folks also responded, and Cracker Barrel realized they don't get much business from flamers and side show freaks, their base is made up of folks who believe in GOD or have traditional values. A&E took note as well, seeing that Duck Commander gear went through the roof for the Christmas season. Their broadcast executives are not as crazy as some think. Yes, the bottom dollar came into play. If it had been a true moral issue for them, they would have stood firm one way or the other instead of twisting like a wind sock in Kansas.
Juan, yes, money does drive the media execs, but morality drives the money. Moral people will not put their money into the hands of people who lack morals if they can prevent it. We all are pretty much stuck in some areas. We need to eat, so when Kroger, Faleys, and King Soupers all decide to cave to the homosex onslaught, our choices are starve, or choose a different fight. When an eatery decides to allow allow a carpet muncher to lie about being stiffed for her life style choice rather then poor quality service (when she really was not stiffed at all), we can respond and avoid that business. It then becomes a venue for carpet munchers and fudge packers, and regular folks drift away. When it happens in a large metropolitan area, they survive. When it happens in Rural Kansas, they go the way of the dinosaur.
the same goes for Martin Trasher and his assault on Sarah Palin. If he had trashed Cankles Clinton, he'd have more viewers then America has televisions. Instead, his assault on a woman of good character got noticed because one or two people at FOX were checking to see what was being broadcast to nowhere. It got reported, a few folks tuned in to see who the advertisers were, you can do that and not watch a minute of his drivel, nor miss a minute of good programming. They saw who was advertising, and contacted a few folks to whom customers matter. pMSNBC does not care as long as they get advertising dollars. They are kinda like this blog, but I don't get money from Depends and Viagra.
So while money is the lever that turns the heads of the media execs, it is morality that is the hand on the lever. The people making moral judgements against Basher and A&E are not driven by money, In fact, many of them would have more time to do things and thus more money if Basher stayed, and Phil went because they would not be stuck in front of the boob tube.
The Romney kerfluffel was a non issue because Mitt Romney made the decision that it was a nonissue, and accepted her apology complete with faux tears.
And Juan, GOD judges us, not the angels.

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