the king of "Duck Dynasty"

Phil Robertson

I had never heard of the wildly-popular reality TV show, "Duck Dynasty," until I stumbled upon a news story about a kerfuffle that has risen up between Phil Robertson, patriarch of the dynasty in question, and the A&E network which is squirming in the wake of Robertson's pedal-to-the-metal, come-to-Jesus, sinners-repent remarks made in other venues. Specifically, he sounded off about homosexuality.

Will A&E shit-can this guy permanently and kill the goose that lays a hundred golden eggs? Or will there be a treaty with this unabashed Christian and his family who proclaim right and wrong the way Republicans proclaim money? 14 million viewers is a lot of money.

Whatever the case, I very much enjoyed the GQ profile of Robertson, not least because it portrays a man as both a man and a philosophy. Usually you just get the philosophy and everyone dons their war paint for battle. Yes, he shoots animals. Yes, he's a little short on American history (founded on Christian values ... that kind of thing). Yes, he can drop a sermon at the drop of a hat ... or find a biblical relevance in the great outdoors. And yes, he feels that the right-and-wrong of things has become badly skewed. All this and more appears to be true of Phil Robertson.

But there are a hell of a lot of people who agree with him and they aren't all crazy just because they don't sip frappuccinos and don't make an upscale habit of 'tolerance.'