BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

I’ve been trying to ignore the whole Phil Robertson – Duck Dynasty thing.

But, I can’t.

I am a huge fan of Duck Dynasty. I found it by accident last year when, one Friday night, I woke up at about 3 AM and, flipping around the channels came across it. I watched the entire overnight marathon until about 6:30.

Then, I watched the end of that season and all of the next season on Comcast’s On-Demand service until about four in the afternoon after which I Tweeted something like: “I am now completely caught up on Duck Dynasty – a show I did not know existed until 3 AM this morning.”

Phil Robertson is the patriarch of the family and the founder of “Duck Commander” a hugely successful manufacturer of … duck calls.

Some estimates this week have valued the entire enterprise – duck calls, tee shirts, DVDs, bobble-head dolls, TV show, and personal appearances – at about $400 million.

Phil Robertson comes across as the most back-woodsy of all the family. There have been episodes where he has caught, skinned, and had his wife cook squirrels in front of the grand children in an effort to prevent them from becoming “yuppies.”

Phil Robertson has not one, but two degrees from Louisiana Tech University where he was the starting quarterback ahead of Terry Bradshaw for two years. Bradshaw went on to be the first overall pick in the NFL 1970 NFL draft. Phil’s first degree is a bachelor’s in physical education. His second is a master’s degree in education.

I bring those degrees to your attention to show that he was far from a Will Stockdale character – no matter how much he has loved hunting.

I won’t repeat, here, what Phil Robertson said about homosexuality during an interview for GQ magazine. Suffice it to say it was way beyond graphic and vile. It was also wrong and unnecessary.

The amount of conversation his interview has generated is evidence that Americans have become ready to climb to the barricades over anything that contradicts our personal beliefs.

Cable news has been choosing up sides all week over what a bearded buy from West Monroe, Louisiana said about gays.

Should Duck Dynasty be cancelled by A&E? No. If you don’t want to watch it because of what Phil Robertson said, then don’t. If you agree with him or, as in my case, you are not looking to Phil Robertson for guidance on great social issues, then watch the show.

Should Phil Robertson apologize for what he said? No. Well, not to anyone outside his family. He should apologize for being dumb enough to put the entire $400 million dynasty at risk.

I know you’re going to email me with examples of others who have strayed from the progressive orthodoxy when it comes to gays. But, Robertson didn’t run after a photographer and call him a gay slur like Alec Baldwin.

Should MSNBC have cancelled Baldwin’s show? Not because of that. I wouldn’t have watched it if he started every show quoting MULLINGS. In fact, I haven’t watched anything Alec Baldwin has been in since Hunt for Red October.

Martin Bashir was allowed to quit his job on MSNBC for an even viler (if such a word exists) reference to Sarah Palin. I never watched Bashir’s show but I wouldn’t watch a Sarah Palin show (if such a show existed), either.

Cracker Barrel – those country-style restaurants along nearly every Interstate highway – briefly removed Duck Dynasty items from their shelves, but reversed their position about a day later having realized that it was unlikely that people who had waited in line for a breakfast of bacon, eggs, pancakes, orange juice and coffee – or something like that – were not likely to walk out in a huff because an Uncle Si bobble-head doll was on the shelf in the shopping area.

Will I continue to watch Duck Dynasty? Yes. But I will look upon Phil Robertson with far less regard than I did during the one-hour Christmas special last week. I don’t think he’ll care all that much.

Phil Robertson’s catch phrase is “Happy, happy, happy.”

I suspect, after this week, he is down to not more than two; two-and-a-half “happys.”

Editor’s Note: Rich Galen is former communications director for House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Dan Quayle. In 2003-2004, he did a six-month tour of duty in Iraq at the request of the White House engaging in public affairs with the Department of Defense. He also served as executive director of GOPAC and served in the private sector with Electronic Data Systems. Rich is a frequent lecturer and appears often as a political expert on ABC, CNN, Fox and other news outlets.