Remember when A&E was the Arts and Entertainment Network?
I’m not kidding – once upon a time, A&E programing meant opera, dance, music – you know, arts.
What happened? The same thing that happened at Discovery, the History Channel, and so many of the others; they became corporate whores for a buck.
They dumbed down, they became lowest common denominator, they became, well, TV.
Discovery, then TLC (it used to mean “The Learning Channel”, and it once actually had pretty enriching programing), hit huge success with a father-and-son team of assholes on “American Chopper.” Eyes were opened with the corporate sociopaths.
Then A&E hit pay dirt catering to the average stupid American (you know, the 90% that don’t know where Korea is on a map and who believe in angels) by giving them Duck Dynasty.
Do you know anyone that watches Duck Dynasty? Exactly. You’re not the average American. You’re not one of the vast mass of people that think Obama is a “socialist” (while they have no clue what “socialism” means or how to spell it), that guns don’t kill people, people do, that the constitution, (make that “Constitution”), is a divine dictate from the mouth of god, that Ted Nugent should run for President, that Fox News is fair and balanced, or that George Bush was actually a great President.
A lot of people, a huge swath of people in America think this way. Don’t believe me? Look at the top rated cable channels and shows. Don’t believe me? Remember all the little American flags on all the cars after 9/11 – or just look at all the American flags still outside peoples’ houses or on their cars now. What other country acts like this?
A&E went for the eyeballs and the bucks with a bunch of rednecks on Duck Dynasty that were right up the alley of most Americans. But they made a deal with the devil, because most Americans are racist, homophobic assholes. Oh, and don’t believe those polls where Americans are saying they accept homosexuality, gay marriage, and racial equality. People know to say what they think they should say – that’s why focus groups are so useless.
It was just a matter of time before one of these Duck Dynasty assholes revealed themselves for what they truly are. And now they did.