Richard Sherman versus Phil Robertson: Which is it America?

Social media, please make up your mind.

Is it okay for public figures to speak frankly and share what they believe or not????

First you freak out that poor Phil Robertson has been attacked by those gay loving liberals just for being honest about his feelings.

Then you freak out that Richard Sherman had the poor taste to smack talk a fellow NFL player following a pivotal NFC playoff game.

Before you start screaming, I get it. You think Phil’s “first amendment rights were violated.” Let’s pause while I chuckle.

Last time I checked he’s still employed, still adding millions to his net worth, and the Duck Dynasty writers are still scripting prayers into the show’s endings.

Wait, what’s that? You didn’t realize Duck Dynasty is scripted? Not to burst your bubble, but it’s scripted and the Duck Dynasty boys are second cousins to actors. What’s that? You didn’t realize that these boys used to have short hair, clean shaven faces, and suburban looking family beach photos? Hey, conservative America wants beards, long hair, camo, and prayer. Duck Dynasty provides a healthy dose of all four.

Duck Dynasty also pays Mr. Robertson and his clan a healthy paycheck, adding to their already massive bank accounts. Suffice it to say I don’t believe poor Mr. Robertson really needed the “Save Phil” campaign to survive his controversial views.

I have to admit surprise at the level of public naivete associated with these reality televisions shows.

I’m also surprised at the level of outrage over Mr. Sherman’s comments by the same supporters of Mr. Robertson.

Let me get this straight. Mr. Sherman is “a worthless piece of thug trash”, “punk”, "arrogant ass”, “asshole” and “ignorant thug”…among others. These are just quotes from actual people I know on Facebook. Want to read some more interesting descriptions? Just check out all of the comments at the end of some of the news articles.

What fascinates me is sitting back and observing what is truly offensive to people.

An irrational obsession with the private bedroom behavior of consensual adults and an inability to refrain from talking about it like a fourteen year old boy in the locker room is slightly offensive to some of us.

It appears, as well, that boasting after defeating an opponent who discounted a man’s professional ability is also slightly offensive. What leaves me shaking my head is that it was following a violent and physically aggressive sport, one that is leaving players short of being vegetables because of brain damage.

So let me get this straight.

We like to see grown men beating the crap out of each other on a grass field. We like to hear the grunts and sounds of pads violently connecting as NFL players tackle and drag each other to the ground. We love the gladiator type feel of massive arenas where (often intoxicated) fans can scream and yell passionately at players, hoping they destroy each other and caring very little about the now documented evidence of long term brain injuries that often result from our entertainment.

But we don’t want to hear any evidence of the mind set these players must possess in order to be warriors. We like the foul language and offensive words oft used by even the most beloved and golden boys of the NFL (see Tom Brady, to include chin dimple and blazing smile) to be kept on the sideline and out of the media spotlight. For the record, Mr. Sherman didn't curse.

We can stick a mic in the face of a sweaty, still panting athlete after one of the biggest plays of his career and immediately condemn him as a “thug” because he boasts that he’s the best at his position and that the person who said he wasn’t is wrong.

Yet when an actor, while representing his employer’s trademark, is interviewed we seem to have no problem with him referencing sexual acts and human orifices? As long as the comments are demeaning to an entire population of people whose sexual orientation differs from yours, then America has no problem with this appalling obsession with human sexual acts being talked about publicly and bandied about as a joke?

The football player is an “arrogant ass”. The reality tv star actor is a “hero”.

God bless America, eh?