December 23, 2013

It's all about the priorities, people:

Jay Dardenne, the lieutenant governor of Louisiana whose responsibilities include promoting tourism, wrote an open letter to cast of Duck Dynasty in which he offered “to use his influence among Louisiana’s growing motion picture industry to seek out alternative production options” should A&E decide to cancel the program.

Lt. Gov. Dardenne has a long history of encouraging film and television production in the state. As a state senator, he authored the Louisiana Motion Picture Tax Incentive Act, which is credited for making the state’s industry the third most productive in the nation, trailing only California and New York.

In his statement, he noted that his offer was not tantamount to an endorsement of Phil Robertson’s positions on homosexuality, same-sex marriage or race. [..]

“Regardless of one’s views on Phil Robertson’s statements,” Dardenne wrote, “Duck Dynasty has been an important representation of the state of Louisiana, inspiring prospective visitors and investors since its debut. Their show draws tens of millions of viewers each year, reaching an audience eager to visit Sportsman’s Paradise.”

Being a native Californian, I get why states try to entice television/movie productions, because it can bring a big infusion into local economies (although that is arguable), but should we point out to the lieutenant governor that celebrating racism and homophobia isn't exactly a tourist draw?

Further, I don't think the Robertson family is hurting financially from this scandal.

I'm pretty sure that if Lt. Gov. Dardenne looked hard enough, he could find some local investments that would actually help the state much, much more.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon