By Doug Patton
I
have never eaten at a Chick-fil-A, mainly because, until recently, the
restaurant chain did not have a location in my area. Now that they do, I intend
to try it very soon. I would have done so today, August 1st — dubbed
"Chick-fil-A appreciation day" by former Gov. Mike Huckabee on his Fox
TV show — but instead I am here slaving over a hot laptop, writing this column
for you fine folks. Duty trumps chicken, at least for today.
Tomorrow,
however, I intend to try the fowl fare at Chick-fil-A, not because I am a huge
fan of fried chicken sandwiches but rather because I am a gigantic fan of free
speech and traditional marriage, both of which are under assault from the
Radical Left — a term once used to describe a far flung periphery of the
political spectrum but which today connotes the Democrat Party. Don’t think so?
Google same-sex marriage and the Democrat Party platform. (Hint: they're for
it.)
For
those who may have been vacationing in Katmandu, Antarctica or on the lunar
surface for the last two weeks, this whole brouhaha with Chick-fil-A started
when their Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy had the unmitigated gall to
express his support for traditional marriage between a man and woman. Until
recently, such a statement would have led the PC Gestapo on America's kook
fringe, which now runs our big cities — Chicago, New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, San Francisco, etc. — to simply whine, harrumph and stomp their
feet about "discrimination" and "homophobia."
However,
since President Barack Obama suddenly "evolved" into a supporter of
same-sex marriage a few months ago, his now-emboldened supporters have come to
believe that anyone expressing an opposing point of view should be punished.
One who seems to believe such things is former Obama Chief of Staff and current
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who may have thought he was being bold and standing
tall on behalf of civil rights or human rights or marriage rights or whatever
other rights he thinks he's defending. However, Emanuel may well have taken on
more than even his pugnacious personality can handle when he declared that
"Chick-fil-A's values are not Chicago values."
Really,
Mr. Mayor? Have you seen the line stretching around the block today at the
existing Chick-fil-A locations in your city? I'm hearing reports of Chick-fil-A
restaurants all across the country being inundated by supporters who seem to
think that this company's values are America's values.
Even
worse than Emanuel's bloviating are the statements coming out of the mouth of
Chicago Alderman Proco (Joe) Moreno, who is attempting to use his office to
block Chick-fil-A from opening more locations in the windy city. This man
actually had the audacity to state that before he will consider allowing zoning
rights to a Chick-fil-A restaurant in his ward, the company's corporate board must
put in writing that they "won't support any groups with a political
agenda, including those with an anti-gay marriage stance."
One
wonders if the alderman has ever bothered to read the First Amendment.
To
their credit, the Chicago Republican Party has filed a complaint with the
Illinois Department of Human Rights and Attorney General Lisa Madigan over this
blatant discrimination by Alderman Moreno. They later expanded their complaint
to include Mayor Emanuel's statements as well. The complaint states that the
alderman and the mayor have broken civil rights laws pertaining to religious
freedom and the First Amendment in denying Chick-fil-A a permit to operate its
business in the City of Chicago.
"Chick-fil-A
may have a pretty good case under the First Amendment if the city uses their
religious or political beliefs as a basis for denying a business license or
ability to do business in the city," said Hans von Spakovsky, a former
Justice Department civil rights attorney, now a senior legal fellow at the Heritage
Foundation.
God
bless America. She isn't finished yet. I don't know about you, but I know where
I'm having lunch tomorrow.
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© 2012 by Doug Patton
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Doug Patton describes himself as a recovering political
speechwriter who agrees with himself much more often than not. Astute
supporters and inane detractors alike are encouraged to email him with their
pithy comments at dpatton@cagle.com. Now working as a freelance writer, his weekly columns are
syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. For info on using
his column at your publication or website, please email Cari Dawson Bartley at cari@cagle.com.
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