# A&E suspends Phil Robertson over anti-gay remarks **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-e-suspends-phil-robertson-over-anti-gay-remarks/676747 "2013-12-19T18:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 618
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-e-suspends-phil-robertson-over-anti-gay-remarks/676747/618 "2013-12-28T04:25:46Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I don’t agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Attributed to Voltaire but probably not by him. But it’s not a sentiment that liberals would agree with. Buncha bullshit, aldi. Look, if by “tolerate” you mean" protect the legal right to express it," then yeah, liberals are the goddamned kings of protecting free speech. Always have been, always will be. But if by “tolerate” you mean “don’t criticize,” then that’s not something I’ve ever heard a liberal express. So let’s break it down: You, and the Klan, and Mr. Robertson, and the Revolutionary Maoist Youth League, and Carrot Top, and Rush Limbaugh, and every asshole with an opinion has a legal right to express that opinion. I will tolerate it to the extent that if the government tries to shut you up, I’ll try to stop them. But I’ll not waste any time tolerating any fool’s foolishness. And I’ll applaud other people that answer an asshole’s opinion with facts, incisive rebuttals, or even plain old mockery, and I’ll argue vociferously against “tolerating” it, if that means treating the asshole’s opinion as sacred and immune to criticism. Seriously, this is one of the dumbest arguments conservatives ever trot out, and that’s really saying something. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-e-suspends-phil-robertson-over-anti-gay-remarks/676747)._