# Sanders told to leave restaurant - why no debate?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 24, 2018, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660 "2018-06-24T11:23:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 7

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**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/121 "2018-06-25T00:04:00Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> Oh fer fucks sake. Does it really have to get that nitpicky? So she used her official twitter account instead of her personal one. So fucking what? Would the media have treated it any differently? Is the government out any money? Did she get more money because it was from the government account? Would her tweet from her personal account have carried any less or more weight?
> 
> What is wrong with informing the entire nation if you think that you were done wrong? Again, it would have been covered across the nation had she posted it from a personal account.
> 
> I don’t know why Daddy said what he did. He has a right to say whatever the fuck he wants to say, whether it helps this business or closes it down.
> 
> Does freedom of speech only apply to liberals?

…you do realize you’ve just argued passionately that ethics rules are no big deal, right? Then you finished with a strawman.

This isn’t about “freedom of speech.” Its about not using the Federal government as a bully pulpit.

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**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/122 "2018-06-25T00:07:56Z")

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> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> Look, if you’re going to throw around “chicken little” references, you are literally saying that Trump and a good number of his associates are unsullied by any whiff of intolerance, racism, homophobia, or white nationalism.
> 
> You can’t possibly believe this.

No, I’m not “literally saying” that, or anything like that. When somebody complains that we’re in “grave peril” of “descending into an authoritarian dictatorship”, I have no problem throwing a chicken little reference at them. I can do this, and simultaneously believe that the President is not “unsullied by any whiff of intolerance”. Those two are not mutually exclusive. The President could be an imperfect leader (they all are, in fact) and we could still not be in “grave peril” (or any reasonable peril at all) of “descending into an authoritarian dictatorship.”

FWIW, I wouldn’t claim that any president in my lifetime was “unsullied by any whiff of intolerance”.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/123 "2018-06-25T00:08:08Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> Oh fer fucks sake. Does it really have to get that nitpicky? So she used her official twitter account instead of her personal one. So fucking what? Would the media have treated it any differently? Is the government out any money? Did she get more money because it was from the government account? Would her tweet from her personal account have carried any less or more weight?

The White House Press Secretary, when using official government channels, speaks for the president, and the president is supposed to speak for the nation. Does that carry more weight than someone tweeting as a private citizen? Yes.

This stuff matters. Ethics rules aren’t written to just be some esoteric minutia that gets brushed aside and ignored. There are standards in place and the current administration should be held to them.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/124 "2018-06-25T00:12:28Z")

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> [@Banquet\_Bear](#):
>
> …you do realize you’ve just argued passionately that ethics rules are no big deal, right? Then you finished with a strawman.
> 
> This isn’t about “freedom of speech.” Its about not using the Federal government as a bully pulpit.

As noted above, this doesn’t violate any ethics rules. She did not receive a benefit by posting it from her government account that she would not have received by posting it from her private account.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/125 "2018-06-25T00:15:53Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> As noted above, this doesn’t violate any ethics rules.

…ROFL!!!

Are you fucking kidding me?

I’ll take the word of the former White House ethics chief over some random person on the internet thanks.

> [@](#):
>
> She did not receive a benefit by posting it from her government account that she would not have received by posting it from her private account.

Am I correct that you claim to be a lawyer in real life?

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**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/126 "2018-06-25T00:17:26Z")

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> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Sure: by attempting to name & shame someone who inconvenienced her in her private life, she was trying to do two things:
> 
> 1. Gain the benefit of revenge; and
> 2. Trying to intimidate other private citizens from crossing her in her private life.

Did she announce this somewhere, or is this just a failed mind-reading exercise?

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**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/127 "2018-06-25T00:21:18Z")

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> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> Do you consider a President who sees common cause with white supremacists to be normal?
> 
> Let me rephrase: do you consider a President in the 21st century who sees common cause with white supremacists to be normal?

A sorry number of people see it as no fucking problem. MAGA.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/128 "2018-06-25T00:25:56Z")

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> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> Did she announce this somewhere, or is this just a failed mind-reading exercise?

Considering the threats received by not only the restaurant in question but others around the country with the same name(Trump supporters, so smart), [I’d say she got the result she wanted.](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Red-Hen-In-New-Jersey-Gets-Threats-After-Virginia-Eatery-Kicks-Out-Sarah-Huckabee-Sanders-486370391.html)

> [@](#):
>
> A restaurant in New Jersey with the same name as the one that asked White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave on Friday said it has been receiving threats from “angry, ill-informed callers” who are confusing the two eateries.
> 
> In its own comment, the New Jersey Red Hen said people were “arrogantly and erroneously defam[ing]” the eatery.
> 
> “My telephone has not stopped ringing, angry ill-informed callers threatening my staff, our business, cursing and swearing at us,” the eatery wrote. “I would prefer to have my lines open for guests who wish to make a reservation at our establishment that welcomes ALL.”

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/129 "2018-06-25T00:32:11Z")

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> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> No, I’m not “literally saying” that, or anything like that. When somebody complains that we’re in “grave peril” of “descending into an authoritarian dictatorship”, I have no problem throwing a chicken little reference at them. I can do this, and simultaneously believe that the President is not “unsullied by any whiff of intolerance”. Those two are not mutually exclusive. The President could be an imperfect leader (they all are, in fact) and we could still not be in “grave peril” (or any reasonable peril at all) of “descending into an authoritarian dictatorship.”
> 
> FWIW, I wouldn’t claim that any president in my lifetime was “unsullied by any whiff of intolerance”.

So you’re just engaging in the nitpicky game of: Various posters list fifteen things wrong with Trump. You pick out one and, regardless of the truth of other fourteen, call them chicken littles for saying one arguable thing.

I think that’s a chickenshit argument.

ETA: not to mention, I think you were very concerned about the constitutional implications of various Democratic proposals on gun purchases. Yet Trump proposes to eliminate judicial review of immigration cases, and it’s “going too far” to say that eliminating judicial review of certain controversies is a step towards authoritarianism? I think that’s only because your ox isn’t being gored.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/130 "2018-06-25T00:44:10Z")

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Looks like the [Red Hen in Napa’s Yelp page](https://www.yelp.com/biz/red-hen-bar-and-grill-napa-4?sort_by=date_desc) is being sabotaged.

> [@](#):
>
> I will not patronize any of Red Hen Restaurant or any restaurant who won’t treat any customer who would give them business the respect and service they deserve.
> 
> My family and I stopped in to grab some dinner, and I wish we wouldn’t have. The food was cold when it was brought to us, there were black curly hairs in my beans, and it’s WAY overpriced. I was disgusted and will never return. But even more so, I’m making sure everybody knows what happened when we went to this restaurant. Unforgivable
> 
> Since when is a business run by consensus?

All on the same day.  
One of the reviewers lives in Texas.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/131 "2018-06-25T00:52:13Z")

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Cross-posted from the Pit thread:

> [@Sarah Huckabee Sanders deserves her own Pitting](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-huckabee-sanders-deserves-her-own-pitting/816659/52):
>
> I’m entirely in favor of this move.
> 
> Business owners (should) have every right in the world to refuse service to those they don’t like, saving only issues of a protected class, which “White House Press Secretary,” is not.
> 
> The owner had a strong opinion and exercised it. That’s a privilege of owning a restaurant.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/132 "2018-06-25T01:16:42Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> Oh fer fucks sake. Does it really have to get that nitpicky? So she used her official twitter account instead of her personal one. So fucking what? Would the media have treated it any differently? Is the government out any money? Did she get more money because it was from the government account? Would her tweet from her personal account have carried any less or more weight?
> 
> What is wrong with informing the entire nation if you think that you were done wrong? Again, it would have been covered across the nation had she posted it from a personal account.
> 
> I don’t know why Daddy said what he did. He has a right to say whatever the fuck he wants to say, whether it helps this business or closes it down.
> 
> Does freedom of speech only apply to liberals?

Similarly, I assume that you agree there’s no difference between someone using a personal email account versus their government account.

Glad that’s finally settled.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/133 "2018-06-25T01:44:05Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Similarly, I assume that you agree there’s no difference between someone using a personal email account versus their government account.
> 
> Glad that’s finally settled.

Oh snap!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/134 "2018-06-25T01:48:31Z")

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> [@D\_Anconia](#):
>
> Don’t you remember Dan “what’s the frequency Kenneth” Rather? CBS is not a cite. They hire kooks.

This is the [summary in Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rather)(spoilered to reduce visual clutter):

[spoiler]  
On October 4, 1986, while walking along Park Avenue to his apartment in Manhattan, Rather was attacked and punched from behind by a man who demanded to know “Kenneth, what is the frequency?” while a second assailant chased and beat him. As the assailant pummeled and kicked Rather, he kept repeating the question. In describing the incident, Rather said, “I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn’t and I don’t now. I didn’t make a lot of it at the time and I don’t now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea.”[97] Until the crime was resolved years later, Rather’s description of the bizarre crime led some to doubt the veracity of his account,[98] although the doorman and building supervisor who rescued Rather fully confirmed his version of events.[97]

The assault remained unsolved for some time, and was referenced multiple times in popular culture. The phrase “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?” became a popular-culture reference over the years, such as in a scene in the graphic novel Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by cartoonist Daniel Clowes. In 1994, the band R.E.M. released the song “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” on their album Monster. Rather later sang with R.E.M. during a sound check prior to a gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which was shown the following night on the Late Show with David Letterman before their performance of “Crush with Eyeliner”.

In 1997, a TV critic writing in the New York Daily News solved the mystery, publishing a photo of the alleged assailant, William Tager, who received a 12½-to-25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside The Today Show studio in 1994.[98] Rather confirmed the story: “There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the person.”[98] New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said, “William Tager’s identity as the man who attacked Mr. Rather was established in the course of an investigation by my office.”[99] Tager claimed he thought television networks were beaming signals into his brain.[100] When he murdered the stagehand, Tager was trying to force his way into an NBC studio with a weapon, in order to find out the frequency the networks were using to attack him, so that he could block it. Tager was paroled in October 2010 and is believed to be living in New York City. [/spoiler]

I say that completely undercuts your implication that the incidence shows that Rather was a kook.In contrast, one of the first acts of the current POTUS was to blatantly lie about the size of the crowd attending his inauguration. Which launched a brave new era in which facts just don’t matter.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/135 "2018-06-25T01:49:42Z")

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> [@Quartz](#):
>
> I agree with her that it bespeaks the petty-mindedness of the owner and am pleased to see her take the high road.
> 
> The right of Free speech comes with the responsibility to respect the free speech of others.

This had nothing to do with freedom of speech.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/136 "2018-06-25T01:51:02Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Similarly, I assume that you agree there’s no difference between someone using a personal email account versus their government account.
> 
> Glad that’s finally settled.

> [@JKellyMap](#):
>
> Oh snap!

Aye; that totally fucking rocked, **kayaker**! Good job!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [June 25, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/137 "2018-06-25T01:54:27Z")

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> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> Did she announce this somewhere, or is this just a failed mind-reading exercise?

:rolleyes: Because we never establish intent based on what people say, right?

Yeah, I’m a mind-reader, and unless you’re some sort of Lacanian deconstructivist who believes in the futility of communication, so are you. I read her words in order to understand her intent. And so do you.

This is an absurd attempt at an argument on your behalf, and I don’t intend to follow you any more into the weeds; I was impatient with this sort of “but we can’t ever know what anyone is thinking for real, MAAAAAAN” nonsense when I was a college freshman.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/138 "2018-06-25T03:26:45Z")

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> [@Baal\_Houtham](#):
>
> … I say that completely undercuts your implication that the incidence shows that Rather was a kook. …

The poster was trying to allude to the incident in '04 where Rather drew on a questionable source in support of an attack on W.'s National Guard slackery. Why he felt it necessary to use “_what’s the frequency kenneth_” as a [del]taunt[/del] own-foot-shot is one of those “because, reasons” things, I guess.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/139 "2018-06-25T04:43:41Z")

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> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> I don’t understand the problem. The restaurant was within its rights to refuse service to SHS. Further, SHS has a right to inform others of the restaurant’s actions. Likewise, if anyone disagrees with the restaurant’s decision, even though lawful, these people have the right to refuse to eat at the restaurant and may encourage others do to so.

I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not what the thread is about. The OP asserted that she took the high road, that’s the debate.

> [@](#):
>
> How is this any different than liberals boycotting Chic-Fil-A after finding that the owners lawfully supported conservative Christian organizations?

People were up in arms with Chick-Fil-A because the owner is extremely anti-gay, not because they refused service to people have employers (or politics) they disagree with.

> [@Manlob](#):
>
> Compare to the case of the two men who sat in Starbuck’s without ordering and refused to leave when asked. Are the same people defending the store manager for that case and this one?
> 
> It would be more reasonable if SHS was turned away at the door, but having the party sit down, wait for menus, wait for waiter to take order, start eating the appetizers, and then get asked to leave when the meal is almost ready caused a lot of unnecessary inconvenience. When OJ Simpson was refused service at a restaurant, I don’t think they let him sit down and order, then tantalized him by throwing him out right before the meal was ready.

It’s been noted that she came in late so they likely didn’t know. But even if they did know right away, isn’t it plausible that the news didn’t make it back to the manager right away or that the manager was trying to figure out how to handle the situation?

> [@UltraVires](#):
>
> Oh fer fucks sake. Does it really have to get that nitpicky? So she used her official twitter account instead of her personal one. So fucking what? Would the media have treated it any differently? Is the government out any money? Did she get more money because it was from the government account? Would her tweet from her personal account have carried any less or more weight?

Granted, if she used her personal account it probably still would have made it’s way to the media, but it’s worth noting that her gov account has about 3 million more followers than her personal account. It’s the difference between her gather a crowd in a park and telling them vs her telling the media 'as press secretary…".

> [@](#):
>
> What is wrong with informing the entire nation if you think that you were done wrong? Again, it would have been covered across the nation had she posted it from a personal account.

Legally, probably nothing, but again, this is about whether or not she took the high ground.

> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I don’t see how we can spend so much time crying about MS-13 killer babies from Mexico when the great injustice of lying scum being kicked out of a restaurant continues.

This argument always bugs me. It’s like getting pulled over and saying to the cop ‘don’t you have have something better to do like arresting murderers or solving crimes’.  
I don’t know about you, but I can be angry about more than one thing at a time. It’s not like all the people that are mad at her are suddenly ignoring everything else they were upset about.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_think\_of\_a\_name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed8c4c/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_think\_of\_a\_name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_think_of_a_name)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanders-told-to-leave-restaurant-why-no-debate/816660/140 "2018-06-25T05:11:52Z")

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> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Sanders’ original tweet:There’s no indication that the restaurant owner wasn’t entirely polite in asking Sanders to leave, so why Sanders should make such a point of her own politeness is a mystery.

No, it isn’t. She was publically refused service and ordered to leave the premises for political reasons. An extremely brief mention of being polite in response isn’t making much of a point of it and it was prudent to get that point out in public up front, before anyone else got a different message out in public.

This is the sort of thing that PR people are supposed to be aware of and take into account.

> [@](#):
>
> And Sanders is the one who chose to take this public,

And rightly so, both because it’s important and to defend herself.

> [@](#):
>
> using an official government channel to do so.

That’s the only thing she did wrong, IMO. Although it could reasonably be argued that since the sole reason for the incident was her political position it was appropriate for her to respond as that position.

> [@](#):
>
> That action says more about her than it does about the owner of the Red Hen.

I agree with that, but I very much doubt that we agree on what it says about the two people.

> [@](#):
>
> So no, Sanders did not “take the high road”.

I think she did.

Regarding the baker example that’s being used as if it was the same thing, I think there are some significant differences going both ways:

1. The baker didn’t refuse (and still doesn’t refuse) to serve the couple and didn’t tell them to leave the shop. They refused to take an active part in a specific message, which is less bad than refusing to serve someone and telling them to leave the premises.

The correct parallel would be something like a restaurant owner refusing to host a political party’s event because they disapproved of that political party, but still serving members of that political party as ordinary customers rather than as a political event.

1. This is based solely on politics (which is chosen) rather than **partly** on sexual orientation (which isn’t). So it’s less bad in that way.

I think the business owners should be allowed to do what they did in both cases and I think less of them for doing it in both cases, but I also think that the two cases are not really the same thing.

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