GOP Candidate: 'Duck Dynasty' Star Like Rosa Parks

It seems like the entire Republican Party has had something to say about the suspension of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson after he made some, uh, choice comments about gay people, bestiality, and genitals. Now, wannabe Republicans are getting involved, too: GOP congressional candidate Ian Bayne of Illinois sent a fundraising e-mail to supporters Wednesday comparing Phil Robertson to Rosa Parks. Yes, that's right, Rosa Parks, matriarch of the civil-rights movement. Rosa Parks: just like the hairy old dude from Duck bloody Dynasty.

Who, by the way, told GQ: “It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus.” Oh, and, "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men ... They won't inherit the kingdom of God."

Oh, Ian Bayne, just ... no. We know you're trying to get the GOP's attention, but it might have been better to just play the "endangered free speech" card the GOP has pulled over and over since Robertson's suspension from the show.

From the e-mail Bayne's campaign sent to supporters:

Today, Ian Bayne called Phil Robertson, star of the A&E series “Duck Dynasty,” the ‘Rosa Parks’ of our generation.

“In December 1955, Rosa Parks took a stand against an unjust societal persecution of black people, and in December 2013, Robertson took a stand against persecution of Christians,” said Bayne.

Parks, famous for refusing to give up her seat on a bus for a white person, as was the rule of her day, provided inspiration for a movement of equality of black people and white people in America.

“What Parks did was courageous,” said Bayne. “What Mr. Robertson did was courageous too.”

Bayne believes that the Duck Dynasty star knew that going on GQ would result in the current controversy going on surrounding his suspension, as well as his suspension.

Bayne added that this exposure of Robertson’s situation is an eye opener for many who may have been previously in disbelief that the bible is fast becoming considered “hate speech” by the media and society.

Perhaps a more appropriate comparison to Rosa Parks in 2013 would be, oh, we don't know, Malala Yousafzai. Or, really, anyone who doesn't star on Duck Dynasty, a show self-described on A&E as about "the family that runs the duck call fabrication business."

We can't even. Just no.

On the bright side, maybe Bayne's (kind of hilarious) idiocy will stop any more GOP members from piping up again (that's you, Sarah Palin) to defend this supposed violation of free speech, which this incident apparently proves is under threat. As Bustle reported yesterday, the GOP has been trying to defend the homophobic Duck Dynasty star all week using the faulty claim that his free speech is being violated.

What these politicians forget — or perhaps don’t understand in the first place — is that this isn’t a First Amendment issue at all. As Josh Barro writes over at Business Insider, “no clause in the First Amendment establishes a right to star in a reality show on A&E regardless of what you say to GQ about vaginas and anuses.”

In fact, if anyone is protected by the First Amendment, it’s A&E, whose choice to not air a reality show starring a man who might alienate viewership falls pretty well under First Amendment rights.

Yeah, just like Rosa Parks.