Unable to comment on the “Duck Dynasty” controversy last week due to my hectic Kwanzaa schedule, I am able to sweep in at the end and comment on the commentary.

Anyone who utters the mind-numbingly obvious point that A&E’s suspension of “Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson doesn’t involve the First Amendment because a TV network is not the government, should be prohibited from ever talking in public again. You can bore your few remaining friends with laborious statements of the obvious, but stop wasting everyone else’s time.

We know A&E is not the government. It may shock your tiny little pea brains, but free speech existed even before we had a Constitution. Free speech is generally considered a desirable goal even apart from its inclusion in the nation’s founding document.

Suppose TV networks were capitulating to angry Muslims by suspending people for saying they opposed Sharia law? Would that prompt any of you pusillanimous hacks to finally take a position on the state of free speech in America?

Or would you demand that we stop the presses so you could roll out your little cliche about a television network not being the government? That fact has very little relevance to someone whose life has just been ruined. Hey! Don’t worry about it — at least it wasn’t the government!

Instead of the government censoring speech, what we have is shock troops of liberal agitators demanding people’s heads for the slightest divergence from Officially Approved Liberal Opinion.

Evidently, the word of God is on the banned list. As Robertson himself has said, all he did “was quote from the Scriptures, but they just didn’t know it.”

His offending remarks delivered to GQ magazine were:

“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine … 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. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

There’s absolutely no question but that Robertson accurately summarized biblical strictures. But liberals can’t grasp that God is not our imaginary friend, who says whatever we want Him to say, when we want Him to say it. (I promise you, except for venereal disease and eternal damnation, life would be a lot more fun if we were making it up as we went along.)

So they blamed Robertson for Holy Scripture. True, God created the universe and every living thing, but liberals think they can improve on His work.

Since Robertson’s interview appeared, I haven’t heard as much sophistical nonsense about the New Testament not condemning fornication since I was a teenager in the backseat of a car.

The book of Romans, called “the Cathedral of the Christian faith,” provides the clearest explanation of the doctrines of sin. Here are a few catchy verses:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven … so that people are without excuse.

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error …

“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Also, keep these citations in your back pocket for the next time some sweaty teenage boy tries to convince you Jesus didn’t condemn fornication: 1 Corinthians 7:2; Galatians 5:19-20; Jude 1:7; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 6:13, 18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; and Matthew 5:32.

The lake of fire and burning sulfur (Revelation 21:8) may not sound like a day at the beach, but judging by their hysterical attack on Robertson, our new earthly gods are a lot less forgiving than the real God.

GLAAD instantly condemned Robertson’s totally accurate rendition of Holy Scripture as “vile.” With refreshing originality, CNN’s Piers Morgan called Robertson a “vile bigot.”

And it’s not just “vile” to cite Holy Scripture. Evidently, it’s also vile not to appreciate the joys of anal sex.

What seemed to set liberals off as much as Robertson’s Biblical summaries was his statement that he doesn’t find anal sex appealing. He said:

“It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

So now, not only do we all have to support gay marriage, gay wedding cakes and gay soldiers — but we also have to agree that anal sex sounds peachy! It’s like being denounced for saying you prefer vanilla ice cream to chocolate.

To paraphrase an old Jewish line: This is not good for the gays.

Gays have gone from being the bullied to the bullies — a modern American phenomenon detailed in my book “Guilty: Liberal Victims and Their Assault on America.”

Yes, we know you used to be unfairly victimized. But being beaten up for being gay is simply not the same as having to endure hearing someone opine that anal sex isn’t his cup of tea.

A&E didn’t dare cross the gays, never anticipating that the Robertson family wouldn’t back down — and the rest of the country wouldn’t, either. Even non-Christians can have only contempt for the network’s utter cravenness in suspending Robertson for stating basic Christian doctrine.

The first time someone stands up to a bully and the sky doesn’t fall, the tyranny is over. The gay mafia was out of control, drunk with power. This time, they got their wings clipped.

Christians, 1; Angry gays: minus 1,000. Cliche-spouting hack TV pundits: I recommend capital punishment.

Ann Coulter | Dec 31, 2013

A&E recently attempted to censor Phil Robertson by kicking him off of the hit television show ‘Duck Dynasty.’ A viewer revolt threatened to bankrupt the network if he was not immediately returned to the show, and A&E was forced to choose between its loyalty to a boisterous LGBT lobby or the regular Americans who make up the vast majority of its viewers.

What was the controversy that launched the tempest?  Phil Robertson revealed in an interview with GQ magazine that he believes that many indulge in sinful practices, among which are sexual promiscuity including homosexual sex. It was the homosexual act being considered a sin that sparked the hailstorm, because censors on the left have gone to extraordinary lengths to make homosexuality a ‘normal’ practice–in the eyes of society, anyway, and hound and criticize anyone who dares remind us that homosexual acts are an abomination in the eyes of our God–and fairly disgusting to anyone who stops to recall exactly what homosexuals do in the privacy of their own homes.

Most disturbing, perhaps, are comments that we have read from family and supporters of Phil Robertson suggesting that his comments were ‘crude’ or otherwise skewed out of context. We at Federalist Press beg to differ, and time will support our stance as Phil Robertson continues to speak out publicly on issues he believes are important. If no one has noticed, he is not a mealy mouthed man who shrinks from the truth just because it may affect his popularity or pocketbook–one could say that he is the anti-leftist in that regard.

What was Phil’s basis for this spoken belief? God’s specific condemnation of homosexual sex as recorded in the Bible, plus many thousands of years of human moral agreement. Does God specifically say that homosexual acts are sin? As He gave His law to the lawgiver, Moses, He specified: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” Leviticus 20:13

Is there any ambiguity in God’s statement? Is there any wiggle room for those who believe you can believe in God, or the Bible, and still engage in homosexual practices with impunity?

This was not merely an Old Testament commandment intended only for the disobedient children of Israel, but a warning to men who for whatever reason bedded other men. The very word sodomy is derived from Sodom, a city in which men openly practiced homosexual sex, and God sent angels to remove the pure people before raining down destruction on what He considered to be a wasteland of humanity. Even as Abraham pleaded for the city, the homosexuals therein demanded that Lot’s male visitors be sent out that they may “know” them–and Lot preferred to send his virtuous daughters out before subjecting messengers of God to that kind of abominable activity. Of course, those wicked men turned down the suggestion, and insisted that the ‘men’ be sent out to them. The city was soon after wiped off the face of the earth, for that specific behavior–for anyone wondering what God thinks about homosexual sex.

In our national debate about what is moral, and what is marriage, a false debate staged by those who hope to entirely undermine morality and marriage, American’s cannot fall prey to political correctness and leftist amorality arguments. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, direct revelations from God, which provide us with our moral compass. Our nation prospered more than any in the history of the earth under that mantle. Those who are steering the nation away from morality find the belief in God to be unacceptable. As with all leftist arguments, they couch their campaign in terms of ‘fairness,’ which has been their method of destroying every concept of goodness and prosperity enjoyed by humanity through the millennia.

It is time that moral, free Americans stand up for what is right.  It is also time for us to say what is wrong–and demand that it not be allowed to flourish in our neighborhoods.  Does that mean that a constitutional society will force its governments to enforce the decrees of God with regard to sinful conduct–not to the extreme that Moses did. But it does mean that we need not have homosexuality flaunted in our streets and on our television screens as though it was a normal and virtuous practice. Men sodomizing men is neither virtuous, nor normal, and it is not unfair of us to request that anyone who indulges those types of urges do so in the privacy of their own homes–out of the sight of our children.

PUBLIUS

As talk builds on Capitol Hill over hiking the federal minimum wage, one city in Washington state is poised to set the highest rate in the nation.

On Jan. 1, an estimated 1,600 hotel and transportation workers in SeaTac, Wash., will see their pay jump to $15 an hour, a 60 percent increase from the state’s $9.32 minimum wage.

While many workers look forward to the higher pay, employers are looking for ways to absorb the big increase in labor costs. Some plan on eliminating jobs.

“We’re going to be looking at making some serious cuts,” said Cedarbrook Lodge General Manager Scott Ostrander. “We’re going to be looking at reducing employee hours, reducing benefits and eliminating some positions.”

That’s in the short term. Eventually, those jobs and more are expected to return as the Cedarbrook Lodge looks to build an addition to the hotel. The plan is to increase revenue to offset the higher labor costs.

But not every employer is being so ambitious. One has told a trade group it is going to close one of its two restaurants, eliminating 200 jobs.

The plan has also caused Han Kim — who runs Hotel Concepts, a company that owns and manages 11 hotels in Washington state — to shelve plans to build a hotel in SeaTac. The company already has three hotels in SeaTac, and Kim and a business partner were looking to build a fourth on land they own.

“Uncertainty is bad for business, and right now we’re right in that area so we’re just putting everything on hold,” Kim said.

Opponents of the $15 minimum wage did score a legal victory late last week when a King County, Wash., judge ruled that it does not apply to any of the workers at the SeaTac airport. Superior Court Judge Andrea Darvas ruled only the Port of Seattle can set wage and other work rules at the airport. That eliminates 4,700 workers from the successful ballot initiative.

Backers of the $15 minimum wage vow to appeal the ruling up the state Supreme Court. One of the biggest supporters is Kshama Sawant, a socialist who also won her election to the Seattle City Council. She plans on making Seattle the next city to have a $15 minimum wage.

“There may be a few jobs lost here and there, but the fact is, if we don’t fight for this, then the race to the bottom will continue,” Sawant said.

Sawant is skeptical that the higher minimum wage will lead to mass layoffs. But the American Car Rental Association estimates 5 percent of low-wage jobs will be cut; and another 5-10 percent of those workers will be replaced by more experienced workers.

The owner of Dollar Rental Cars told Fox News she’ll outsource some functions, change schedules and cut some staff in response to the new policy.

By Dan Springer / Published December 30, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Fifteen months after the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, the narrative of the attack continues to be shaped, and reshaped, by politicians and the press.

But a New York Times report published over the weekend has angered sources who were on the ground that night. Those sources, who continue to face threats of losing their jobs, sharply challenged the Times’ findings that there was no involvement from Al Qaeda or any other international terror group and that an anti-Islam film played a role in inciting the initial wave of attacks.

“It was a coordinated attack. It is completely false to say anything else. … It is completely a lie,” one witness to the attack told Fox News.

The controversial Times report has stirred a community that normally remains out of sight and wrestles with how to reveal the truth, without revealing classified information.

Fox News has learned that the attack on the consulate started with fighters assembling to conduct an assault.

“Guys were coming into the compound, moving left, moving right…and using IMT (individual movement techniques). … That’s not a spontaneous attack,” one special operator said.

“One guy was shooting, one guy was running. There are guys watching the gates. … The bosses on the ground were pointing, commanding and coordinating — that is a direct action planned attack.”

The community of operators in Libya that night and since includes the CIA, FBI, U.S. military, U.S. State Department and contractors working for the United States in a number of capacities. According to multiple sources on the ground that night, all the intelligence personnel in Benghazi before the attack and there now understand Al Qaeda is a significant threat in Libya.

Recent reports also suggest that Libyan militia leader Ahmad Abu Khattallah is the mastermind of the attack and had no real connections to Al Qaeda or terrorist organizations.

Multiple sources, though, challenged that claim. They insist that while Khattallah was found responsible for the actions at the actual consulate and was essentially the ground force commander that night, he is also clearly tied to Ansar al-Sharia and to the broader terrorist network.

“There is direct evidence linking him before the attack and after the attack to terrorist groups. An opportunity came, and Khattallah conducted an assault on the consulate. To say that it wasn’t tied to Al Qaeda is completely false. There is literal evidence in many forms and shapes, directly linking him,” one source said.

Khattallah is also a member of the militia group the Libyan Shield, which was formed to protect Benghazi and is operating separate from Tripoli.

Other militias are not inclined to turn Khattallah in, because they are also tied to Ansar al-Sharia. Commanders from some of these militias thought to be friendly to the United States and who have worked with American special forces, the CIA and State Department personnel have flipped sides and affiliated with Ansar al-Sharia. Sources say the terrorist group is saturating the whole region of eastern Libya with money, training and personnel. “They are now the biggest organization in town,” one said.

Sources also tell Fox News that while Khattallah is responsible for the ground actions that night, he also reports to other commanders in Ansar al-Sharia. He is seen as a relatively small piece of the terror puzzle in the region, which includes Al Qaeda ambassadors. Some in the intelligence community call these terrorist ambassadors “Amirs,” and there has been one stationed in Libya for some time, as they are the liaison for intelligence and direction for operations.  Libyan Shield, which has different offshoots in different locations, also has members directly affiliated with terrorist organizations and Al Qaeda. Bomb-making materials have been found with some of these groups as well.

Fox News has also learned there was a week of briefings by the head of counterintelligence in the entire region that identified Al Qaeda as the largest and most significant element infiltrating Libya, with the final briefing on Sept. 10.

Adam Housley, Fox News Channel (FNC)

Hit TV show ‘Duck Dynasty’ will resume filming with Phil Robertson, A&E announces, after suspending him earlier in the month for his comments about homosexuality.

After suffering ratings drops on the A&E network, executives decided to reverse their decision to indefinitely suspend Phil Robertson from the highest rated program in cable television history.

Details of Phil Robertson’s return to filming in the coming month are forthcoming.

PUBLIUS

_________________________

FoxNews.com is now reporting:

The A&E Network announced Friday it would resume filming “Duck Dynasty” with Phil Robertson and the rest of his family next spring.

Robertson had been indefinitely suspended by the network on Dec. 18 for comments he made about homosexuality in an interview with GQ Magazine.

The removal of the 67-year-old family patriarch triggered support from gay rights organizations but objections from many fans of the show, including such political figures as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

There was no immediate response from the Robertson family to A&E’s announcement.

The fifth season of the family series originally had been scheduled to start Jan. 15 but until Friday’s announcement,its future had been uncertain.

In a statement released late Friday afternoon, A&E said, “While Phil’s comments made in the (GQ) interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the ‘coarse language’ he used and the misinterpretation of his core beliefs based only on the article. He also made it clear he would ‘never incite or encourage hate.’”

The network added that “Duck Dynasty is not a show about one man’s views. It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family, a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. These are three values that we at A&E Networks also feel strongly about.

“So after discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family.”

“Duck Dynasty” is the top-rated reality program on cable, according to the Hollywood Reporter, with an average 13.4 million viewers and a marketing franchise in such outlets as Walmart, Sears and Cracker Barrel restaurants – which briefly removed the “Dynasty” items after Robertson’s suspension.

During and after the government shutdown, the committed leftists and other assorted hysterics hailed the demise of the GOP. Democrats rejoiced at their prospects in 2014, pretending that a government shutdown was the worst thing that could happen to a nation. They believed the GOP was dead in the water, but as it turns out, the only thing more unpopular than the government shutdown is Obamacare.

As Democrats continue to go down with the sinking ship that is Obamacare, the latest polls indicate that they have surrendered their projected 8-point lead over Republicans that they enjoyed two months ago.

Further, the polls indicate that President Obama, once the superstar of the Democrat Party, has become so unpopular that he is dragging down the approval ratings of Democrat congressional candidates.

CNN reports,

A CNN/ORC International survey released Thursday also indicates that President Barack Obama may be dragging down Democratic congressional candidates, and that the 2014 midterm elections are shaping up to be a low-turnout event, with only three in 10 registered voters extremely or very enthusiastic about voting next year.

Two months ago, Democrats held a 50%-42% advantage among registered voters in a generic ballot, which asked respondents to choose between a Democrat or Republican in their congressional district without identifying the candidates. That result came after congressional Republicans appeared to overplay their hand in the bitter fight over the federal government shutdown and the debt ceiling.

But the Democratic lead evaporated, and a CNN poll a month ago indicated the GOP holding a 49%-47% lead. The new survey, conducted in mid-December, indicates Republicans with a 49%-44% edge over the Democrats.

The 13-point swing over the past two months follows a political uproar over Obamacare, which included the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov and controversy over the possibility of insurance policy cancellations due primarily to the new health law.

As Obama and his merry band of tax-and-spenders tried to paint the government shutdown as a product of Republican recalcitrance, the fact is that the partial government shutdown served as a greater illustration of what is on the line in 2014. While the inability of our government to function as it should was certainly unfortunate, the government shutdown was necessary to show Democrats that things in Washington must change if we are going to survive as a nation. Unfortunately, Republicans were unable to muster the courage to stand strong and caved to Democrat demands once again.

Though Democrats hoped that the move would spell doom for the GOP’s midterm prospects, the polls indicate that while the shutdown proved unpopular with voters, the people have lost patience with the big-government proponents who repeatedly assured America that an augmented government can provide for the people, but have failed across the board to do so.

Democratic voters seem particularly unenthusiastic about voting, and that is likely to benefit the GOP. Thirty-six percent of Republicans say they’re extremely or very enthusiastic about voting. That number drops to 22% among Democrats.

Another GOP advantage is the President’s standing with the public: 55% of registered voters say that they are more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who opposes the President than one who supports him and four in 10 say they are likely to vote for a candidate who supports Obama.

“Those kind of numbers spelled early trouble for the Democrats before the 1994 and 2010 midterms, and for the GOP before the 2006 elections,” Holland said.

Phil Robertson is not backing down. Despite the Duck Dynasty patriarch’s controversial interview with GQ and subsequent suspension from the A&E smash series, the reality TV star shared during a Bible study group in West Monroe, Louisiana on Sunday, Dec. 22, “I will not give or back off from my path.”

“We are a bunch of rednecks from Louisiana, but I am not uneducated, I have a degree from Louisiana Tech. But this week I have been called an ignoramus,” the Duck Dynasty star, 67, shared with the group, as reported by The Daily Mail.

“This week I have been asked, ‘Is this the first time you have brought up sin?’” he recalled during the religious meeting. “I said, ‘Are you kidding? I have been traveling to and fro spreading this message.’ Then he said, ‘Well do you invite yourself to go and get your Bible and tell people what you are now sharing with us?’ I said, ‘No they are inviting me.'”

Robertson added, “I love all men and women. I am a lover of humanity, not a hater.” He then lead the group in prayer and shared, “I will not give or back off from my path because you conquered death, Father, so we are not worried about all the repercussions.” The bearded television figure made no direct mention of A&E, which placed Robertson on hiatus from filming “indefinitely,” the network told Us Weekly.

As previously reported, the duck hunter sparked controversy last week after he made several homophobic and racially-charged remarks in an interview published in the Janurary 2014 issue of GQ.

After the network placed the father of four on suspension, his family released a statement on their website in support of him. “We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm,” the Robertson family wrote. “We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.”

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Phil Robertson Breaks His Silence After Controversial Remarks: “I Will Not Give or Back Off From My Path,” Duck Dynasty Star Says

We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E’s decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word. While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Phil would never incite or encourage hate.

We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty. Again, thank you for your continued support of our family.

“Duck Dynasty” dad Phil Robertson has been suspended indefinitely by the A&E Network following his recent comments on homosexuality, the network announced Wednesday night.

“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series ‘Duck Dynasty’,” the network said in a statement.

“His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”

Earlier Wednesday, Roberston had responded to critics who had slammed him for very graphic statements he made about his preference for heterosexual sex over homosexual sex.

“I myself am a product of the 60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior,” he said in a statement sent to FOX411.

“My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together.

“However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other.”

In a wide-ranging interview with GQ, Robertson didn’t hold back when sharing his thoughts about homosexuality and sinning.

“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong… Sin becomes fine,” he said. “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.”

Paraphrasing Corinthians he added: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

The gay and lesbian rights group GLAAD was quick to criticize Robertson for his comments and called on A&E to take action.

“Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil’s lies about an entire community fly in the face of what true Christians believe,” said GLAAD rep Wilson Cruz. “He clearly knows nothing about gay people or the majority of Louisianans – and Americans – who support legal recognition for loving and committed gay and lesbian couples. Phil’s decision to push vile and extreme stereotypes is a stain on A&E and his sponsors who now need to reexamine their ties to someone with such public disdain for LGBT people and families.”

Robertson also told GQ his family has lost its privacy since they were thrust into the limelight as the stars of the hit show, but it was well worth it because the series has given him a platform to spread his religious beliefs.

“For the sake of the Gospel, it was worth it… All you have to do is look at any society where there is no Jesus. I’ll give you four: Nazis, no Jesus. Look at their record. Uh, Shintos? They started this thing in Pearl Harbor. Any Jesus among them? None. Communists? None. Islamists? Zero. That’s 80 years of ideologies that have popped up where no Jesus was allowed among those four groups. Just look at the records as far as murder goes among those four groups.”

Still, he doesn’t expect his fame to last forever.

“Let’s face it, three, four, five years, we’re out of here. You know what I’m saying? It’s a TV show. This thing ain’t gonna last forever. No way.”

Though the network did not officially fire the Robertson patriarch, many fans are taking news of his suspension to mean his job as a reality star is done for good.

The Associated Press noted that classmates of Karl Pierson, said the 18-year-old who walked into his suburban Denver high school with a shotgun Friday, held communist views.

There’s now word that in a Denver Post profile of Pierson, a classmate calls the shooter “a very opinionated Socialist.” But when the story was updated, the article onluy describes Pierson as just “very opinionated.”

What happened to the “Socialist” adjective is anybody’s guess.

The Post’s story nevertheless contains some eye-opening information about Pierson and his views:

In one Facebook post, Pierson attacks the philosophies of economist Adam Smith, who through his invisible-hand theory pushed the notion that the free market was self-regulating. In another post, he describes himself as “Keynesian.”

“I was wondering to all the neoclassicals and neoliberals, why isn’t the market correcting itself?” he wrote. “If the invisible hand is so strong, shouldn’t it be able to overpower regulations?”

Pierson also appears to mock Republicans on another Facebook post, writing “you republicans are so cute” and posting an image that reads: “The Republican Party: Health Care: Let ‘em Die, Climate Change: Let ‘em Die, Gun Violence: Let ‘em Die, Women’s Rights: Let ‘em Die, More War: Let ‘em Die. Is this really the side you want to be on?”

The Blaze

An unexpected handshake. A selfie. A seat change.

President Barack Obama’s gestures at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Johannesburg were widely scrutinized on the world’s stage Tuesday.

First, Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro as the U.S. president approached the podium at the soccer stadium to address Mandela’s mourners. The brief exchange, captured on video and photographs, sparked an immediate reaction online and on TV, with cable news pundits and Twitter users debating the significance of warmth shown between leaders of countries that have not had formal diplomatic relations since 1959.

The handshake also drew some sharp GOP criticism. Sen. John McCain likened it to shaking hands with Adolf Hitler.

“Why should you shake hands with somebody who’s keeping Americans in prison?” McCain told Public Radio International, adding: “Neville Chamberlain shook hands with Hitler.”

“This wasn’t a preplanned encounter,” an Obama aide told Yahoo News on Tuesday. “Above all else, today is about honoring Nelson Mandela, and that was the president’s singular focus.”

At another point, President Obama posed for a “selfie” from his seat at the memorial with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. First lady Michelle Obama, seated to the group’s left, did not participate.

Tuesday’s event was not a funeral. But that didn’t stop the “Selfies at Funerals,” which documented the aforementioned trend, from categorizing the world leaders’ selfie as one.

“Obama has taken a funeral selfie,” Jason Feifer, the site’s creator, wrote. “So our work here is done.”

“Dear Obama,” Mashable’s Christine Erickson wrote. “Funerals are no place for selfies.”

Earlier, the first lady appeared to be less-than-thrilled with the president’s conversation with Thorning-Schmidt, and at some point, she switched seats with him.

It’s unclear whether the seat change occurred before or after the selfie, or if it came during Obama’s speech.

Before his handshake with Castro, Obama also shared a handshake and a kiss with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who has angrily condemned U.S. spying in her country.

Cuban-American lawmakers voiced disappointment Tuesday over President Obama shaking the hand of Raul Castro during the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, calling it a “propaganda coup” for the Cuban government.

“It is nauseating,” Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who fled Cuba with her family when she was a child, told Fox News.

Speaking later at a hearing with Secretary of State John Kerry, the congresswoman held up photos of the handshake and said political dissidents would be “disheartened” by them.

“Sometimes a handshake is just a handshake, but when the leader of the free world shakes the bloody hand of a ruthless dictator like Raul Castro, it becomes a propaganda coup for the tyrant,” she said.

Distrust of the Castro government runs deep in the Cuban-American community, particularly in Florida where many refugees still live.

Obama’s brief encounter with Castro, though — unlike the historic phone call earlier this year between Obama and Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani — was described as spontaneous.

An administration official said “this wasn’t a pre-planned encounter,” adding: “Above all else, today is about honoring Nelson Mandela, and that was the president’s singular focus at the memorial service.”

At the hearing on Tuesday, Kerry said Obama “didn’t choose who’s” at the Mandela ceremony. Asked by Ros-Lehtinen if Castro is upholding basic human rights, Kerry answered: “No. Absolutely not.”

Obama shook Castro’s hand as he made his way down a line of dignitaries, including South African President Jacob Zuma and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, on his way to deliver an address honoring the late South African leader.

In the speech in Johannesburg, Obama praised Mandela as the “last great liberator of the 20th century.”

“He changed laws, but he also changed hearts,” Obama said.

Ros-Lehtinen said afterward that Castro should have listened to Obama’s message about how some leaders praise Mandela without respecting human rights. “I think that was a message to Raul Castro,” she said, calling him a “thug.”

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., also released a statement saying: “If the president was going to shake his hand, he should have asked him about those basic freedoms Mandela was associated with that are denied in Cuba.”

The handshake came amid a memorial service that lauded Mandela’s spirit of reconciliation. It’s unclear whether more will come of the gesture, as efforts by the Obama administration to thaw relations between Cuba and the U.S. have been slow-going.

The U.S. government in 2011 eased the embargo on the island by allowing some Americans to travel there. But the U.S. freeze on Cuba, dating back to when Fidel Castro took power, largely has remained in place – and Cuba’s human rights record, particularly its intolerance of political dissent, continues to draw the scorn of rights groups and western governments.