Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, and the secret conservative obsession with celebrity

Giving the reality TV star a free speech award is the height of embarrassment

Phil Robertson
(Image credit: (AP Photo/A&E))

Try to think of a multi-millionaire whose comments annoy a lot of people, especially liberals. It would be best if he were a celebrity, too, among conservatives at least. He would be the sort of person who could draw a crowd that is notorious for ducking out into hallways, smaller rooms, and nearby restaurants when a possible GOP presidential candidate isn't at the podium.

Okay, got someone in mind? You’ve got a great candidate for Citizens United's ludicrously named “Andrew Breitbart Defender of the First Amendment Award” at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. This year the free speech award is going to Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, mainly for saying the following to Drew Magary: “It seems like a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus.”

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.