LOCAL “REDNECK” BIGOT FINDS TV EXPOSURE CAN BE A PROBLEM

 

…MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow and the Junior GOP Senator of Kentucky, Rand Paul

 

More proof that Sen. Rand Paul and Fox’s, John Stossel, were totally wrong.

How many of you remember Fox’s Megyn Kelly’s interview with Fox Business’ John Stossel, regarding whether a public business, such as a restaurant, should be allowed to exclude certain customers that the business owner didn’t like?  You know, the same situation as what the Junior Kentucky Senator, Rand Paul, had also said should be allowed, when he was being interviewed by MSNBC’s, Rachael Maddow.

If you didn’t see or hear about either of these events, here is a short excerpt of the basics of those interviews:

KELLY TO STOSSEL: “Rand Paul is a libertarian. You are a libertarian. He [Sen. Paul] is getting excoriated for suggesting that [he would not have voted for] the Civil Rights act.  What he said was, ‘Look it's got 10 parts [the Civil Rights Act], essentially; I favor nine. It's the last part that mandated no discrimination in places of public accommodation that I have a problem with, because you should let businesses decide for themselves whether they are going to be racist or not racist. Because once the government gets involved, it's a slippery slope.’ Do you agree with that?”

STOSSEL: “Totally. I'm in total agreement with Rand Paul. You can call it public accommodation, and it is, but it's a private business. Are we going to say to the black students' association they have to take white people, or the gay softball association they have to take straight people? We should have freedom of association in America.”

STOSSEL: “Eventually they [these businesses and associations] would have lost business. The free market competition would have cleaned the clocks of the people who didn't serve most customers.”

KELLY: “How do you know that, John?”

STOSSEL: “I don't. You can't know for sure.”  [But he implied that it would most likely occur.]

Well, after the interview they had referenced of Rand Paul and Ms. Maddow, which was well over a year ago, Senator Paul is still having to back-peddle those statements in his subsequent interviews and talk show and TV appearances.  (And as someone that is seriously trying to get his party’s nomination to run for president in 2016, Paul is probably very sorry about what he said in that MSNBC interview.) 

As for Ms. Kelly and Stossel, since they are part of the less-than-honest Fox News group, they will probably continue to promote this so called Libertarian approach as to how the nation is supposed to deal with these racist issues.

So, as we look forward, months after these interviews occurred, we are made aware of a restaurant in Enid, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City, that has been in business for 44 years. The establishment’s name is Gary’s Chicaros Restaurant.  The restaurant’s owner, Gary James, has a set of rules for his business that would apparently fall directly into the areas that would be totally approved by both Senator Paul, and Mr. Stossel. 

The rules for Gary’s Chicaros Restaurant include, (if you will pardon my abbreviated version): “No freaks, f*ggots, n*ggers, disabled or welfare freeloaders."

In fact, a disabled former customer, Mr. Matt Gard, has now claimed that the owner of Gary’s Chicaros Restaurant, has banned him forever from the restaurant because of his wheelchair.  Mr. James’ comment however is that: “His wheelchair created an issue. You only have one time here. You create an issue, you’re out forever.” Mr. Gard also claims that James has routinely turned away various customers for decades. “He doesn’t like certain people of race, color, ethnicity”, or also obviously, anyone that is disabled.

Mr. James recently commented on a local TV station interview about the people that should, or should not, patronize his establishment: . “Well if you work, you own a business, pay your taxes, you’re more than welcome here.  If you’re on welfare, stay at home and spend my [tax payer] money there. I don’t deal with these people walking down the street with no jobs or on welfare.”

Oh, by-the-way, the restaurant’s official t-shirt says, "Where Great Whites Gather".  (It is clear that a “f*ggot” definitely isn’t welcome in James’s establishment.)  The shirt also features the N-word saying it’s: a "N*gger Free Zone", (I refuse to write the whole word as the shirt displays), and the shirt threatens violence against Muslims, Democrats, and members of many minority groups.  (This man has some major issues.)

As bad as all this is, there are also now very negative responses to Mr, James latest TV interview.  (And a good reason he should never have talked on TV.)

Since his TV interview, the owner of Garys’ Chicaro’s now finds himself the victim of an online campaign to brand his establishment as the “Best Gay Club” in Oklahoma City.

Since Mr. James told the local station that, “I really don’t want gays around.”  The “gays” have responded on Yelp and Facebook by declaring James’s establishment, “the best place for hot man sex!”  And that’s the tamest of the taunts that are listed on the social media networks.

So far, it is not known whether any of the “Yelpers” who claim the establishment is “the best gay club in or around Oklahoma” have actually dined in the restaurant.

But the internet’s Raw Story attempted to contact Mr. James to discern whether there had been an up-tick in business since this story broke last week.  However, despite their calling during listed business hours, the Raw Story call went into a voicemail system that indicated that the restaurant message system was full.  (I’ll bet it certainly is full, and I wouldn’t want to listen to what it’s full of...)

But in the bigger picture, Mr. Stossel and Senator Paul had both said that what Mr. James is doing is what he should be able to do. 

However, in a free society, if it is a public place that turns away eligible customers due to race, politics, disabilities or sexual orientation, the establishment owner should not be surprised when they receive the kind of responses Mr. James is currently receiving.

So, to summarize, it appears that the Senator and Stossel’s Libertarian approach doesn’t quite fit the mold in a country that is supposed to support every person’s rights equally.  And that includes the minorities as well as the business owners.

Copyright  G.Ater  2014