With news of record sales coming in from yesterday's Appreciation Day, I thought I'd check out any related news articles to see how well the business did. Due to their private company status, the VP of Marketing stated that, “while we don’t release exact sales numbers, it was an unprecedented day.” As Chick-fil-A rakes in roughly $12.8M a day (based on last year's record haul), one can only imagine what might be considered “unprecedented” for Aug. 1st sales. However, that's not what caught my attention.
As I perused the web to find an article with some numbers, I continued to come across what seemed on the surface to be objective reporting, at least from the headlines. But I quickly discovered the newspeak within...
ABCNews: Chick-fil-A posted "record-setting" sales on Wednesday as thousands of people swarmed the chicken chain for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day after the chain's chief made anti-gay comments.
LATimes: Chick-fil-A appears to have set a company record in sales on Wednesday, a day on which Americans were encouraged to show their support for the fast-food restaurant whose leadership has drawn both criticism and praise in recent weeks for its opposition to same-sex marriage.
WaPo: Chick-fil-A’s chief said the fast-food chain set a record in sales on Wednesday as conservatives flocked to the restaurants to back the ownership’s stand against same-sex marriage.
So that got me to thinking...you know, when all of this hullabaloo began, what was so wild about what Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy said? And it didn’t take long to discover that it's not what he said, but what he didn't say that's the real travesty with this manufactured controversy, primarily drummed up by a propaganda wing that for some reason we continue to call 'news'. The newspeak supplied the beef...and continue to fry it up.
If one ventures to the source of the actual interview, one might realize that the characterization from the media (as bolded above) isn't uttered at all by Mr. Cathy...check out this excerpt...
BaptistPress: The company invests in Christian growth and ministry through its WinShape Foundation (WinShape.com). The name comes from the idea of shaping people to be winners.
It began as a college scholarship and expanded to a foster care program, an international ministry, and a conference and retreat center modeled after the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.
"That morphed into a marriage program in conjunction with national marriage ministries," Cathy added.
Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.
"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.
"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."
Huh. Did I miss something? I didn't see a single mention of 'gay' or 'same sex' any where in there, nor any mention of being against or in opposition to...only a positive, celebratory response in favor of tradition. Oh, the horror! Also to note, Cathy gave his uplifting response only after being about it. This wasn't something that he just got on a soapbox about, unlike his critics, who seem to be looking to pick a fight: 'You only support the traditional family? Bigot!' Just hear the illogic. Moreover, expressing one's support for the biblical definition of the family unit does NOT mean that you hate homosexual individuals or you're anti-gay. It just means you're rooted in traditional principles...and last time I checked, we still hold some semblance of a First Amendment (at least that's what the Left always trumpets when any number of their liberal issues and/or obscenities are at risk).
It's so peculiar that those who preach tolerance from the Left, in many instances, particularly ones like this involving religious principles, are often the first to offend with feigned outrage, then viciously attack. What tolerance! I mean, just look what the LGBT (what an acronym) community has planned for tomorrow compared to what millions did across the nation on Wednesday's Appreciation Day. Wednesday was a day of support for our fellow Christian, our fellow business man, our fellow American. Friday's staged kiss-in just seems to simply offend for the purposes of getting in the faces of traditional families (look at me, look at me, damn you!) because they don't support this notion of same-sex marriage. But hey, Chick-fil-A still stands to make some serious revenue from tomorrow's display. What? You know there will be gays and lesbians eating there; otherwise, they're just loitering. Watch and wait...you'll see.
But perhaps even more maddening, almost always, it's the mainstream liberal media that eggs such confrontations on between different segments of our society, whether simply for the controversy and coverage of it or to pursue shared political agendas between so many of these like-minded newsies. They don't really care anymore whether it's accurate reporting or not...just as long as they can stand on their corners and shout it above you in their efforts to indoctrinate. What passes for journalism and reporting is now patently subjective propaganda. Equally disturbing, they seem to enjoy using their voices to rip apart the fabric of our civil society. They may deny it, but they don't hide it one bit. And this manufactured story is just another example of how far removed from objectivity the modern mainstream news outlets have become.
