Barro on Defending Phil Robertson

Conservative columnist Josh Barro comments on what defenders of Phil Robertson are defending on Business Insider.

1. Robertson thinks black Americans were treated just fine in the Jim Crow-era South, and that they were happy there.
2. Robertson thinks the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor because they didn't believe in Jesus.
3. Robertson hates gay people. 

As a side note, it's remarkable how often these things come as a package. Robertson's sincere doctrinal view about the sinfulness of homosexuality comes packaged with animus toward gays and retrograde views about blacks and non-Christians. It's almost as though social conservatism is primarily fueled by a desire to protect the privileges of what was once a straight, white Christian in-group, rather than by sincere religious convictions.

You might recall that conservatives are currently trying to figure out what to do about the fact that the Republican Party performs quite poorly with the growing share of voters who are not white, straight Christians. They think some of it has to do with economic issues. But then they're scratching their heads, trying to figure out how Mitt Romney lost the Asian American vote 3-to-1 even though, by Republican "maker-vs.-taker" metrics, Asian Americans are disproportionately likely to be "makers."

Non-whites and non-Christians and gays keep getting the sense that, even setting aside policy, conservatives and Republicans just don't care for them. The "Duck Dynasty" episode, with Ted Cruz and others rushing out to defend Robertson's honor, is just another example of why.