In the aftermath of Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson’s suspension for comments he made in a magazine interview, a remarkable thing happened on the left: the same folks engaged in class warfare suddenly and cheerily championed the sovereignty of businesses to fire people at will and whim.

Robertson’s First Amendment rights were not violated, they asserted, since he was not being persecuted by the state. And on this point, the patchwork of special interests that comprise the Democratic Party quilt is correct.

Leftists’ sudden appreciation for the concept of a business’ freedom to run their operations as they see fit would ordinarily be welcome news if it was not for the fact that they are utterly insincere concerning the rights of private enterprise.

Bear in mind the same people who were defending A&E’s suspension of Robertson for the audacity of sharing his religious beliefs also support legislation that would prohibit businesses from firing employees who are gay.

For the militant Left, it’s all about the policy – not the guiding principle. Like the pigs who governed George Orwell’s Animal Farm, consistency has never been their strong point, priority or concern.

There was no talk on the right about suing A&E over their decision to put Robertson in “time out,” though the boycott threats and social media storm was too much for them to bear, hence the television channel’s capitulation without conceding that they were wrong in suspending the reality television show star in the first place.

Fans of the show are pleased that season of the popular program will back on the air and perhaps feeling a bit of self-satisfaction for forcing not only the hands of television executives but of the honchos at Cracker Barrel as well.

Cracker Barrel, which is apparently oblivious to its customer base, had initially “amen-ed” A&E’s punishment of Robertson by pulling Duck Dynasty merchandise from their shelves before reversing course in a clumsy pseudo-apology issued under economic duress.

Those who see the bigger picture are not so sanguine for there will be no consequences for the Duck Dynasty decisions aside from a slight drop in profits. And nobody at A&E or Cracker Barrel is getting suspended or fired.

Basically A&E chose to continue to profiteer off of a demographic they hold in contempt as unenlightened rubes and bigots. If A&E is inclined to apologize, it’s to GLAAD for not demonstrating their loyalty to the leftist cause by losing money, not to their Christian viewers.

For social conservatives, the Chick-Fil-A and Duck Dynasty victories belie an unpleasant reality: we’re the ones backed up on our heels playing defense. Always.

Conservatives are the ones harassed by leftist activists and the state for contributing to organizations that advance Christian values and support like-minded candidates for public office, which was what the Chick-Fil-A furor was really about: turning off corporate money spigots to groups like Focus on the Family and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (!).

Show me where Christians are engaging en masse boycotts and protests against companies who donate to Planned Parenthood or the media coverage that amplifies their efforts.

The real joke is that the religious Right isn’t the ones forcing their values upon America but the secularists and statists striving for mandatory conformity as they’ve shifted their tactics from pushing tolerance for their agenda to enforcing total displacement of the Judeo-Christian values that have served as the nation’s moral foundation.

Be progressive or be quiet. Be quiet or be gone.

Though they lost this particular fight, A&E has by their example created a standard that will be borrowed by dictatorial managers and executives in other businesses as the country’s culture war shifts from news programs and talk radio to cubicle to cubicle and house to house fighting.

What about the non-celebrity Christians who will be hauled into their human resource director’s office to be questioned about what they have tweeted about gay marriage or expressions of their faith that are socially unpopular? Who will rally for anonymous Christians issued pink slips for their faith?

While conservatives, Christians and friends of liberty regardless of faith or orientation are cheered by A&E’s backtracking two days after Christmas, it’s still Pontius Pilate season in America.