Is it legal to refuse service to someone at a food establishment? Can a business decide who it will and won't serve? Yes it is. If you are openly carrying a firearm, the Whataburger chain in Texas will kick you out, even though open-carry is legal in that state. That's their right. Wonder how that  would apply in other cases.

Juan Williams is somehow amazed that black Americans would want to protect their vote. Well, that's not exactly how he put it, but that's how it turns out. And that method of protection is supported by 3/4ths of the country. See, we can agree on some things!

And finally, we have a follow-up on the fall-out from the show of support of Charlie Hebdo. Free speech won! Well, for a little while, but, with a whimper, it gives up.

Mentioned links:

Whataburger takes stand against new open carry firearms law in Texas (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/12/whataburger-texas-open-carry-law-gun-owners)

Indiana pizza shop that won't cater gay weddings to close (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/04/01/indiana-family-pizzeria-wont-cater-gay-weddings/70813430/)

Juan Williams: Dems should not be losing voting-rights fight (http://thehill.com/opinion/juan-williams/244913-juan-williams-dems-should-not-be-losing-voting-rights-fight)

Charlie Hebdo waves the white flag (http://www.politico.eu/article/charlie-hebdo-911-qaeda-mohammad/)

Show transcript

I’ve not lived in a state that has the Whataburger chain, but I know that folks who do love their stuff. The Whataburger chain in Texas decided recently that it would not allow the open carrying of guns in any of its restaurants. Management said that some patrons felt uncomfortable being around someone with a visible firearm. They will, however, still allow those carrying a legal concealed weapon to enjoy their burgers on the premises.

Let me just say that I will defend Whataburger's right to deny service to open-carry patrons. It’s their right to determine who they will and won’t serve, or who they allow on their premises, even if what those patrons are doing is perfectly lawful. They can conduct their business as they see fit, and potential customers can choose to eat where they want. This is what we call “freedom” and “the free market”.

But boy oh boy, if they are ever asked to cater a same-sex wedding, they'd better comply. It's much less dangerous to the life of your business to exclude lawful gun owners. If you think it’s silly to create a hypothetical situation where someone would ask Whataburger to cater a wedding, just ask Memories Pizza in Indiana how silly it is to ask a hypothetical question about catering a same-sex wedding with pizza. But you may find that difficult to ask; their answer closed their business. #LoveWins?

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Juan Williams is gobsmacked. That’s a good word for it, when a guy just cannot fathom why his team’s losing, even though the reason is obvious to me. In an article he wrote for the website The Hill, he was expressing his disbelief that the Democrats were losing the “voting rights” issue; that is, the voter ID issue.
Even most black Americans — people who, overwhelmingly, don’t vote Republican — currently favor new requirements for voters to have photo identification. Three-quarters of all voters — people of all races and political parties — favor such laws, according to polls.

The black support for photo identification of voters can only be described as amazing.
Well Juan, it just seems to me that black Americans, overall, seem to highly value their right to vote. That’s not amazing; that’s American. Juan tries to tie the voter ID issue to the poll taxes and literacy tests of yesteryear, but that’s entirely upside down. A poll tax was to prevent black people from voting. Voter ID is to protect black people’s vote. #BlackVotesMatter

And it looks like this is an issue on which we can truly all come together and agree on.  That’s a good thing, right Juan?

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