Clueless Conservatives Defend Paula Deen When They Don't Know The Whole Story

It is her blind loyalty to these cretins, people who, by Deen's admission, regularly spout racist shit now (not in the past) and are, at best, drunk, redneck shitheels who think their proximity to Deen makes them special ~ The Rude Pundit (Lee Papa) describes the source of Paula Deen's problems in his 6/28/2013 article, "A Defense of Paula Deen Followed By a Condemnation".

Mean Liberals are bashing Paula Deen because she used the N-word 30 years ago. But Deen is over 60 years old and from a different generation when the use of that word was more widespread. Plus she said it to a bank robber who held a gun to her head when she worked as a teller. The scary ni**er had it coming due to his behavior. Certainly Deen cannot be blamed. But the dastardly Liberals don't care about reasonable excuses; instead, smelling blood in the water, they go on the attack, determined to destroy this poor woman so they can lay the tattered carcass of her career on their alter of political correctness.

But that isn't the whole story. In fact it's just a teeny tiny fragment of the entire ugly chronicle. Why the media decided to focus almost exclusively on a 30-year-ago uttered epithet is beyond me. Must have something to do with the country being comprised of far too many morons who wouldn't be able to follow anything overly complicated. Certainly these Conservatives who beat their chests and cry about the injustice being visited upon poor Paula fit that bill.

So what is the whole story? Well, that N-word fragment came from somewhere. Where it came from is a deposition Mrs. Deen gave in regards to a lawsuit filed by a former employee. It is in that lawsuit that many worse things are alleged. Also, it is in the deposition that Deen confirms many of the allegations. Either outright or in a round about way by minimizing what happened (I'll get to that in a bit).

First let me ask, does Paula Deen have racial biases? Yes, but they are not responsible for her downfall. That 30 year old N-word is nothing compared to what she has tolerated and allowed from others in her inner circle. Most of the blame for Paula's downfall can be laid at the feet of her buffoonish brother Earl "Bubba" Hiers. Much of Paula's troubles can be attributed to Hiers and the restaurant Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. Paula Deen already had a restaurant named Lady & Sons (Deen is "Lady" and the "Sons" are her sons Jamie and Bobby). Uncle Bubba's came about because Bubba "wanted a restaurant of his own".

Uncle Bubba's was started by Paula, her brother, and a third individual named Karl Schumacher in Savannah GA (also the location of Lady & Sons). Paula (who has multiple companies in addition to Lady & Sons and Uncle Bubba's) provided the money and Bubba ran the business... poorly. I read the entire Deen lawsuit as filed by former employee Lisa T Jackson, as well as the Paula Deen deposition, and it is my conclusion that Deen is guilty as charged.

Lisa T. Jackson worked at both Lady & Sons and Uncle Bubba's as a manager. In her lawsuit she says Paula Deen and Bubba Hiers "committed numerous acts of violence, discrimination and racism that resulted in the end of her five-year tenure at Deen's Lady & Sons and Uncle Bubba's Oyster House eateries in Savannah".

The reason I say Deen is guilty is because during the deposition she admits to a number of the allegations in the lawsuit. What she doesn't outright admit she downplays (confirming they happened). Trust me, she hangs herself in it. Although she seems to be largely oblivious of that fact. She is also oblivious to the fact that her brother's poor management of Uncle Bubba's is why she is where she is today. That she used the N-word 30 years ago came out thanks to the deposition. If not for the bad managing by Bubba there would be no lawsuit, no deposition, no revelation of Deen using the N-word and (finally), no mass exodus of companies who previously were eager to do business with her and pay her lots of money.

But Deen does not see it that way. Although multiple people told her that Bubba Hiers was the problem she did not believe it. Karl Schumacher brought Lisa's (and his own) concerns to Paula. Paula concluded that Karl's warnings concerning Bubba were due to jealously and resentment. Karl was trying to sabotage Bubba because when the Oyster House was started Paula and Bubba decided that Karl (although he was a significant contributor) should not receive a share of the business (given stock and be a part owner).

Sabotaging Bubba is the motivation Paula (apparently) attributes to anyone who has anything bad to say about her brother. When it was decided that the management consultant firm MackWorks should be hired to do an audit of management practices (in both restaurants) they concluded that Bubba was the "source of their problems" and they advised that Bubba should be relieved of his operational influence.

But Paula didn't believe Tonya Mack and David Beroset (of MackWorks) and said they were gullible and unreliable for believing the lies of Karl Schumacher and Lisa Jackson. BTW, MackWorks interviewed Deen's employees and they said Lisa Jackson was a hard worker and expected everyone else to do the same. But Paula thinks Lisa exaggerated, lied, and was very judgmental about "men being men" and jokes that may have been told.

When asked by Bill Franklin (lawyer representing the plaintiff) if she ever considered that MackWorks might be right about Bubba, she says yes, but that he isn't as bad as they were trying to make out. According to Deen she knows her brother better than that. Despite the fact that she hadn't been in the restaurant in nearly five years.

MackWorks might be surprised to hear that Paula wasn't satisfied with their work, due to the fact that Deen authored a testimonial (posted to the MackWorks website) that said MackWorks has a "sterling reputation that continues to shine". It wasn't until the deposition that Paula changed her mind and decided they were gullible and unreliable. Huh. Maybe Paula lied? Maybe she isn't quite THAT oblivious and knows that she should have put a stop to what was going on at Uncle Bubba's a long time ago (but of course it is too late now)? Maybe.

If you ask me who I believe, Paula and her brother Bubba Hiers or Lisa Jackson, I say Paula Deen is the dishonest one an oblivious rationalizer (I believe Lisa Jackson). So why did she tell the truth about using the N-word in the deposition? Because she didn't think it was a big deal. She said "of course". She thought she had a good excuse, as she said it about a man that had a gun to her head during a bank robbery. But why didn't she say "yes, but..." and then insert her explanation? Why did she say "of course"?

She said "of course" because racial insensitivity is no big deal in Paula's eyes. And that racial insensitivity (as well as sexual harassment) is not a big deal to Deen is why she paid no heed to Lisa Jackson's or Karl Schumacher's complaints about what was going on at Uncle Bubba's. Also because she was willfully blind to the bad behavior of her brother. She even admits that Bubba stole money from the corporation that owns the Oyster Shack and that the theft was covered up by giving Bubba a raise and saying the money he stole was a part of the raise. Paula rationalizes the theft by saying Bubba getting a raise was long overdue.

The foolish Paula Deen is getting her just deserts in my opinion. She was warned by people close to her; Karl Schumacher worked with her for over 22 years and, in return for him warning her that her brother was running the business badly, she says terrible things about him (that relationship must be destroyed). And she disregards the advice of a professional consulting firm who specifically told her that Bubba was the problem. So, no, I have no sympathy for her.

This is the real story. The whole story. But the media chooses to focus on a small portion of it. Do you really think Paula Deen saying the N-word 30 years ago is why the Food Network and all her other sponsors dropped her? I strongly suspect the reason everyone is abandoning Deen is because they realize that she is going to lose the lawsuit. After that happens the public will be talking about her again, and these companies are getting out of their relationships with Deen NOW, before the manure really hits the fan.

(By the way, Karl Schumacher isn't one of the "good guys" in this saga. He is named in Lisa Jackson's lawsuit as being a part of the problem. After Lisa took over as manager and turned around the previously money-losing restaurant Karl referred to Lisa as "almost Jewish". Karl denied Lisa a bonus she was due because she got a divorce, which Karl viewed as a sin. He also said "women are stupid because they think they can work and have babies and get everything done". Karl is one of the "redneck shitheels who think their proximity to Deen makes them special" that Paula Deen allowed to sexually and racially harass her employees. Paula was hardly ever there but she was warned many times.)

My Notes From The Paula Deen Deposition.

This is the videotape deposition of Paula Deen taken by counsel for the plaintiff in the matter of Lisa T. Jackson vs. Paula Deen, et. al., held in the offices of Oliver Maner located at 218 West State Street on May 17, 2013.

1. Bubba has a drinking problem, including drinking on the job.
2. Bubba told racist, sexist and sexually explicit jokes at work. Paula says she was unaware.
3. Bubba viewed pornography at work on his office computer and also on the kitchen computer. Paula says she was unaware.
4. Bubba invited female employees into his office to view pornography on his computer. Paula says she was unaware and also does not believe Bubba would do that.
5. Paula says that if someone sent something pornographic to Bubba's computer and he "pulled it up and looked at it" she "wouldn't persecute him". [Admission].
6. Bubba printed out sexual explicit jokes he found on the internet and read them to people. Paula says she can't imagine he would do that.
7. Paula, when asked if any of the behavior described above would be OK since it was Bubba's business, says it would depend on the situation. According to Paula this is "just men being men". [Admission].
8. Bubba showed pornography at a meeting as a "joke". Paula says she heard it was actually Lisa who did this. [Not believable].
9. Bubba showed pornography to subordinates. Paula says Bubba didn't show the porno to anyone but that employees (without Bubba's permission) looked at his computer and that is how they saw the porno. [Not believable also an admission that she knew about it].
10. Bubba told a female employee who had just gotten dentures "I bet your husband is going to like that". (An oral sex joke?) When asked if she thought that would be funny Paula said it depends on your comfort level with the person you're telling the "joke" to. She didn't deny the joke was made.
11. Bubba told employee Lindsay McCoy to keep the front "light" when hiring. Paula says she was unaware.
12. Bubba stole up to 26k a month from the restaurant receipts. The stealing was covered up by giving Bubba a raise and saying the money he stole was included in that. Paula admits this to be true but says the raise was long overdue. [An admission that Deen covers for the bad behavior of her brother].
13. PDE loaned money to Uncle Bubba's to keep it afloat. It was losing money until Lisa Jackson took over as manager. Then it started making money despite what Bubba stole. But the restaurant still owed PDE 300k.
14. Bubba shook Mr. Frazier (AKA "Big Will", an African American employee) and said "vile things" to him. Paula says Lisa told on Bubba to Karl Schumacher but Paula didn't believe Lisa's version of events. Bubba says he was "shocked" by the allegations.
15. Paula is sure people in her household have told jokes that included the N-word. Not her though, because Deen does not tell jokes.
16. Paula does not consider racial jokes to be a problem, so long as they are not mean. [Admission].
17. Paula does not consider telling a joke with a "sexual component" to be harassment. Only coming on to someone qualifies as sexual harassment. [Admission].
18. Paula says verbally abusing someone because of their race might be harassment; she isn't sure. [Admission].
19. Paula told Bubba to fire a male hostess who was sleeping with an underage server. Paula said, "if you think I've worked this hard to lose everything because of a piece of pussy, you better think again". Paula admits she said this.
20. When Paula decided to hire Lisa she said she was "putting a woman in a man's job". She decided to do this because of the problem with the prior hostess who slept with the underage server.
21. The use of the N-word in a joke is OK depending on context. Most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks and Black folks. Paula can't be blamed because she didn't make them up. [Admission].
    
22. Paula discussed the kind of wedding she wanted for her brother. She said she wanted a true Southern plantation style wedding. When asked if that could be achieved using a wait staff comprised of servers of differing races Paula said no. According to the lawsuit Paula said she wanted "a bunch of little ni**ers... to tap dance around". Paula denies using the N-word because she wouldn't use that word to describe professional Black men. Paula said they didn't go ahead with this plan because it would be misinterpreted.
23. The consulting firm MackWorks, hired by PDE concluded that Lisa Jackson was the victim of discrimination sufficient to give her cause to file an EEOC. [Admission].
24. Uncle Bubba's restaurant was identified by MackWorks as the "source of their problems" at PDE. They advised that Bubba should be relieved of his operational influence. [An admission she was warned but did nothing].
25. MackWorks interviewed employees and they said Lisa Jackson was a hard worker and expected everyone else to do the same.
26. The owners of Mackworks were gullible for believing the lies of Karl Schumacher Lisa Jackson. [Not believable].
27. Mackworks was unreliable because they identified Bubba as the source of all the problems at the restaurant. [Not believable].
28. Karl Schumacher lied and tried to sabotage Bubba due to jealousy and resentment that he wasn't given a share in the restaurant. Karl was also very judgmental.
29. Paula says Karl is bigoted toward gay people. He sent Paula emails that contained these thoughts but Paula didn't respond to them.
30. Karl is judgmental concerning the drinking, swearing and gambling of others. It's his job to be judge and jury.
31. Lisa Jackson exaggerated, lied, and was very judgmental about "men being men" and jokes that may have been told. [Admission that sexual harassment took place].
32. Lisa Jackson blew everything out of proportion. Paula didn't realize how "extremely good at it" Lisa was until she left. When asked if she can give any examples of Lisa blowing things out of proportion Paula says no. [Not believable].

SWTD #181