You might remember a post on Twitchy Wednesday in which Houston Chronicle columnist Erica Grieder just kept digging and digging and digging trying to make it true that it was conservatives who’d made Chick-fil-A an issue everywhere, completely ignoring the fact that the whole national kerfuffle started with a liberal boycott after Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press he was “guilty as charged” of supporting the “biblical definition of the family unit.”

That was it. That’s where it started, from one line in an interview, and that’s what led the easily unhinged to abuse workers at the drive-thru window and spraypaint “Tastes Like Hate” on the buildings.

You might notice a lot of scare-quotes in our headline; that’s because they’re lifted from NBC News’ tweet about Texas’ “Save Chick-fil-A” bill, inspired when the city council voted indirectly to ban Chick-fil-A from the San Antonio International Airport in the name of inclusiveness — seven full years after Cathy did that interview.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signaled he’ll sign the controversial bill, which critics say is discrimination cloaked in religion. – @NBCOUT https://t.co/1L7h1IgAPr — NBC News (@NBCNews) May 23, 2019

So banning Chick-fil-A wasn’t controversial, but a bill protecting Chick-fil-A from discrimination is. Check this out: Democratic state Rep. Celia Israel said, “it’s been cloaked in religious freedom but the genesis and the nexus of this bill is in hatred.”

Give us a break. The Christian president believes marriage is between a man and a woman. What if the president were Muslim and believed marriage was between a man and a woman? We’d never have known.

Critics = NBC news tweet squad… — Erik (@winefishdawg) May 23, 2019

Critics say controversial NBC News is taking a side against politicians who are standing up for a business that has been banned by other politicians. — Razor (@hale_razor) May 23, 2019

“Critics say” is how NBC News indicates what good people should think. https://t.co/B0slvGRdgY — Boomieleaks (@notwokieleaks) May 23, 2019

If you took a poll in the LGBTQ community in Texas, you’d probably find that the majority eat at Chick-fil-A and really don’t care one way or the other. But I dare you to prove me wrong… — CJ (@KingdomChristie) May 23, 2019

True. Seems a lot of these instances are a few people in power telling others what should offend them. — Paine Don't Hurt (@PaineInTheNeck) May 23, 2019

Every city I go to Chick-fil-A has long lines. Last time I went the person in front of me had a gay pride flag on his car. I've never seen hatred toward anyone there. Democrats are trying to make an issue out of nothing as usual. If there is no hate they will create it. — WrathfulTexan (@TexanWrathful) May 23, 2019

It is absolutely bizarre to characterize a bill that echoes and enforces the First Amendment’s prohibition on government viewpoint discrimination as . . . discrimination. https://t.co/XNRJ34ar6d — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 23, 2019

The opposite is the case. San Antonio tried to determine which businesses would be permitted to open at a facility it runs, based on the views of those businesses’ owners. Texas passed a bill to enforce the neutrality the Constitution requires. And it’s Texas that is criticized? — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 23, 2019

Leaving aside the constitutional questions—and the preposterous, inverted characterization of them—it is extremely embarrassing that so many local and state politicians across the country have tried to prevent this fast food restaurant from opening in their areas. — Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 23, 2019

It really is. Let’s hope 2020 presidential hopeful asks all 12 people at his rallies not to patronize Chick-fil-A like he did when a franchise opened in Manhattan. That’s a great platform to run on.

It shouldn't be controversial in the first place! — CP, PhD (@cptweets2019) May 23, 2019

If you don’t like it, don’t eat there. The line can get really long it’ll make it easier for me — Tim McCloskey? (@timmccloskers) May 23, 2019

While I don't like intolerance, this is overreaching. If Chick-fil-A was refusing to serve LGBTQ people, that would be one thing. — Chris Veech (@Hoosierfan515) May 23, 2019

The restaurant does not discriminate. You can be black white gay straight or anything else under the LGBTQ rainbow and they will still serve you. — John Thicc (@Terryaki_Parker) May 23, 2019

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