I never let politics interfere with my chicken.

The latest controversy taking over the headlines (aside from the daily sub-controversies from the Olympics) was sparked by a remark made by Dan Cathy, COO of the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain in an interview on July 16th.

What Cathy said was "We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."

Chick-fil-A has been around since the early '60s—longer, in fact, than Wendy's and several other chains. The chain has maintained a policy of being closed on Sundays since it's inception and explains why right on their Web site.

The chain helps fund numerous worthwhile causes and has provided millions of dollars in scholarships to deserving students—they operate over 1,000 restaurants and employ tens of thousands of people—and are considered one of the best chains to work for. In the spirit of full-disclosure, the two brothers who now run the chain hatched by their father, Samuel Truett Cathy, have plenty of scratch.

The company's mission statement is "Be America's Best Quick-Service Restaurant"—and to Chick-fil-A apparently, being "The Best" means more than just what's on the menu. I personally make a point of eating at one (and/or maybe a Shoney's or Waffle House) whenever I encounter one at meal time. The drill is simple: I order chicken, and they provide chicken. My relationship with Chick-fil-A is 100% chicken-based. My political views have never been part of this equation. 

Yet all along, hiding in the bushes, has been a group of individuals who disagree with Chick-fil-A's pro-family position and think that I should too. They've been waiting quietly and patiently for one of the company's corporate heads to say something they could twist and spin into something that could be used against their pro-family stance. Enter the politicians, Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino (to name just two) who saw it as their duty to block this pro-family business from ever opening new stores in their cities—and thus denying their citizens the jobs and the benefits from the additional taxes that these restaurants would generate. Talk about your abuse of power.

Now, I'm just sayin'... But how short sighted and stupid can these people be?—to deny their constituents jobs and to take from the people they serve the simple pleasure of having a new place to go for lunch, just because their personal opinions differ with the personal opinions of others.

Conclusion: Chick-fil-A knows how to run a successful business but is (or was) totally ignorant as to the lengths big-city mayors will go to to keep their jobs by appearing to look out for minorities. They obviously have no interest in promoting new business or bringing employment to their cities—if they did, they would not have been so quick to condemn (and than have to back-down) Chick-fil-A. A little diplomacy would have worked a lot better than bully-politics. while I totally disagree with the way they have behaved in this matter, I do not plan to boycott their cities, nor will I encourage my friends too. I happen to like Chicago (Boston, not so much) and would visit regardless of who the mayor is.

In the after math of Dan Cathy's remarks, the company issued the following statement:

"The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect -- regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender," the statement read. "We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 restaurants run by independent owner/operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena."

This was probably a good call in these days when you are no longer allowed to hold or express an opinion—if for no other reason than to make this go away so they can get back to doing what they do best — serve great chicken!

Of course, if you disagree and are offended because Chick-fil-A's Dan Cathy happens to support a definition of marriage that dates back several thousand years, then you are welcome to eat wherever you want—that's just more chicken for me.

Irony—As is typically true when any group tries to force their values on others, the others typically win. In this case, 9 out 10 people I've spoken to on this topic had never heard of Chick-fil-A prior to this making headlines.... Now they can't wait for one to come to their town! To paraphrase PT Barnum - It doesn't matter what people say - as long as they say!

Related: YELP: Here's what the people of Chicago really think about Chick-fil-A -