Free Speeches

A couple days back I posted a couple videos, one by Razorfist, the other by the inimitable Stefan, on two different cases of free speech.

One bothers me a lot more than the other. I'll go ahead and let on that the Kathy Griffin one bothers me more, and I'm sure any liberal types who come across here will immediately assume it's because I'm a racist.

Sasse set him up with the comment about working the fields, which, have you seen Nebraska? While my digging is limited, none of the clips I'd found yet give me context but I'm presuming that it wasn't in the context of slavery. Bill Maher then turns him down with the comment "I'm a house nigger."

OK. "Republicans are racist" so make a joke about working fields and turn it around? Either way I'm sure it was something similarly vapid and predictable that went through his head, and the "lawn gnome" certainly made a career of saying controversial stuff and offending people.

That said, it was intended and delivered as a joke, no matter how tasteless. It was even delivered in a self-deprecating manner. Now, I accept the argument that certain words and phrases can be insulting or acceptable depending on who is speaking, how they are speaking, and to whom it's being directed - the in-group can say things to each other that, from an outsider, would be tacky or outright insulting from others. That said, the counterpoint, if the word is that inherently offensive, why is it used so frequently within the black community, also has weight.

Of course, the useless crowd of the perpetually offended are up in arms. Apparently, this is a step way too far over the line of acceptable comedy.

And people have every right to be offended.

The problem?

Many of the people that are up in arms over Bill are - being leftists and hypocrites, but I repeat myself - defending Kathy Gifford's video and pictures as "comedy"

You know, holding the (simulated) bloody head of the US president up with a stone-cold stare. While several comedians have made careers in part on joking about racism, etc., ISIS-style beheadings are rarely the subject of mainstream humor. Something that she and many of her supporters would consider a death threat if posted about them, and that Kathy especially considers far beyond the pale directed at her or third parties given her comments about "target" icons on maps by republicans.

There's a huge difference between a deadpan delivery (think Steven Wright) or the over-the-top satire of "The Real Housewives of ISIS" and that dead, stone cold stare.

So yeah, libs would be screaming if a mainstream "conservative" had the balls to do it about a Dem politician - and I'm not sure I'd voice support for it either even if I didn't think the politician was worth the respect due the office. And of course they're hypocrites.

What stuns me even more though is how much the left is still in a bubble. Listen to an opening monologue by Colbert if you can stomach it, or any of the other night talk show hosts. As Stefan points out - how is it that out of everyone around her nobody said "hey, this might not be cool." This is also why I don't accept arguments of "lone wolf" teachers abusing their students by suspending them over pointing fingers like a gun. Everyone around that teacher and their chain of authority had to be of like mind.