The Word You Can't Say On The Phone

I am not a fan of the A&E television show "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" or its star Duane “Dog” Chapman. However, it is a mystery to me why this man does not have the right, in private conversation, to say what he wishes no matter how repugnant it may be to others. What the hell is happening to our right of free speech? Why should he have his show pulled from the air indefinitely by A&E because of a private phone conversation in which he used the dreaded "N" word. A word which seems to be freely used by black entertainers with little or no condemnation. A word which Robert Byrd a United States senator and former Klan member seems to be able to use with impunity.

As George Carlin used to say in his "The seven words you can't say on television" there are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad Intentions. But, no bad words.

I'm beginning to fear that this nation is headed in the same direction as the religion of perpetual indignation that riots over cartoons and speeches by the pope.

I love words and yes words can harm. We use them to hurt our loved ones as well as those not so loved, but does that mean we must stoop to censorship?

As others before me have said there is no protection against being offended, nor should there be. I just wonder if the people who decry security surveillance cameras because they expect privacy in a public place will leap to the Dog's defense. Will the ACLU, who championed the public march of the National Socialist Party of America through a neighborhood that was home to many Holocaust survivors, (Skokie Illinois) champion Dog's right to speak as he wishes in a private phone conversation? Somehow, I doubt it.

If we do not speak out to defend the free speech of others then our own is in peril.