Liberals, PC Police and Big Business

So your friend, in addition to having poor taste in friends, is an idiot.Your free speech rights entitle you to say what you want without restriction from the government, not without restriction from other people. Liberals and PC police have the same free speech rights as you and other comics have, the right to criticize. If nobody else feels the way they do, their criticism will largely be ineffective.My question is, why wouldn't you want them speaking up? If there are topics that large numbers of people find offensive, wouldn't you want to know that before crafting your act? You can then decide whether you want to avoid those topics to avoid giving offense, or hit those topics hard to make a point about them.

I agree. That's what I meant when I said they're scared of a decrease in sales of macaroni and cheese. Here's where it gets weird - those guys made it to the level their at doing that very act. It's why Tosh has his show in the first place, because he pushes the envelope. Tracy has always been known for being insane. And try to explain Louis CK and his amazing success when he has one of the funniest rape jokes ever?It seems like it's only time to apologize when the media blows the story out of proportion.But more to the point, and you seem to agree, this has nothing to do with the liberals.- OniEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

No one is trying to shut anyone up. I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sure, equal time for two different opinions. But do you feel they ALSO had the right to sue her for the comment?I believe you've answered this, but equally should a comic apologize for someone being offended at their show?- Oni

How do you know who his friends are? Other than me. Everyone has the right to criticize. But I don't agree that it's liberals who are making it impossible for comics to express ourselves freely. I believe the bigger problem is the media blowing these stories out of proportion and advertisers and big busniess getting scared.But, this could have the effect of making the average person feel they have the power to dictate what someone else should be thinking and saying on stage. That I don't like. Why would someone's feelings matter to me, as a performer, developing an act to perform in front of people who like me, when that person came to a venue for comedy? I don't know. Myself personally I don't care to know what people find offensive since I'm going to say whatever I want. I currently have that freedom - I work for a network sometimes, but not in any high capacity.I also find comics who go after those topics just for shock value to be bad comics.- OniEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

Dbl postEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

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A native tribal policemean was patroling along the edge of the reservation when he spotted a school bus lying upside down at the bottom of a ravine. He scrambled down to investigate and then climbed back up to report on the radio, "There's a busload of white kids turned over at such-and-such-a-place. They're all dead."

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The chief (that's police chief, not Indian chief) replied, "Are you sure they're all dead? Maybe we should send an ambulance, just in case."

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The policeman answered, "Well, some of them claim they're still alive but you know you can't believe anything white people say."

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When I first heard that joke, it was a busload of black kids and a fat southern sheriff. To me, it seems more appropriate when it's making fun of us white folks.

Yeah, they had the right to sue (but then I'm a lawyer), but perhaps the case should have been dismissed as having absolutely no merit against a first amendment defense. Instead, the cattle guys got pounded in court.Not sure where you are going with this. That's the comics call. Nobody can make you or any comic say anything. However it may be in a comic's financial interest to apologize. Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.

Absurd southern racism is funny. But I agree the joke works better with natives vs whites because there's the whole history of natives distrusting white people.- OniEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

Just that sueing Oprah is ridiculous and as ridiculous as forcing a comic to apologize for a comment made at a show. It seems that we're getting to this point where people feel they're entitled to some form of compensation because their feelings were hurt. That's a fair point. I just don't think it should get to that point.It seems as though we can all agree that this has nothing to do with liberals or some PC police. This is dictated by money.- OniEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

The publicised people "being offended" is just another piece of titillation to fill the shit-sheets.
It is comparable to Kate Moss' cellulite or Kim Kardashian's pregnancy.Have a look at the Brand/Ross debacle: The Russell Brand Show prank calls row - Wikipedia

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After little attention, a Mail on Sunday article on 26 October 2008 about the show led to a record number of complaints and criticism of Brand, Ross and the editorial decisions of the BBC.

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After making a tasteless phone prank on the radio they received something like 5 complaints.10 days later, the Daily Mail (one of the UK's more offensive shit-sheets) printed a story about the prank call.
(It involved a young burlesque dancer, so I doubt they could help themselves.)After that, the BBC received the 2nd highest number of complaints ever.I am on a similar page to Charlie Brooker: "People who retrospectively complain to Ofcom about material they've only read about second-hand are, in essence, a bunch of sanctimonious crybabies indulging in a wretched form of masturbation." I blame the desperate lengths that the popular press will go to to keep a viable readership.Without a media, I do not see a platform for the PC police to preach from.Edited by Panda, : No reason given.

After reading ringo's post, I wasn't quite sure which take he likes better, but my best guess is that he likes the story better when the policeman was white.In either case, it is the policeman who looks like the stupid racist. After all, the talking bus riders cannot possibly be lying about being alive.

I thought it was funny when it was, "Some of them claim they're still alive but you know you can't believe nothing them niggers say." But I probably wouldn't repeat that joke here. My version is funny in a different way - funny because it's true. In a joke, all things are possible. White people could have rhythm and Chinese people could be good drivers.

Is that what you got? See I thought he liked the version where the native sheriff said he didn't trust white people.Ringo can clarify.- Oni

I definitely agree with you on this point. The media does a wonderful job of sensationalizing these comments which forces the public, 99.9% of whom were not even present during the act in question, and this is what forces the comics to come out and apologize. A great recent example of this was Aflac and their treatment of Gilbert Gottfried.Mr. Gottfried is a well-known comedian who has been around for a very long time. One of the classic bits that he performs during his shows (and performed prior to being signed by Aflac) is "The Aristocrats" joke. For those who do not know, this is a thing that many famous comedians are part of. The purpose of this joke is to include as much sexually explicit, offensive material as possible in a joke that continues far beyond where normal people would take the joke.After the Earthquake and resulting Tsunami in Japan, Gottfried made a comment on Twitter to the effect of, "Japan is so technologically advanced, they bring the water to them". This motivated Aflac to remove Gottfried from their advertising campaign in order to maintain image.However, shouldn't Aflac be the one that the Public is outraged at? They knowingly hired a comic who makes it a part of every act he performs to offend as many people as possible. Gilbert Gottfried speaking and acting in a manner consistent with what could be known about him prior to hiring should not give them cause to release him, nor should the blame be placed solely upon him. (Personally, I found the joke humorous and felt that the media blew this comment far too out of proportion)As it is, I think that it is definitely not the liberals at fault for this behavior and it falls more upon the hype the media spins these stories in. Also, by increasing the awareness of these comments by huge multipliers, the media focuses a nation against a simple comment. Finally, the money aspect (as Oni said, to sell mac and cheese) controls the companies once the media has struck. They then release individuals that they were well aware of what their acts were prior to any signing of a deal.It may be that comics should start requesting clauses in contracts protecting them from any behavior that could be expected from watching previous acts they have done.It is like Delta hiring David Cross as a spokesman and then complaining should he do a 9/11 joke. He has done them before, it should not be a firable offense for him to do so again.

Second verse, same as the first.Now, if your point is that media criticism is ill-founded, or detrimental because of its tendency to discourage thoughtful but edgy commentary on society, or a hypocritical ratings/readership grab, those might all be legitimate points. But one thing it isn't, one thing it cannot be, is an infringement on free speech rights. That's my only point.