I was thinking about the rioting over the publishing and republishing of what is to some people an offensive political cartoon. Leaving religion and politics out of this for now, I hear people on the right (and some on the left) defending their first amendment right to be offended.
It brought me back to when I published a small newsletter for my racing buddies - The Over-Rev News. It was a hand typed rag where everything and anything went - and I encouraged it. Tame for it's time, it was National Lampoon met Mad. I was desperate for articles and I welcome any submissions and said I would print everything I got - good or bad. One day I got an article that had me rolling on the floor. It was funny, satirical, ironic and true - and I could not print it. For as good as it was, it was a personal attack and would have literally destroyed a person. Up to that point I thought nothing that was true couldn't be printed. I was wrong. There are some things that should not be printed.
Rather than hide behind some esoteric "First Amendment guarantees my right to be offensive", maybe we should just say "I'm sorry, it wouldn't happen again".
10 min
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