by Serena Edwards

Created on: May 13, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

Oh, no. Here we go. Again. One man says a stupid and ugly thing, and the nation erupts into accusations and remonstrations. I'm not an apologist for Don Imus. Actually, he doesn't need me as an apologist. He's apologizing on his own, begging forgiveness and trying to make amends all over the place. I give him big respect for that. We've had people in the Oval Office who didn't have the good sense to simply admit their mistakes and make amends. And they didn't lose their jobs over it - not one of them.

I'm not so sure Imus should have been fired. But it's really none of my business. It's his business, and in his business you have sponsors who make those kinds of calls. Unfortunately for Mr. Imus, those sponsors tend toward the politically correct most of the time. That's how they handle public relations from their corporate offices. We, on the other hand, are that very public they are trying to have relations with. (Ok - tasteless pun. Sue me.) But - are WE all that politically correct? Or do we just expect other people to be what we aren't? I just handed you a bit of sexual innuendo that held no gender-bias or racial intent at all. Did you smile? In fact, I just insulted corporations in general, and the public as a 'ho...I
mean, whole.

And that is the whole problem with politically-correct speech. You can never, ever be correct enough. You always offend someone, somewhere. Now, watch me do it again. I'm a gimp. I mean, disabled. I mean, other-abled. I mean...

What DO I mean, anyway? Supposedly, I can't use either of the first two terms because I will almost certainly offend some disabled person somewhere. And I refuse to use "other-abled", because I'm not a politically-correct twit. I'm only trying
to refer to MYSELF in a descriptive way. And I think I like myself so well that I wouldn't purposely disparage or insult myself. Frankly, I'm perfectly comfortable with the term "gimp", I say it with a smile, and I don't really want some famous political activist gimps telling me how I may refer to myself on the theory that they know what is best for me. That is, after all, the very same paternalistic attitude that makes people want to fight for their civil rights in the first place.

Thinking about what "civil rights' really means, the question doesn't really come down to "racism or double standard", so much as it comes down to "free speech or politically-correct speech". Because, you can't do both. Free speech is a civil right, and that right extends to offering unsolicited

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