On Michael Richards, Borat's frat boys and freedom of speech

During the past two days or so, the Internet and everywhere else has been buzzing about this:


Michael Richards has already offered an awkward apology on Letterman saying that he lost his temper and isn't a racist.

To me, that sounds suspiciously similar to Mel Gibson and the Borat frat boys, in other words, the "Oops! I didn't mean to say those things! I was too drunk/angry and lost control."

Now maybe it's me, but when I'm drunk and pissed I've never resorted to using racial slurs when I've ripped into people (OK, most of the people I tend to rip into are folks like Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh). Part of it is that a racial slur is a cheap shot. I always figure that if you're going to insult someone, be creative.

However, I don't agree with Paul Rodriguez who said: "Freedom of speech has its limitations and I think Michael Richards found those limitations."

No. There's no limits to freedom of speech. Mel, Michael and the frat boys have the right to say what they said. However, I (as well as a lot of other people) still have the right to respond and say that they're showing an ugly side to them that they need to acknowledge exists and address.