Other incidents involving outrageous or insensitive comments
Didn't Conan O'Brien say something that offended Canadians which was not intended to be taken that way? I can't recall now exactly what happened.
As far as the freedom of speech issue, isn't it the most important right that we have? When we start allowing goverment to tell us what is acceptable and what is unacceptable to say aren't we relinquishing that right? Stern should be able to say anything he wants on Satellite radio since it is a subscribtion service. If he violates indecency laws on public radio then it is a different issue altogether.
As offensive as his comments may be, he has every right to say whatever the hell he wants. In his case he is simply full of shit and not to be taken seriously anyways. Some of the shit he says is stupid, ignorant, and baseless, but it is intended to be that way. He is trying to get a reaction since publicity of any kind will do nothing but garner attention to his show and help his ratings, not to mention I think he greatly enjoys childish mischief. Consider as well that he isn't calling for the murder of anyone like Pat Robertson did on his "Christian" show.
Stern can be a real douchebag sometimes, consider the time Fran Drescher(The Nanny) was on his show and he confronted her about being raped by two black men in front of her husband(true story). He actually asked her if the guy was "well hung" and if she enjoyed it or her husband enjoyed watching
!!! Hence the term shock jock.
He reminds me in a way of Larry Flynt and the cartoon in Hustler magazine which said Jerry Falwell got drunk and had sex with his mother in an outhouse. For those of you who missed the movie "The People vs. Larry Flynt" the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that this was a "parody" which any reasonable person would know not to take seriously and therefore was protected under our right to Freedom of Speech.
Seems that too many people want to give up this right and restrict what you can say and how you can say it because their ears are bleeding from some profane ramblings of talk show hosts. I for one believe in just changing the channel when I hear something just too stupid or offensive to listen too. Thats exactly what I did after I saw the Fran Drescher interview, I no longer listen too him on a regular basis. Another important freedom, "Freedom to change the channel."