Apropos of...well, nothing, really

Been reading a bit about a case where a kid took a school to court because they would not let him wear a Confederate Flag belt buckle. And sadly, I really come down on both sides of this issue.

On the one hand, the flag is a symbol of a lot of things I don't agree with...the Antebellum South was not exactly heaven on earth and slavery was just one of the symptoms. On the other hand, the rights of states were seriously impinged upon and a once voluntary union is now a forced one...sort of state slavery I guess...and has led to the current state of affairs where the Federal government is deeply involved in a lot of private things and I don't much care for that, either.

With that said, ultimately the case seems to boil down to whether freedom of speech as expressed through symbolic expression in choice of clothing is a higher right than freedom from being offended.

I saw one ridiculous statement made by an involved school official where he said something along the lines of, "If even one person is offended then I would rather have censorship." Those are not the exact words but it is the exact meaning.

The problem is manifold, but here is one of the most prominent; you are not going to be able to keep everyone from being offended and selectively choosing who not to offend is a real dark path to head down.

Let's say I believe the War in Iraq is a good thing; is he going to keep anti-war t-shirts out of the school? If I believe it is a bad thing, is he going to keep pro-war shirts away? Of course, that is sort of a straw man, of course political t-shirts will be thrown out...

but what about something like a shirt saying, "Global Warming is a Myth" or one with the Darwinian Fish or one saying Hooters or even someone who likes Clinton Portis and wants to wear his jersey...which not only has his name, "Portis" on the back but also the team name..."Redskins". Are those banned?

It quickly gets muddled as to what is okay and what isn't. Is a wrestling t-shirt declaring, "Foley is God" acceptable? Why or why not?

And no, I do not think these things are a stretch. There are people who have poor taste and people who have beliefs I disagree with. They are going to wear things I find offensive...and things others find offensive. Whose taste for what is offensive gets used?

Some people find current styles of low-slung pants that show boxers offensive. Others find mini-skirts and halter tops offensive. Still others find bandannas or do-rags offensive. Where does it stop? With uniforms? People already find those offensive.

But do we have a right to not be offended? That is a more interesting question to me. I of course come down with a resounding, "No". People do not think the same or act the same and things are going to be done and said to offend all of us at some point. Tough. Deal with it. And realize you are offending someone else.

I should also point out using censorship to protect people from being offended was a powerful tool in George Orwell's 1984. Read it. Think about it. And if we can't find something more important to censor than a belt buckle...well, maybe he was closer to truth than we think.

Should the kid wear it? no. Is it in poor taste? yes. Does he have the right to have bad taste? Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie have spawned a bunch of bubble headed wanna-be clones wearing ridiculous, stupid-looking over-sized sunglasses and carrying dogs in purses and nobody has stopped them yet. Think about it.