Sorry, can't do that, it might offend someone!

Pardon me while I launch into another rant. This current trend of banning things because they might offend someone is really beginning to piss me off. This is the USA. This is a country founded upon freedom of expression. This is a country that guarantees freedom of speech in its constitution. But apparently that means absolutely nothing if someone complains about it. Today's rule is that if it might offend someone, ban it. I, for one, am getting fed up with this attitude. Censorship is still censorship even when you are censoring so that you don't offend. I would go as far as saying that censorship is even worse when you are censoring because it might offend someone. This is because the only speech that needs protecting is offensive speech. If you cease protecting that, you may as well remove the first amendment. That is basically what has been done. We've negated the first amendment and it did not take a bully to do it, rather it only took a whiner. When did the whiners gain control and why do we let them have control? If something said or displayed offends someone, tough! People will get offended about anything and everything, we cannot cater to those who whine about being offended or we will end up banning everything. Case in point, at an elementary school in Maplewood, New Jersey they canceled a Saint Patricks day party in a grade school because one (1) single parent complained*. One person complained and because of that the entire celebration was canceled. A better solution would have been to tell that one whining parent to keep her child home that day if it offended her. Another case in point, a worker in Richmond City Hall was told to take down an American flag because a few people complained about it. They said that it represented a war that offended them. Wrong! It represents the country they live in. It represents the government which employs them. It represents the freedoms they enjoy. I'm sorry, but if you are offended by the American flag then get the hell out of this country. At the very least get out of government employ. Read the news, the above examples are only a tiny sampling. The constitution has been gutted by complainers. There is no more freedom of speech if it might offend anyone. This is wrong, this is very wrong. The first amendment is there so that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because it might offend someone. To reiterate, the only speech that needs protection is that which is found to be offensive. Read that again, and again if necessary. Freedom of speech is one of the main principles of this country. It is time that we stand up for it because it is being taken from us under this new policy of catering to the whiners. I'm highly offended about this, if policy is to make sure that no one is offended then where is my right not to be offended? /steve 03/24/2003 PS: Bravo to the State of Massachusetts. They know what the first amendment is there for and ruled for it when a school in Westfield suspended students for passing out candy canes with a religious message on them***. Someone needs to fire the school officials that suspended the students for exercising their rights. * One complaint causes cancellation of party ** That flag is offensive. *** Massachusetts upholds first amendment.