I saw this over the weekend: Opus held hostage! The Washington Post, that self-appointed bastion of the First Amendment, suddenly gets very worried about offending others - and pulls several 'Opus' comic strips. And who were they worried about offending? Women? Minorities? Democrats? Republicans? Christians? Jews? Zoroastrians? Nope. None of them cut off reporter's heads.
I think you can guess who they're worried about offending. So here is one of the "offending" cartoons, because, well, it's still a free country. Judge for yourself.
Lesson for the Day: Intimidation works only if you let it. Eugene Volokh has some commentary here.
UPDATE: It seems that the 'Opus' cartoon the Sunday before poked fun at Jerry Falwall and beliefs of evangalical Christians, but it did not get pulled. Hmmm. FoxNews has more, and an explanation from the Writers Group about why one was pulled, and one wasn't. It's pretty lame, but go read it for yourself. FWIW, I've been a fan of Berkeley Breathed since his Bloom County days, and even carried a stuffed Opus (complete with mortarboard) as a joke when I graduated college. One sits on my desk even now. I do not always agree with Berkley politically, but the writing is good and Opus is, well, so darn likable.
