Good post, and you brought to attention a very valid concern in regards to limiting free speech.

I was raised in the south when integration was a new thing & referring to someone as "colored" was considered being extremely respectful. I was not raised to literally hate people because of the color of their skin but racist words were part of the every day vernacular. As I grew older, I learned better.

Saying Barr's statements were due to her "raising" is, for all intents & purposes, rubbish. She's grown, she knows or should know better but her internal racist has been set free by her embracing the current racist in cheif, President Dunning-Kruger.

She is free to say whatever she pleases but absutely no one is free of the consequences of their speech. Her's were swift & devestating in the collateral damaged caused to others on her now cancelled show. Sucks to be her.

She does not get a pass from me because of her "raising", "indoctrination" or any other nicety you care to use as a replacement for her choice to be a repugnant racist. She can kick rocks & sit in the unemployment line with Kathy Griffin for all I care. No excuses.

& using mental illness as a crutch to prop it all up is, also, bs. She trots that out when its convenient, just like the attempt to blame Ambien. Yes, it sucks. Yes, I am constantly monitored to make sure my meds work & are still working to control my bipolar disorder. Yes, switching them up to find the right balance is a pain. Then again, I embraced the fact I'm crazy (my shrink hates that term) & I take personal responsibility to keep (pardon the colloquialsm) my shit in 1 sock & crazy damage to a minimum. Again, no sympathy & no pass from me.

(Maybe my ex is right, I am too hard on people...or maybe I just set a high standard for myself & expect the same of others.)

One can have compassion for the abuse that is the original source of some actions and attitudes, but that doesn't make those actions and attitudes no longer harmful or censurable. Nor does it relieve them of taking responsibility, self-reflecting, and changing.

Ms. Barr has stated publicly that she suffers from serious mental illness (supposedly, multiple personalities -- one of which, Bill Maher joked the other day, is clearly pretty racist) so we can go a little easier on her. But the cancellation of her show was still the right call.

As for Kathy Griffin, I think what she did was not a credible threat to the President and there's a closed secret service investigation about that, that agrees with me. It was stupid, but comedians (especially the edgy kind) often push the envelope and get into trouble in the age of social media because it's much more "leaky" than trying out new jokes on a small night club audience while doing stand up. In fact Griffin says (and I believe her) that it was an impromptu photo shoot poking fun at the "she's got blood coming out of her wherever" Trump remark. She got carried away in the moment and wasn't thinking. She's NOT got a history of constant racist / xenophobic remarks like Rosanne, so I think it's pretty clear she paid a more than high enough price for her actions.

Rosanne Barr has no excuse for racism. She was raised Jewish and being culturally Jewish it pisses me off to no end to hear racist Jews. After the Holocaust how can they be so ignorant and hateful. They are the lowest of the low-no excuses.