Radio Plays Rape for Laughs

Shock jocks just never know when to shut up. Sadly, the Opie and Anthony rape giggles were not even an unfortunate onetime event. On May 4, a representative from the New York State Lottery said that it would discontinue its commercials on the FM show after a comedian who is a regular guest was heard asking, "Would it be possible, could you whistle 'Singin' in the Rain' while I rape a girl?" Even the makers of Trojan condoms were offended. They pulled their advertising, saying the show did not match their commitment to advancing "sexual health."

And yet some critics of the Imus racial slur aren't as offended by giggling and cheering at the idea of raping the nation's most prominent black woman. Sleaze is sleaze, and the anti-Imus crowd used that show's comparatively highbrow political content against it. And yet everyday shock jocks peddling audio vomit somehow deserve protection out of respect for "freedom of speech."

The Rev. Al Sharpton showed up to debate May 15 on the CNN Headline News program "Showbiz Tonight." But he didn't say a single word against Opie and Anthony or one word in defense of Condi Rice. He insisted that the Imus gaffe was much more offensive! "I think that these cases are different than Imus. Imus was a repeat offender that stood out, in a different situation. ... Imus' situation cannot be compared to other arguments" about free speech, he said.

But even worse than that was his opponent, Debbie Wolf of "People Against Censorship," who bizarrely lectured Sharpton that he needed to "exercise some social responsibility" and stop messing with free speech. She insisted that people like Condi Rice and Laura Bush "need to get a thicker skin." The first lady and secretary of state should giggle along at a skit about them being raped and killed?

Where is the limit for groups like "People Against Censorship"? There is absolutely nothing they can agree is in poor taste. So do they have any taste at all, any shred of politeness? Would they laugh along if the radio pranksters called and insulted their mothers, maybe joked about raping and killing them? Or maybe -- Yuk! Yuk! -- their children? Now that would be funny, wouldn't it?