???He???s Entitled.???

Whenever somebody would publicly opine something stupid or offensive, my mother would shrug and say, ?He?s entitled.? Meaning everybody has a right to his/her own opinion. This doesn?t indicate you support the opinion, just the person?s right to expose him/herself as a fool. If they never got to spout off stupid things, you?d never learn what idiots they are; a*sshole behavior increases public knowledge.

My wife and I went to see an Emo Philips performance where he did a joke revealing that he is at the polar opposite of our end of the political spectrum. Does that mean I no longer think he?s funny? Of course it doesn?t; and I'm not boycotting him because of a dopey opinion.

Michael Richards, whose popularity has always mystified me anyway, reacted badly to some hecklers in a comedy club, throwing racist remarks at them. (The news report I read said slantedly that the hecklers continued their ?playful? heckling. Folks, I?ve played comedy clubs. Ain?t nothin? playful about hecklers; on the evolutionary ladder, they?re three rungs below politicians and radio talk show hosts.) There are various ways of handling hecklers. Most comics start lobbing gags off their heads and make the hecklers look like the drunken losers that they are.

Shortly after their series was cancelled and he was still in a bad mood, Tommy Smothers snapped at a heckler, ?You don?t want to f*uck with me ? I?m a tough motherf*ucker!? His brother noted that all laughs for the night died right there.

During a Martin and Lewis club date, a drunk began making anti-Semitic remarks about Jerry. Dean invited the guy up onstage and quietly walked him backstage and into the alley. He returned a few minutes later with some bruises and blood; but the heckler didn?t return at all.

My point is that Richards is coming under more fire for reacting in a verbally unfunny way than he would if he had physically attacked the guys. If a celebrity does something like that, label him a racist and either decline to watch him anymore or watch him while separating the performance from the personality. But stop bombarding me with ?news? stories about how Horrified and Offended the people in the club were and how sorry he is!!!! I don?t care. It?s not newsworthy.

If Michael Richards has racist opinions ? he?s entitled. The fact that his opinions aren't my opinions doesn't erase his right to have them.

If that makes you not want to watch him anymore ? you?re entitled. I never watched him in the first place, so it?s not applicable for me.

If I think this picayune c*rap doesn?t qualify as news ? I?m entitled.

So, this being the Next Question forum:
Given that people tend to gravitate to like-minded friends, so the extreme example of finding out your friend is Grand Dragon of the local *** (oh for c*hristsake -- this board won't let you say K*K*K*?) doesn't apply -- is there any opinion a friend could hold that would actually damage your friendship?