Poor, poor Whoopi

Whoopi Goldberg delivered a raunchy but cheerful monologue that included a joke about eating bear testicles and some spectacularly unsubtle Bush double entendres. (New York Times, July 10)

I saw the same basic joke on a bumper sticker a couple of weeks ago and thought the driver had unnecessarily lowered the public discourse.

Now Goldberg, whose uncivilized behavior has gotten her fired from SlimFast is whining about the assault on her "freedom of speech." "America's heart and soul is freedom of expression without fear of reprisal," she said in a statement. Where did she get that idea?

Goldberg, whose performances I've liked over the years, seems to be descending into a second adolescence, if not madness. She should have expected reprisals for her performance because her jokes first appeared on bumper stickers. She shouldn't have been surprised that SlimFast's customers might have felt icky about being associated with her presentation. And if I think she's pathetic, well, that's another consequence. No Republicans required.

There's no Constitutional amendment to protect someone from social consequences of exercising her mouth.