Totally with you there. As I mentioned earlier with comedy, jokes about race/sexual orientation/etc. are quite funny to a lot of people (myself included), and if some people would remove the rod up their collective asses a la Garrus in ME2, we can just joke about anything without worrying about being politically correct.

I understand this, but the fact that his "y'all mfs don't watch us play" comment was treated much lesser than his "I let LeBron stretch me out no homo" comment clearly shows that there's a double standard, and it's not just a matter of being professional. I see the first statement as being less professional than the no homo joke personally, but that's definitely not what the rest of society thought.

In some cases, obviously a level of political correctness is needed. I for one don't see women as property, and have no respect for rapists, who I value as much or even less than I value murderers. But political correctness does lead to some crazy double standards, ones that are often feminist or pro-LGBT.

Take this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JA4EPRbWhQ . On national TV, Sharon Osbourne was making fun of castrating guys and didn't really get any flack for it. Imagine if a guy said anything of the like. Evidently, political correctness isn't equitable or "correct". 

Political correctness is bad enough in and of itself (the old "road to hell is paved with good intentions" saying applies here), but the biggest problem I have with it is that there is always a huge double standard in play when it comes to the way political correct behavior is enforced in society.

This is by design of course, as the whole point of political correctness is to benefit and further the causes and agendas of certain social and political groups who have placed themselves in charge of deeming what is politically incorrect to say or do in society.

Can't say "Merry Christmas" in public anymore because it might offend someone or could be viewed as favoring one religion over others. Can't say fag or faggot, or say that something is gay because the LGBT community has put up a moratorium on the use of those words, despite the fact that both of them are in the dictionary and neither of their original definitions are slurs against homosexuals.

And do I really have to talk about the double standard that exist in regards to the use of the "n-word" here?

Yes, thank you. You've perfectly iterated what I was trying to say, the enforcement of political correctness is the biggest problem, and already people sound highstrung and pretentious when being politically correct.

The point of furthering the cause of certain social and political groups is perhaps the most egregious fault of political correctness. The NAACP, LGBT, and even right-wing conservative branches such as the NRA and the Catholic Chruch have committed this offense on many occasions. It really is quite disgusting, and makes the concept of political correctness counter-intuitive.

One of my least favourite aspects about political correctness is the finger pointing it leads to. e.g. I can't believe X said Y about Z, that is so z-ist.

Most of the time X doesn't even know what they said, Z doesn't know what the fuss is about and no one but the finger pointers seems to think that Y is an z-ist slur.

Maybe it was just me paying more attention to the media at the time but I noticed them talking more about "You mf's don't watch us play" much more than him saying no homo.  At the time it was all over ESPN and Sports Center so i dont believe on or the other got more media.  The media didnt agree with either one, however some did agree that him saying they dont watch them was a true comment which is why they didnt have as much negative to say maybe.

I think most people simply don't get it if something doesn't affect them. As someone who grew up been made fun of for being gay, who constantly kept hearing from the media that gays are perverts, whose parents thought that gay equalled doing drugs or being a prostitute, hearing my friends say "oh that's gay" for something that is terrible annoys me beyond words.

You might think that words are meaningless, but just because you have a tougher skin or most likely because those words have nothing to do with you, it doesn't mean that others aren't affected. You might dislike LGBT communities or organizations but it's thanks to them that many gay men have significantly better lives over the years.

It's like joking about AIDS or cancer. If you or your family/close friends have/had neither, it's no big deal. If you've went through it and it was hell, it might affect you differently.

Sure, some times I say the "r" word without thinking and then I realize that the brother of a friend of the group is mentally challenged. Well, it might be an inconvenience, but since I know that it bothers them, I avoid it. I much rather feel like I have less freedom than hurt people even unintentionally.

I think it's gone to far nowadays and the backlash is out of control sometimes.

I fully believe that the road to tolerance and understanding can only be taken through an open and honest discourse.  It's one of the reasons why I will always be in favor of freedom of thought, speech and expression.

Repression and censorship never solve anything. The most it does is to sweep the problem under the rug outside of superficial view, but it's still there. When society in general deems certain views to be unacceptable to even express and not just wrong, it's doing just that. It's not dealing with the problem itself, just attempting to hide it. This means that those who have said views never end up changing them, just hide them for fear of rejection and continue to spread them through different means, creating more conflict. The issue remains unchallenged for the most part, and the side of the minority can (accurately) play the victim card, as its views are not being even acknowledged.

Overreactions like the one mentioned in the first post doesn't do any favors to its cause either. Condemning an action without taking into account the intention behind it and the degree of the "harm" done does not make the punishment fit the crime. And when you're arguing for tolerance, being intolerant to disagreement makes you look like a hypocrite. The only way to truly argue for tolerance is to practice it, which doesn't stop you from disagreeing and supporting your cause.

By the way, I happen to be completely in favor of homosexual rights, and I was glad to see them recently get the right to get married in the same way as heterosexual couples in my country (Uruguay). You don't have to be in the side of "conservatives" or the "right" to realize how "political correctness" can be a problem. We are all, at one point or another, in the side of the minority or majority. The question is, in my opinion, whether you truly believe in freedom of speech/expression or not.