But haven't we crossed into The Matrix? A cell without walls? A prison for our minds? :)

Then Paula should be left alone, just like every one of us (probably 99.999%) that have used the "n" word at some point in our lives.

And you can return to your job...!

I won't walk into the furnace because of an error in my thinking. I continue to do my work to the best of my ability and continue to improve. I see possibilities for her to continue, despite the mass rejection. I would not despise a person who repeated a word and did not know the meaning at the time they uttered it. Nor would despise him for a belief that he has discovered was in error.

Thank you!

I thought that I had crossed into The Matrix... ;-)

Please understand, that I think this is wrong. That this level of public humiliation is not necessary. That the price that is placed upon her is not fair or just.

"I understood. And I said a lot of dumb things back then. I have repeated off-color jokes I heard from friends and family. I occasionally do to this day."

Then how can you say that her punishment fits the 'crime'. You admit to be an ongoing criminal, while her last 'offense' was 30 years in the past.

By your posted standards, you should clear your office desk of personal belongings...walk out into the public square...offer your back for your deserved flogging...and stoically accept your "fate".

There is an old saying (that didn't come from Rand), that says "let the punishment fit the crime". That is the last thing that is happening to Paula Deen....

I understood. And I said a lot of dumb things back then. I have repeated off-color jokes I heard from friends and family. I occasionally do to this day.

I would also think that they cannot take her mind. In this age it is very possible for her to go to the internet. Her sons support her, the whole family could break out from the broadcasters and start there on their own. and the best part... It would be theirs. They could continue to sell their own brands mail-order. A mistake? Yes. Does it mean the end? It shouldn't. I do not accept their reality. I do not think that her mistake negates her ability in the kitchen.

I'm not talking about a robbery that you thought you got away with. It could have been an off color joke, or comment.

If you are saying that you carry the scarlet letter for the rest of your life, and you are comfortable with that, then I say you are 'nuts'! ;-)

P.S. You can come back here in 30 years and have me publicly shamed (and in Paula's case, ruined) for what I just said. But I wouldn't either understand that, or sheepishly offer my throat for cutting.

There may come a day when I will have to. I won't like it and I will pay the consequences for my actions. When I refer to the market I am deferring to the consumer, not the agents of pull that fear that they may look guilty by association to an individual.

Are you ready to accept your 'fate' for something you said 30 years ago? Did you ever say something 3 decades ago that you wouldn't say today? Would you question the fairness of having an accuser wait 30 years to confront your youthful utterance?

As for "let the market decide": she is systematically being removed from the "market". It's hard to have a fair "fate" when you are being blackballed.

She is being made to pay, because people are allowed to feel offended. And said offenses demand payment and retribution. The only thing that is important to the system is the appearance of sensitivity and the idea that they really care. Let the market decide her fate through the purchase of her products and the ratings of her TV show.

Senator Robert Byrd was a klan member. He wasn't the only one either. What's going on with Paula Deen is just weird considering the much or egregious cases.

no. we like to bring the productive low

I also read that she supported Obama, and I can't find anywhere where she has publicly taken any political stands. For god's sake, she is a TV cook show host, sells pots and pans, and cook books.

Must be something that the NSA mined....

She is a Southern girl...and 30 years ago in The South there was nothing unusual with what she was supposed to have uttered. Can you imagine what Jimmy Carter has said in his life, growing up on a rural farm in Georgia?

I saw Charlie D. in concert decades ago, but he had already turned religious...but he did sing the Devil song (or he wouldn't have got off the stage alive)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgvfRSzmM...

Why is Alec Baldwin still on Capital One commercials?

I'm not sure why she's being hit so hard. I thought she was an odronya supporter so she can't be a racist.