As a capitalistic consumer culture, Americans have always enjoyed the word “free.”

Free trade, free elections and free speech are easy terms that have this culture eating them up quicker than the complimentary breakfast at a Holiday Inn.

Sadly, freedom of speech has more fine print than a Chantix commercial.

The media is an obvious culprit. Legally, I could fill this column with nothing but four letter words and stick it by a still shot of meatspin.

I don’t for two reasons: it’s common sense that it would not be entertaining, as meatspin was hack back in 56k days, and the knowledge that I would not be published and could easily lose my job.

The fact that media outlets self-censor is understandable. The corporations that make up every form of media we have access to do not want to isolate their audience with something that upsets them.

The problem seems to rise in my mind when everyday citizens, who are not burdened by corporate sponsors, who have an image to maintain, turn crusader and start influencing a society with constitutionally protected speech to start sweating over their word choices like a political candidate.

In my protective college bubble I still have the ability to speak my mind most of the time.

If my choice of words or topic is offensive to somebody around me and it is made known to me I apologize and remind them they can leave at anytime while I continue to enjoy talking to those that appreciate my diatribes.

The silly thing about editing language is that even if the choice of words is rearranged to be “politically correct,” the meaning does not change.

It does not have to be an insult if someone were to honestly ask if an individual is retarded: it is not a medically incorrect definition but has become an insult and was changed.

Now it’s “learning disabled,” or “mentally challenged,” or “special needs.”

Retard means, “to delay the development or progress of a process,” disabled means “incapacitated.” Frankly, I’d rather be mentally retarded than mentally disabled.

Still, literal definitions don’t matter to society, only the idea that they are being respectful to their fellow neighbor – in front of them, because in private conversation you already have friends making fun of each other by saying such phrases as “you must be mentally challenged.”

The words used may have changed, but the meaning and context remains.

When Jennifer Aniston referred to herself as a “retard” on a morning show, people responded with anger that is usually not directed at her until after her performance is over.

Sure, it was a poor choice of words on a national TV show. She should have just said “stupid,” a much more acceptable word that means, “lacking ordinary keenness of mind.”

Sadly she used a synonym and is most likely being burnt in effigy by idiots without any kind of “mental disability,” because it somehow struck close to home that a person who plays dress up said she was acting less than intelligent.

Oops, that was completely politically incorrect for me to call them “idiots.” After all the word “idiot” is an old psychological term referring to the most severe mental retardation where the individual never advances beyond the mental age of three.In a nation that has to constantly adapt to the prevailing uninformed ideology of the time, the term “free speech”has about as much value as what it is selling. I prefer to think of it like software pirating.

Getting everything free is great…until somebody decides to call you out.