it would seem - to me - that given the number of mass-casualty events of late, though none equaling the numbers of people killed on 9/11, now is not the best time for the release either. The world has experienced a lot of terrorism in the last decade and it's no laughing matter.

The pioneering work done by Lenny Bruce and others and George Carlin. There was plenty to be bitter in those times as there are in our times. Like all great comedians they found the words that spoke to what we felt and made us laugh as well.

Bruce had a famous routine that shocked and angered a lot of people, regarding "the 'n' word."

After using the word in a veritable sh*t storm, he looked out at the sea of angry faces and said (this is not a direct quote) "You know why I did that? Because I want to say that word until it loses all meaning, all power, and no black kid will ever cry again when someone says it to him."

And now, we have rap/hip-hop, which pretty much does the same for the same reason. It takes a word meant to inflict a mortal wound and turns it into nothing more than syllables, robbing it of its shock value and power.

I know some may disagree with that, and I'm a blonde haired, blue eyed Italian guy. No one's ever used that word against me. But did I get called a wop (and worse) in grammar school? Bet your ass. Did it hurt? You bet. But I used similar psychology and turned it on those seeking to do me harm so that I also robbed them of their power.