Love this post. If we want an open and transparent world, which we are headed toward at breakneck speed, we need to ALLOW AND ACCEPT when people are stupid, say racist things when they were 15, say harmful things on Twitter, insult people and generally be the asses that people are at times. It isn't endorsement, it is a readjustment of cultural norms - these are some more Internet growing pains for everybody.

When EVERYTHING we say is attached to a megaphone, people either start to say a lot less or we need to accept a lot more. Personally I want to accept more and not be self-muzzled. I think we have to go in that direction, if no other reason than to accommodate that poor generation that grew up online and have a whole embarrassing history attached to their future lives before anyone understood that their history will no longer fade away from sight.

If one off-the-cuff personal comment can get you fired from a job, does that mean it should prevent you from getting hired too? Ever again? It is an easy decision to fire someone in the 5 seconds of Internet heat that these sorts of things can generate, but we need to consider what that is costing us all.