They are not apples and oranges, Kendall, unless you happen to be the greengrocer. Unpopular speech is the issue and, in this case, unpopular humor. Tolerance is, I fear, tempered by era. In the recent past, the nation was stunned by Clark Gable's "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.". Nowadays, non-scatological comedians are rarer than forthright senators. The moral mood of society is acrobatic. Today's up will be tomorrow's sideways. Our tradition of protected free speech is our assurance of continued and enlightened debate. So, I have to put up with Mel Gibson, African-Americans have to ignore Michael Richards and you have to suffer whoever is saying bad things about New England folksingers. And we, all, have to endure the constant cries from those who want to stifle the voices of opposition.
I might add that Mr. Gibson is, still, making movies. I guess Spike Lee was wrong.