First Amendment? Don't make me laugh.

I had a few brushes with censorship during my tenure at the Daily Tar Heel, though none as commercially-motivated as this one. In retrospect, after spending the last 20+ years in advertising, I kind of understand, but only kind of. The editors felt that this strip was offensive to one of its major advertisers (guess who), and didn't want to jeopardize its ad revenue. Didn't they realize that controversy leads to readership? And readership boosts ad rates? And lures advertisers? Evidently not. Plus, while this "nickname" was new to me, as a transplant from Maryland, it had been kicking around North Carolina for decades. Would "The Man from UNCle" start the name-calling anew? Seriously. On another note, I like how I treated the pseudo-silhouettes in the center panel. Dig the outdated Communist reference!