Nothing it has done in years betrays the Hillsborough County Commission's contempt for democracy like its attempt to ban a critic from speaking up at public meetings.
Last month's move came after Mark Klutho, a gadfly who regularly rips into local officials, called the acting county attorney, who is black, "boy." Klutho insisted he was not referring to Don Odom's race, but his professional ability. Whatever his intentions, it was offensive.
Commissioners have the ability to silence obscene speech and keep meetings under control. But the issue here was not security, and the response - to seek legal advice on barring Klutho permanently from speaking - shows how mindlessly our elected leaders have furthered the erosion of constitutional rights. The idea of protecting public officials from being offended is itself offensive. So is spending public money to study whether a public agency can gag a public citizen.
This commission, like much of the rest of society, has gone overboard in recent years to restrict legally protected speech to pacify people who are more comfortable with manners than with opinions.
