Crackergate, redux

I found this article by way of Ed Brayton's "Dispatches from the Culture Wars".

I have blogged a few times about the importance of our freedoms, including that of speech, and have cited very wise Supreme Court Justices on this subject, as well. But this statement:

... any speech that is banned is speech that must be said, and any expression (provided it's non-violent) not permitted is an expression which must be made ...

This nails it, for me. In business we talk about red flags all the time. A "red flag" means something that is a problem; something that must be looked at. Banned speech is a red flag. Banned expression is a red flag. This exchange of controversial ideas must be permitted precisely because it's controversial.

Because if we are really free, then why is anything banned, at all?