Political correctness is, in essence, the same concept as picking up a turd by the clean end. Your still doing the same "dirty" thing but in a "clean way". But there is no "clean end"; you're still racist, or calling someone mentally retarded, you just don't want anyone to know. Political correctness is something made up by some white people when they were offended by someone saying something that they though would offend a minority. But the truth is most of the time the minority doesn't care, but the white people flip the hell out. I'm not saying go around throwing racial slurs about, but to stop toting political correctness around as the answer. Its not, it's just hiding it, and is no better then being straight out racist-if not worse. But I want to know, what do you think about political correctness?

We shouldn't necessarily NEED political correctness; people should just try to get a handle on what's the worst possible thing to say in a situation. Obviously, there are varying levels, and I think everyone is pretty opposed to ZERO-tolerance PC.

If I remember correctly, Political correctness started in Soviet Russia. If you weren't politically correct, you would be resocialized. We are sort of heading in that direction now, as in if you call fat people fat you can have your ass sued. So, people should not be politically correct. And, in fact, it should be avoided like the plague.

It depends on the type of "political correctness" we're talking about.
I don't see why we should change a simple word that may cause offence only if the user intended it or the listener looked for it. This is simply a view I hold thanks to Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language": I despise complicated and foggy words being used to hide meaning so that no one will think too hard on the meaning or be offended. See: "Happy Holidays" apparently replacing "Merry Christmas" in America (I wouldn't know). Listen, it's a holiday because it's Christmas. I'm not Christian and I have my own problems with the religion but I won't whine when you call a spade a spade.
Another thing, often called PC, that I hate is that when someone criticises a group that is in "PC's" good books that's automatically decried as racist, sexist, anti-non-Christian-religion, etc. Is the criticism correct? If yes, shut up. If no, then tell the person why they're wrong. If the comment was clearly bigoted then let 'em have it, but if not then engage the argument on its merits.
Mostly, though, I have no problem with those who are unfairly called PC.

I think it depends. Take the term African American, for example. Is it less offencive than the word Black? I don't think so. In fact, I refer to myself as black. Is it less offensive than the word Negro? Yeah, probably. Negro has several unsavoury connotations to it. Is it less offensive than Nigger? Yes, very much. When a White man calls a Black man a nigger, he's probably a racist. All of these words were, at one time, simply used to describe people of African descent, but they got bogged down in overtones of malice, and had to be replaced for general speaking. It's much easier to introduce a new, untainted term than to reclaim an old one, like Black people are doing with nigger.

I say something I heard somewhere which is real true for freedom of speech: Any man, woman, or child can say whatever they want as long as it does not directly harm anybody in their immediate surounding.
You shouldn't say something rude directly to someone, but anywhere else is okay.

7bob7:
maybe pollitical hypocrisy would be a better term?
if the of heads of state of the UK,USA,Zimbabwe,Turkey,
Burma to name just a few were tried under the Geneva convention
they would be tried as war criminals for
'waging an aggressive war not in defence of their nation'

That sir, is what we in the business call, a non-sequiter.