This is the most bizarre example of political correctness run amuck that I can recall in a long time.

Paula Deen, someone who I had never heard of before the controversy, said under oath that she had used the N-word in her life.

Omigod - stop the presses. A 60-something southern woman used a racial epithet sometime in her past. The question isn't to defend her - it is, after all, an indefensible offense. The question is hypocrisy and the terror engendered when the left's language police smells blood.

Some of the nation's largest corporations, terrified of bad press, have dropped Deen like a hot potato. Her show was canceled, her endorsements have been yanked, and now her cookbook won't be published:

Paula Deen's upcoming cookbook, currently the No. 1 seller on Amazon.com, has been dropped by its publisher.

In a brief statement Friday, Ballantine Books announced it had canceled publication of "Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up." The book was scheduled for release in October, and in recent days pre-orders have raised it to No. 1 on the online bookseller's sales ranks. Her 2011 cookbook, "Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible," has risen to the second spot.

Deen has lost many of her business relationships following revelations that she used racial slurs in the past. Sears Holdings Corp and J.C. Penney Co. Friday that they're cutting ties with Deen, following similar announcements from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Home Depot.

Last week, the Food Network said that it would not renew her contract. She was also dropped by Smithfield Foods, Caesars Entertainment stripped her name from restaurants and drug company Novo Nordisk said it was suspending its work with her.

I've got an idea. Let's put the CEO's of those companies under oath and ask them the same question. Better yet, every single liberal who has made Deen's admission into a cause celebre should be placed under oath also and asked if they ever used to N-word. For those of a certain age who can recall having their mouths washed out with soap by their mother for using a racially charged descriptive (or a cuss word), Deen's admission has context and understanding. But this has never been about understanding. It has been about the exercise of raw power, tearing down an individual by invoking aggreived status when some politically incorrect line has been crossed.

The casual obscenity of using racial epithets has, thank the lord, been largely expunged from society - from polite company, anyway. Destroying Ms. Deen with such obvious relish and enthusiasm should be a warning that the notion of freedom of speech is under attack by those who care more about getting attention and promoting an agenda than tolerating speech we disagree with. The N-word is a hurtful thing to say. But what the guardians of political correctness have done with Paul Deen goes beyond hurtful - and shows how hateful people can be when supposedly fighting hate.