He's perfectly, albeit uncomfortably for some, within his First Amendment rights.

Cohen's act as the hilariously clueless, rabidly anti-semitic, misogynistic, crude, vulgar immigrant from Kazhakstan is perhaps one of the greatest examples ever seen of free speech gloriously exalted beyond any bounds of sensitivity or perhaps even decency. And according to early reviews of his film, nothing so gross and offensive has ever been so funny.

The left-wing political undertones are also unmistakable (and quite welcome in my personal opinion) and hardly surprising given Cohen's background and history. He was a prominent member of a socialist Jewish youth organization, and once lived on a kibbutz in Israel. And despite his acting portrayal of various moronic nitwits, Cohen is extremly intelligent and well educated - he wrote his thesis at Cambridge on Jewish involvement in the American Civil Rights movement.

I would point out however that the ADL is very uncomfortable with Cohen's antics and has accused him of insensitivity (which admittedly isn't a crime...yet)

http://www.adl.org/media_watch/tv/Archive.htm

***********************************************************
Sacha Baron Cohen
"Da Ali G Show" August 9, 2004

Dear Mr. Cohen:

We are writing about the "Da Ali G Show" episode "Peace" that aired on HBO on August 1.

We have received hundreds of complaints about your recent episode in which Borat sang, "Throw the Jew down the well, so my country can be free! Grab them by the horns, and we have big party!" to a gleeful audience at a country-western bar in Tucson, Arizona.

While we understand this scene was an attempt to show how easily a group of ordinary people can be encouraged to join in an anti-Semitic chorus, we are concerned that the irony may have been lost on some of your audience – or worse, that some of your viewers may have simply accepted Borat's statements about Jews at face value.

We appreciate that the characters on your show – "Ali G" the aspiring British hip-hop star/commentator, "Borat" the Kazakhstani television reporter, and "Bruno" the Austrian fashion critic – are vehicles by which you seek to unmask the absurd and the racism and homophobia that often go with it. However, in attempting to expose bigotry and prejudice you also bear a responsibility to be sensitive. Many viewers of this particular episode have told us they found the segment distasteful, and even dangerous.

We hope that in future you will consider these sensitivities before airing segments that contain unfiltered expressions of bigotry or anti-Semitism. We would certainly be happy to discuss this with you.

Sincerely,

Anti-Defamation League
*******************************************************