It's douchey, but at least it protects us.

Good God.  No wonder some people really don't like Google policies.

Defamation, Libel, and Slander 

Google does not remove allegedly defamatory content from www.google.com or any other U.S. dot com domains. 

US domain sites such as Google.com, Blogger, Page Creator, etc. are sites regulated only by U.S. law. Given this fact, and pursuant to Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, we do not remove allegedly defamatory material from U.S. domains. The only exception to this rule is if the material has been found to be defamatory by a court, as evidenced by a court order. 

The language of Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act fundamentally states that Internet services like Google.com, Blogger and many of Google's other services are republishers and not the publisher of that content. Therefore, these sites are not held liable for any allegedly defamatory, offensive or harassing content published on the site. 

Please note that Blogger does not remove blogs for containing insults or negative commentary. While blogs that contain such content can be distasteful, Blogger is not in a position to arbitrate disputes.

But hey, I guess that means more protection for general douchery.  Yay for Google and freedom of speech?

~ TG