The "But the boss gets to do it" excuse is valid here though as the purpose of trying to tone stuff down is to attempt to protect the companies image for Linda's campaign so Vince doing that isn't gonna help and will make the public look at him as a hypocrite esp since there was no purpose for him to do it. It applies to the boss more than anybody really in this particular case since he is who they will look at first to see how the company is represented.
"The boss gets to do it" is never ever an excuse. Double standards surely exist. But people better get this shit straight if they ever expect to keep a job. The guy that signs the checks operates by a completely different set of rules than those who work under him. This isn't even Big Johnny getting to do stuff that A.W. doesn't. It's the guy that owns and runs the company.
Regardless of whether the boss has a wife running for office, business deals he's protecting, whatever the case may be, it's his business to run as he sees fit. If he says screw it one night to PG and curses on the air, it's his company to risk the potential fall out. If the boss decides that he's not going to stand for any of his employees following suit, that's his right as the guy that owns and runs the company.
It's like a ten year old that thinks he gets to do what he sees his mom and dad doing. He doesn't. Neither does AW. Until he's the one that owns and runs the promotion, he operates by any rules the boss sees fit, fair or not. His throwing a tantrum about it, and frankly a Kobe joke in 2012 is pretty dated and unfunny, indicates he needs to grow the fuck up.