Hm. It´s hard to express my feelings on this.
You mentioned Resident evil 5. I don´t agree with you. They weren´t being jerks. Sure, there are people who use that sheild, but the problem is that it´s pretty damn hard to point out if someone is just hiding behind the "polictically incorrect" shield or if they are honestly "polictically incorrect" since it´s mostly a matter of definition, which i think no word should be. And no law should be.
(This has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but i feel i should bring this up. Sexual harassment is one of the most stupid laws ever, since it´s the VICTIM who defines the crime, and not a third-person/book. For example, whistling may be for some women completly acceptable and maybe even flattering, but for other, IT`S SEXUAL HARASSMENT. Laws need to be clearly defined, not be defined by the victim.)
Using a fried chicken joke to insult Obama is obviously stupid and jerk-ish, but like you mentioned, Resident evil 5.
Are they being jerks? In my opinion, no. In your opinion, yes. It´s a hard issue to define, and i think the world would be better if the term "Polictically correct" didn´t exist.
And lastly, people should be allowed to say whatever they want (unless it´s threats, ofcourse), no matter if it "offends a certain group of people" if i say everone who eats...i dunno...chicked sallad are dim-witted cocksuckers, i should be allowed to say that. I should be ignored, because i´m stupid, sure, but i should be allowed to say it.
If it seems strange that i brought up that last point, in Sweden, we have a law that says you are not allowed to insult someone based on religion, gender or race.