Friday, June 25, 2004

Dropping the F-bomb

The Washington Post chose not to censor Dick Cheney's remarks when he, arguing with Patrick Leahy about Halliburton, said, "Fuck yourself."

I don't think that's a bad call. Their article does not use the word gratuitously. And, really, what *is* the real difference between writing "Fuck yourself" and writing "F--- yourself"? The news is the word. If people are worried about children reading it, fine. Even children will be able to figure out the story is there because people were upset he used the word. It's not a bedtime story, but it's a fine lesson in appropriate behavior nonetheless.

But is it really news? I'd say yes, especially given the administration's chiding of Kerry when he used the word in a criticism of Bush's policies in Iraq.
"That's beneath John Kerry," Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said. "I'm very disappointed that he would use that kind of language. I'm hoping that he's apologizing at least to himself, because that's not the John Kerry that I know."
And just think about some of the "inappropriate" topics that made it into the paper during the impeachment hearings.

3 Comments:

At 3:04 PM, June 25, 2004, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good piece. Of course they should publish it. The press has a primary responsibility to help us ris ourselves of taboos, not to reinforce them. Say the word a hundred times and it loses it's power.

regards,
-Dean Terry
Alt7.com

 
At 4:45 PM, June 25, 2004, Blogger Mike said...

I support the Post's decision. That's the way newspapers should work.

 
At 9:24 PM, June 25, 2004, Blogger Bill said...

My standing joke for a horrible deadline emergency (the kind that comes along only, oh, once every two nights) has been "Do a search-and-replace for the F-word and send it along."

Back to the drawing board.

 

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