In Defense of the F-Word By Charles F. Krauthammer, washingtonpost.com
The F-word was used.
Washington is scandalized. The newspapers were full of it. Lamentations were heard about the decline of civility. …
Democrats, feeling darned outraged, demanded apologies. The vice president remained defiant, offering but the coyest
concession — that he “probably” cursed — coupled with satisfaction: “I expressed myself rather forcefully, felt better after I had done
it.” …
Ah, but the earnest chin-pullers are not amused. Cheney’s demonstration of earthy authenticity in a chamber in
which authenticity of any kind is to be valued has occasioned anguished meditations on the loss of civility in American politics.
Liberals in particular have expressed deep concern about this breach of decorum.
Charles Krauthammer is the
darling of the radical right. Here he presents a pseudo-intellectual dissertation on “fuck you” vs “go fuck yourself,” and gleefully
speaks of hurling insults at other drivers. Just in case anyone is actually offended, he speaks of Cheney’s ”alleged
indiscretion.” Alleged? Really? Did he curse or didn’t he? Where is that gutsy ‘you know where they stand’ manliness? Not to be
found in ”I probably said it.”
Krauthammer ends with contrasting the furor over Cheney’s witticism vs no furor over Gore
comparing Bush to Hitler and Stalin. And, in a way I’m sure he finds clever, says ‘fuck you’ to Gore.
Some might say there is a
difference between citizen Gore speaking to a partisan crowd and Vice President Cheney in the People’s House. Others cut Gore a lot of
slack as the true President deposed in a bloodless Supreme Coup — maybe attacking the usurper ”makes him feel better,” Dick.
As
a liberal, I don’t give a shit that Cheney, and Krauthammer, are assholes. I’m certainly not surprised. What’s significant is that
these are the holier-than-thou American Ayatollahs. These are the Christian right’s darlings. These are our mullahs, decrying the
decline of Western civilization at the hands of foreign infidels. These are the Compassionate Conservatives who want to restore family
values, defend marriage, leave no child behind. Fucking liars. These guys are coarse, common and mean as shit — and scared, to boot.
mjh
PS- The first few dozen time I used the word ‘fuck’ around my mother, she winced and covered her ears. I don’t mind using the
word, but writing it here in this public forum does make me very conscious of readers who don’t like it. I’m not saying I’m sorry,
just that I’m not indifferent or oblivious.
mjh’s Blog: Cheney says: Go Fuck Yourself, America!