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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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June 26, 2004
Dirty words and sticks and stones
So Vice President Cheney dropped the F-bomb on Senator Leahy this week. Shocking! Naturally, he went tattling like a little child to tell everyone how mean Cheney was to him.
Now granted, throwing Carlin's classic "dirty" words at someone might reasonably be considered rude, or indecorous. It's just not nice.
On the other hand, it doesn't mean much. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but all this really meant is that Cheney was angry with the senator. He suggested that the senator have sex with himself. This is obviously physical impossibile. What it really means is "I don't like you." He has not really said anything about the senator. He has not accused him of anything.
The vice president explained his behavior by reference to Senator Leahy's repeated comments claiming corruption and seeming inferences of felonious and impeachable behavior, which the vice president vigorously disputes. The senator hasn't used any of Carlin's seven magic words, but he has made grave and -at best- questionable accusations against him.
If Vice President Cheney has NOT been starting wars and fixing contracts for the purpose of benefitting the company he used to work for, then the senator (among many others) has committed far worse offense than he has. Being cussed at does not besmirch your reputation, being accused of felonious corruption does. If the senator and his Democratic colleagues can make their accusations stick in the public mind, Cheney et al could not only lose their jobs, but expect to be scorned by decent people for the rest of their natural lives.
Many liberals today like to drop extremely bad aspersions on basically anyone who substantively disagrees with them, starting with the Bush administration. It is routine rhetoric now to describe President Bush or Attorney General Ashcroft as Nazis. Also, the president -- so they say -- LIED again and again to the American people to trick them into a war in Iraq. That's pretty serious, far worse than simply saying that the president was mistaken in thinking there were WMDs. They are essentially accusing the president of treason.
Now, I'm not saying that liberals are all slandering name callers and conservatives are all clean and circumspect in their rhetoric. Certainly down in the trenches, there are people from all sides of the debates who wallow in a bit of mud. At this historical point, though, it's more that conservative types of any public note simply aren't allowed to get away with much abuse that way.
That's fine- keep them danged Republicans honest and civil, or at least relatively so. I'm all for calling them out when they step over the line.
One might wish, however, that the same standards were applied to all sides. It's not just a few left wing cranks on websites making ugly and unfounded descriptions and accusations. Even the most prominent left wing media figures feel free and justified in making truly wicked and conspiratorial accusations. We won't even start on Michael Moore's antics here.
Even the nominal elder statesmen of the Democrat party routinely trash the president with highly indiscriminate words. Just this week, Al Gore repeatedly used Nazi references to describe the president in a big, formal speech. Senator Kennedy, among others, has accused President Bush of LYING to the American people to get us into war.
So then, in short, unfounded or even deliberately false accusations of dishonesty, racism, homophobia, and anything else against any conservative are justified, because they deserve it. Any conservative who cusses them out for it can expect to be denounced for breaking the rules of civility, and even face calls for censorship.
I've got just the song to top off this consideration, a little ditty from an old college pal called "Dirty Words." Note his extended list of what he considers to be "dirty words" that constitutes the chorus.
posted by Al at 6/26/2004 03:50:00 PM
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