Being politically correct is accurately defined as follows:
Political correctness (adjectivally, politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term denoting language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social offense in gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, handicap, and age-related contexts.
The Republicans and conservative movement in general tend to make a big screaming deal about how having to be "politically correct" means restricting one's freedom of speech and giving people special privileges because they're of some "protected" minority status. A few Republicans are actually trying to make the impending trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) be about political correctness on the part of the DOJ.
Read more below the fold.
Here are a few examples of past Republican bashing of the standards of political correctness.
Here's former Representative Virgil Goode (R-VA-05) blaming the subprime mortgage fiasco on the banks trying to be PC by not denying loans to people with rocky credit histories:
Perriello edged him out last November and I see why that's a good thing.
Next up, there's part-time mannequin and full-time airhead Ann Coulter making quite a risque appraisal of John Edwards (keep in mind this was BEFORE his sex scandal happened):
I frankly think her whole career is a charade to make lots of money.
Anyway, now that the KSM trials are going to be happening and the GOP is in doubt about our ability to carry out the rule of law, a few are making it look like political correctness is culpable.
First up, there's Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), who thinks the reason why KSM is getting a criminal trial in NYC instead of a military tribunal is a case of political correctness "weakening" our stance on justice for terrorists.
He mentions "political correctness" near the end:
Now, we have Sarah Palin on Sean Hannity's show. She blames PC standards for the army's alleged inability to catch Maj. Hasan before he committed heinous murder. Caribou Barbie maintains that they were afraid to find out more about him and his beliefs because they did not want to be politically incorrect and should have done the "right" thing and profile him due to his religion.
Please don't hate me for putting up this atrocious video.
Damn them liberals, always steeped up in faux outrage...wait, I just described you, Sarah. My bad.
I could also post a video where Carrie Prejean whines about being under attack by the "PC police", but I think you get the idea (and watching her whine is like watching a train wreck in slow motion to elevator music).
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Now, for my rebuttal to their collective views on being politically correct. Although I do not advocate any restriction of speech, I think that most people (especially big figures in society) ought to carry a certain level of decorum and avoid references to old slurs and stereotypes that are designed to isolate and humiliate who they refer to.
Now here are some funny ironies I would like to share. If we lived in Sarah Palin's vision of a world without political correctness, I could be free to call Sarah Palin "white trash" among other slurs that I prefer not to type down here (because I have my limits and know when to draw the line, a very lovely trait to have). The point is that political correctness works both ways and therefore is necessary in order to exist in a civil society.
I'm not saying that PC is a perfect standard, but it's one that we should all pay our respects to. I don't want to live in a world where the n-word, gay slurs, and other horrible things are said freely without consequence. It all boils down to politeness and one's respect for another human being's dignity.
That's my two cents.
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P.S. Here's a very good rebuttal to the conservative meme that the murders that happened at Fort Hood was blatant "terrorism." It creates a very comprehensive, in-depth analysis. Please watch:
