OK. I imagine most everyone is tired of talking about Obama's recent post. No? You're not? I simply want to talk about the use of profanity. I'm not saying we should censor ourselves, but I do sometimes wonder if we shoot ourselves in the foot when we resort to choosing words that do nothing but help us vent off some steam.
Profanity and tone go hand in hand, and I think Obama's main point is to watch our tone.
I replied in
Maryscott OConnor's OBAMARAMA dairy about how I agree with Obama's statement regarding tone. It wasn't exactly in response to her own use of profanity, it was really a tipping point after seeing over the months recommended diaries on the front page titled "FUCK this" or "FUCK that".
For simply asking if this sort of language is necessary, I was called a 'cocksucker' and a 'fucking centrist'. Wow. I never even stated my views on anything except the use of profanity, but simply because I said I have a disdain for profanity I am assumed to be a centrist. And apparently that is a bad thing. [EDIT: it appears a moderator has removed the post that called me a centrist cocksucker, but left the one that did not call me a centrist. ;-)]
I think a large part of what Obama was trying to say is that our tone is very important when we talk about important issues. If all we can say is that the Republicans are a bunch of motherf---ers, and that Dick Cheney eats babies for dessert, we aren't going to get very far.
One response to this is that the Republicans stoop to that level, so it's all good. We have Dick Cheney telling Leahy to go f--- himself on the Senate floor, so it's fine and dandy for us to use profanity too. So what? When did we start justifying our actions by what level the Republicans have stooped to?
This post is not about censoring yourself. So don't even go there. This post is simply a request to choose your words wisely. If you can't express yourself without profanity, so be it, use profanity when you have to. Just recognize there may be consequences to that - such as turning off people who may have listened to you.
This post is not about compromising your values either. Stand up and fight for your values. Just do it in a classy way.
I don't expect us to cater to the lowest common denominator either. So don't take this as me saying we shouldn't attack the GOP and attack hard.
However, I would like to be able to tell my mother and grandmother to go look at DailyKos. But I know the minute they see profanity splayed across the front page, they will leave. Yes, adults should be able to handle seeing 'bad words'. But many people will simply choose to tune you out when you use them, and that's the way it is. I don't think we should shoot ourselves in the foot if we don't have to.
Anyway, that's my rant. Hopefully I'm not the only one who feels this way. Please don't attack me simply for stating my views, and I won't attack you for stating yours.
