The Sh*tstorm Over The Word Sh*t
This will, necessarily, be one of the most difficult articles I will ever write. Not because of the subject matter, mind you. It's the way I type. In order to maintain the family-friendly nature of my website (can't you see all those impressionable little 10-year-olds clicking over to the House in order to discover the latest in the Glenn Greenwald soap opera? Or perhaps to pick up the latest inventive invective I spew toward the left?), I make it a hard and fast rule that I not spell out three of the more colorful metaphors in the English language.
You know which ones they are. I know which ones they are. I know you know which ones they are, just like you know that I know which ones they are, which means I don't have to repeat them. The fact that my site is on the sh*t list in most libraries across the country already, due to its "racist, sexist, homophobic" (did you forget anti-illegal immigrant?) slant, just makes my care to not use vulgarity on the site all the more puzzling.
Chalk it up to a residual belief in Catholicism that posits the notion my mother is reading what I write up in heaven. A pleasant thought, that. On the other hand, she was a Roosevelt liberal so I'm sure she clucks her tongue at some of the things that end up on this website.
Since I have voluntarily rejected spelling out completely the word "sh*t" and substituting the ubiquitous star, I might as well reveal that I am not a very good typist. Don't ask me why, but I only use three fingers on my left hand and one on my right. Weird, huh?
Of course, that means getting my fingers up to that sh*tty star on the keyboard can get to be a real f**king nuisance, ya know what I mean? I mean, sometimes I feel like a real paste eater when typing.
Maybe I should get some pointers from Goldstein on that. Or maybe TBogg could be helpful in this respect; he was one of the first to refer to Goldstein as a paste eater. Obviously, he knows all about paste eating, and not much else, but paste eating seems to fall within the scope of his knowledge.
Article comments
1 - Deano
Frankly I rather enjoyed Bush throwing around expletives and the casual conversation. It lets you get a look at the real guy rather than the stiff manniquin he seems when making speeches or the fake "Oh-so-folksy" Texas home boy he puts on when he tries to be funny.
The fact that he was on topic and with a fairly sensible and relevant observation makes me think he might be learning somethng after all...
2 - Michael J. West
Jesus. I find it boring when they DON'T swear. I've got no problem with Bush saying "shit," I'd have no problem if he'd said "motherfucking balls" (in fact I'd probably think he had some motherfucking balls), and I don't care what kind of obscenities the other presidents use on their own time either.
Well, except Nixon, whose obscenities tended to be in the context of things like "those fucking Jews" and "we should burn down the goddamn Washington Post."
3 - Nancy
Actually, for once I approve entirely of what he said. Good for him. I like it better when he's at least being honest & himself & if that includes a little profanity from time to time (& I can't think of a better context than the one he was in to use the word 'shit' - it was entirely fitting) so be it. I can handle Bush saying "shit" far better than I can listen to him saying "noo-cyu-lar". No problem with brainless small talk, either; that's why it's called 'small talk'. You can't function on 100% all the time, unless you're Henry Kissinger, I suppose.
Holy moley - ! I actually said in print I approve of something Bush has done!
4 - Dave Nalle
I was actually more irritated by the Blair portions of the transcripts. Could anyone put more qualifying comments and unnecessary pauses into a sentence than he does? If I had to have a conversation with the man I think I'd start slapping him.
Dave
5 - Christopher Rose
Blair's been a liability for quite some time now; it's like there is a cult of personality around him or something. The problem is similar to that facing the USA, finding a credible replacement.
6 - RJ Elliott
The oddest thing about the Bush "curse word" audio - Just about everyone, right and left, is supportive of it, in context...maybe he should "accidentally" be more profane, more often!
7 - Mohjho
Well, just to be contrary, I might propose that the colorful language is unbefitting a statesman representing the largest economic interest in the world.
Maybe the said statesman has been viewed by other interests as less than competent in the area of say ..foreign policy at a time of foreign crises, and the colorful language only increases the unease and confidence of…say…the whole fucking world in his abilities to think and lead.
Just throwing out some ideas.
8 - JP
Did you get where he (Bush) made the brilliant observation about Russia being a big country and--get this--China being a big country too? That fits perfectly with his infantile analysis of the situation.
It didn't get press because he did NOT say "And China's a big fu**ing country too!" The press jumped on the story that would sell more newspapers. But the conclusion is the same--Bush is a moron.