Though it may not be obvious at first, this story seems to have a political angle.
This is a story about words we can’t print in this story. You probably hear these words often, and more than ever before. But even though we can’t print them — we do have our standards — we can certainly ask: Are we living in an Age of [tag]Profanity[/tag]?
Nearly three-quarters of Americans questioned last week — 74 percent — said they encounter profanity in public frequently or occasionally, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. Two-thirds said they think people swear more than they did 20 years ago. And as for, well, the gold standard of foul words, a healthy 64 percent said they use the F-word — ranging from several times a day (8 percent) to a few times a year (15 percent).
I thought about these poll results after hearing more about Supreme Court Justice Antonin [tag]Scalia[/tag]’s run-in with a photographer at a church in Boston.
Smith was working as a freelance photographer for the Boston archdiocese’s weekly newspaper at a special Mass for lawyers Sunday when a Herald reporter asked the justice how he responds to critics who might question his impartiality as a judge given his public worship.
“The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, ‘To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said. The Italian phrase means “(expletive) you.”
The more I thought about it, the more I remembered similar examples from recent years — all of them regarding elite Republicans. Dick Cheney, on the Senate floor, told one lawmaker to “go f— himself.” During the 2000 campaign, Bush told Cheney, “There’s Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times.” In 2002, Bush poked his head into a national security meeting to announce, “F— Saddam, we’re taking him out.” In 1987, Bush approach the Wall Street Journal’s Al Hunt and, in front of Hunt’s 4-year-old daughter, said, “You no-good f—ing son of a bitch, I will never f—ing forget what you wrote.”
At a minimum, I like to think that if “values voters” are concerned about the coarsening of our discourse, they won’t be able to blame Democrats.
Update: An emailer reminds me that Scalia isn’t the only one fond of hand gestures.