It’s not the profanity, stupid

July 17, 2006

It’s hardly the first time, but I think the [tag]media[/tag] is missing the point about today’s big political story. Right now, the lead political AP item is, “[tag]Bush[/tag] utters expletive on [tag]Hezbollah[/tag] attacks.” The top headline on CNN is, “Open mic catches Bush [tag]expletive[/tag] on Mideast.” The Washington Post’s story mentions in its second sentence that a live microphone caught Bush “talking in tough, occasionally [tag]profane[/tag] terms.”

I can appreciate that it’s interesting — or at a minimum, unusual — to hear the president use the “s-word” during a private chat with Tony Blair, but like Ezra, I think the media’s preoccupation with Bush’s [tag]potty mouth[/tag] is rather silly.

If I were crafting a parody of the political media’s decline, I could hardly construct a better set piece than today’s reportage. A live mic at the G8 Summit caught Tony Blair and George Bush talking privately about the conflict in Lebanon. Given the relative opacity of Bush’s thoughts on the situation, the frank discussion offered a fair amount of insight and a couple nuggets of news, including that he was going to send Condi to the region (or possibly the UN — but she’s going somewhere to deal with this), that he blamed neither Israel nor Lebanon for the violence, and that “the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it’s over.”

That’s a big deal: Bush believes it within the Syrian government’s power to calm the conflict. Theoretically, that should have major implications for American diplomacy and, possibly, policy.

Indeed, Bush’s unplugged moment today included some of the most surprisingly newsworthy remarks from the president in a very long time. We got a glimpse into how the British Prime Minister is pressing Bush on the Middle East. We heard a little about how the president would like to see the crisis resolved. We learned that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might be traveling to the region, presumably to apply diplomatic pressure and invest the U.S. in the crisis. And for those interested in Bush’s persona, we learned that Bush is perhaps even more unsophisticated and clumsy in private than his fiercest critics had feared.

But the real media interest thus far has been in Bush’s use of a “bad word.” As Ezra concluded, “This is your press corps.”

Good point. I also think that the profanity isn’t the telling part, it’s the fact that the rest of his language is just as crude.

As I noted at my place, the last time I heard the phrase “Yo, Blair!” it came out of this person’s mouth. Same crude outlook, same mental stature. But sad to say, I’m pretty sure she’d do a better job as Commander in Chief than this guy.

  • Indeed, I’d bet with confidence that the profanity is hardly unique among Presidents who think they are speaking privately. What is newsworthy is how otherwise totally freakin’ stoopid this guy sounds and how embarassing he is as a representative of our country. “Russia’s big! So’s China! Wish my IQ were!” The real story (although it is hardly news) is how much less sophisticated he is on a world stage than other leaders.

  • I agree that the news is not the profanity, but the fact that the man doing the swearing is clearly out to lunch in every way. I disagree, however, that the mainstream media as a whole has missed the larger point.

    They know that the clip makes Bush look absolutely terrible. You’d have to be blind not to know that, and the editors who make these decisions aren’t blind – not by a long shot.

    But those editors also know that they’re going to catch hell from the right-wing watchdogs if they don’t have a valid, newsworthy reason or excuse for reporting what happened. And I mean these people know they will be called personally and accused of anti-Bush bias, etc.

    So they look for a ‘nonpartisan’ news angle – the president uses potty language – and they lead with that, but that’s simply an excuse to post the story and the clip.

    Think about it: if they really didn’t want Bush to look bad they could have easily omitted any reference to the story on the grounds that it’s not news.

    They know what they’re doing. They’re just not saying what they’re doing.

  • “The real story (although it is hardly news) is how much less sophisticated he is on a world stage than other leaders.” – Zeitgeist

    Do you think they worry that they might push him over the edge into doing something really STUPID if they are not careful talking to him?

    Boy George II is getting more and more worrisome the more he gets bogged down in Iraq. After all, being a Texas who has always been all hat and no cattle, the perception of him as impotent are not going to sit well.

    And after all, he does control the world’s largest nuclear weapon stockpile.

  • “Bush Curses Hezbollah During G8 Luncheon”

    Aside from being a stupid news hook, it’s not even correct. Cursing Hezbollah would involve something along the lines of “Damn that Hezbollah! Blah blah….” Bush just used a vulgarism while giving an incredibly ignorant and foolish assessment of the situation.

  • “an incredibly ignorant and foolish assessment of the situation” says jimBOB, and I agree.

    my first thought when i heard Bush’s “assessment” was that over in the Knesset they were probably smacking themselves thinking,

    “damn, why didn’t we think of that! we didn’t have to put ourselves at risk or bomb Beirut – all we had to do was tell Syria to have Hezbollah knock that shit off!”

    I expect a prompt Security Council resolution directing Kofi Annan: “We hereby resolve that Syria should tell Hezbollah to ‘just stop this shit.'” Who could possibly veto that?

  • After watching the video several times, the biggest conclusion that I can make from it is just how Blair was literally leading Bush. Blair was practically lecturing him like you would a petulant child. Listen to Blair’s stuttering, as he tries to put things into a way that will get through to Bush. Also note the stance, Bush shoving food into his mouth (talking with his mouth full, too- WAY TO GO, MOM!), with Blair leaning over.

  • “See, in America, people use that word all the time, and it means crap. Sometimes, it means — you can use either word and Americans know what you mean. Most Americans do it everyday. Now, when I’m with the G8, you gotta — because some of them — it’s frustrating — they speak foreign languages, so it’s not a big deal for them. Now, I wanna be clear. These microphones — this electronic surveillance is an invasion of my privacy. It’s nobody’s business what I say to world leaders in private. The American people, they’re good, hardworking people, and they understand that. But somebody leaked my words — what I said — to the press. Now the enemy knows how I think. We’re at war, and as long as I’m president, I’m not going to stand for it.”

  • This reminds me of how the press made a big deal out of Murtha’s “backside” comment about Rove. Not the content of the comment, but the “coarse” language Murtha used.

  • “The man doesn’t just like pig. He is one.” – Dale

    Man, I did not need the cannibal image, thank you.

    And jimBOB is right about Boy George II’s voice coming out of beep52’s comment. Are you channeling him beep52?

  • Beep52, you just put the shoe on the other foot vis a vis domestic electronic surveillance.

    How does it feel when it’s happening to you, Mr. President? Eh? Speak up, I can’t hear you! 😉

  • I guess someone has to quote the Wikipedia article:

    Shit is a vernacular word in Modern English denoting feces, the waste product of digestion. It is an old and native English word, but following the Norman Conquest, Norman, Anglo-Norman, French, and Latin terms for many common objects and bodily functions began to be seen as more distinguished than native words, and thereafter feces became the accepted English noun, to defecate became the accepted English verb, and shit was no longer used in polite company. It is therefore a swear word and can be classed as a use of ‘slang’, for example, “Shit!” used as an expletive, or in a non-pejorative manner, used as in ‘that’s the shit’ to mean ‘that’s good’. The term “shit” can also be used to describe poor conditions, for example, “This is shit!”, or to refer to several types of illegal drugs, “This shit is good!”. It can also be used as a vulgar replacement of the word “stuff”, as in “I’m just going to pick my shit up.”

    E.E. Cummings showed the good taste lacking in the Regal Moron’s remark. He has Olaf, the conscientious object-or, after being brutally tortured by army noncoms, almost ceaselessly repeat (upon what once were knees) “there is some s. I will not eat”.

  • I meant to follow up on the previous post, but you beat me to it here CB. You had said that it’s not an act, and he really is that stupid. Well, actually, my feeling is that it IS still an act, but as hard as it is to believe, he’s acting SMARTER than he is! The acting we see when he gives state of the union addresses and press conferences is where Bush the frat boy moron is reliving his MBA days, but this time role-playing as the President, as opposed to a VP of marketing, for example. It’s really rather depressing. You can really see what a simpleton he is.

    And the scene of him chewing that bread with his mouth open, casually reclining in his chair – priceless. Can you imagine what the others must think of him when they see him like that???

  • The “bad” word is not the point. The point is that even when he’s on the world stage, the man doesn’t have enough sense to perform like a dignified world leader instead of a crude and vulgar cowboy who eats with his mouth open, for gawd’s sake.

    There’s also the point that the media can’t bring itself to say this, so they do it by broadcasting the evidence. A reader at TPM says it better than me.

    http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2006/07/bush-offends-church-ladies.html

  • I think it was a calculated move by Rove to have Bush show what an incisive, take charge guy Bush is, and at the same time demonstrate that Bush knows Syria is right next to Lebanon. If we could zoom in on the video a little we would probably see the names of world leaders written on a cheat sheet on his napkin.

  • Hasn’t the FCC been requesting tapes from news programs to see whether profanity has been getting through? Will they fine someone if the profanity came from Mr. Bossman? Will they have to start airing him on a delay, like the Super Bowl halftime show? Will Howard Stern be given a medal?

    What a difference a month makes:

    Every day our nation’s parents strive to raise their children in a culture that too often produces coarse, vulgar and obscene entertainment…. Parents are the first line of defense, but broadcasters and the electronics industry must play a valuable role in protecting our children from obscene and indecent programming…. Broadcasters also have a duty to respect common decency, to take into account the public interest and to keep the public airwaves free of indecent material, especially during the hours when children are most likely to be watching and listening…. By allowing the FCC to levy stiffer and more meaningful fines on broadcasters who violate decency standards, this law will ensure that broadcasters take seriously their duty to keep the public airwaves free of obscene, profane and indecent material. American families expect and deserve nothing less.

    – President Pottymouth, June 15, 2006
    http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6388

  • Wanted to comment on the situation more generally…

    I spoke with my sister briefly last night…she had lived in Beirut in the early ’80’s with her young child and husband (he was an employee of an American corporation there) and she was an evacuee in 1982.

    She agreed with me that Israel is unlikely to destroy Hezbollah…it will survive and simply disappear into the woodwork if pressed…meanwhile the larger Lebanese civil society is being collectively punished and Israel is subject to unceasing, indiscriminate rocket attacks…

  • I think the media knew this had the potential to spin very, very badly for Bush, not because of the profanity (who gives a shit about that?) but because of the complete stupidity of his comments. It reveals him to be the uninformed, shallow person he really is, in a time of great world crisis. Do you really want this moron to be leader of the free world?

    You’re out of your element, Georgie.

    I watched some newschippy this morning spend 5 minutes trying to “set up” the open-mic moment (“You have to understand he was in an unguarded moment, he was tired, he was relaxed with his peers, he was… he was…”) it was obvious that she was trying desperately to pre-spin the 10-second clip they eventually played. Once I finally heard it, I knew it wasn’t about the ‘shit’ word- it was about all the rest of it. It was about how stupid he sounded.

    Can’t someone rid us of this meddlesome priest?

  • I watched some newschippy this morning spend 5 minutes trying to “set up” the open-mic moment …

    They have to stick with the narrative they’ve crafted for Bush so far — a plainspoken, no-nonsense “man of the people” who says what he means. Without that intro, viewers might get a little nervous about the brain-damaged frat boy who’s representing the U.S. on the world stage. “See?He’s taking charge of the situation in a no-nonsense manner!” is so much more optimistic than saying “Look at the frickin’ imbecile try to talk and chew at the same time! God, what an embarrassment!”

  • George Bush is an MBA, right? That means Yale is an online university, right? The Decider couldn’t think his way out of a paper bag.

  • Heh, Thomas Beckett.

    Don’t let the NSA know you used that quote, or you’ll have Fatherland Security on your ass in a second.

  • When Bush talks, he uses language like a 5 year old. This is the little man behind the curtain that we are not supposed to see (or hear).

    “No. Just gonna make it up. I’m not going to talk too damn long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long.”

    “Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. Go to the airport, get on the airplane and go home. How about you? Where are you going? Home?”

    ” This is your neighborhood. It doesn’t take you long to get home. How long does it take you to get home?”

    “Eight hours? Me too. Russia’s a big country and you’re a big country.”

  • I have to disagree with the comments on the “shit” comment. I think he summed up his position that he thinks Syria could stop Hezbullah. In the mean time, he kind of iced Blair’s suggestion that international force be assembled right away, perhaps in favor of letting Israel clean them out. As for talking with his mouth full, so what? These guys were winding up the summit and didnt have much time to discuss some important…well…”shit”.

  • Are all of you kidding? You think the fact that our president is unsophisticated is even worth talking about? Of all the things going on in the world that is your concern. Complain, complain, complain. The American population will never be totally happy with a president. Why don’t we focus our hot air somewhere else for a change. Complain about Somalia and the children there forced into becoming killing machines. Complain about poverty. All this complaining about the president being unsophisticated is a load of SHIT.

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