Intellectual Defenestration

Language games and presidential elections

So by now everyone should have heard that Sen John F Kerry dropped the f-bomb in a Rolling Stone interview as a means to describe how badly Bush has done in Iraq and help Kerry score points with the young hipster crowd.

While this shows what Sen. Kerry will do to get votes, I think it also shows something about the current state of the English language. One could look at this event as not necessarily how offensive Kerry is, but maybe as how inoffensive the f-word is. If what was once the unspeakable obscenity is now a means to criticize a foreign policy dispute in a calculated attempt to gain poll points, how blase is that?

In a strange way, this is similar to all the left-wing wackos calling Bush 'Hitler' and the rappers rapping about their 'm-f-ing shoes.' If the obscene and horrible is now commonplace, then we have no categories for describing the genuinely offensive and horrifying. Comparing one of the most evil men in all of history to a president that you don't particularly like means you have no idea what real evil is. And using the one of the most offensive words in all of the English language to describe, well, anything and everything on the planet, means you have no concept of genuine offensiveness. History and language lose their impact, becoming malleable and meaningless tools to advance whatever agenda you want.

December 8, 2003 10:51 PM