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• Wednesday, April 25, 2007 07:59 PM

  Puritanism

  Verbal destruction comes in many forms, but nothing focuses our attention like "bad" language. Why? I know gentle people who use the word "fuck" so much you wouldn't even understand what they were saying if you deleted the word. I also know evil people who wear their sanctimonious verbal rightousness like an umbrella while they verbally accost and eviscerate the unworthy. Mean is mean - particular words are irrelevant. When, as a society, are we going to outgrow our over-simple visceral judgements about about so-called "swear" words? The fucking words don't mean shit, it's the way you use them, asshat.

  Point two. Alec Baldwin made a mistake. Alec Baldwin said "I'm sorry." The hypocrites who think that anything less than perfection deserves their scorn should reap what they sow. Shame. I don't know Alec Baldwin, but I'm an imperfect father myself, and I can tell you this: when I screw up - and I do - I feel awful. But I nevertheless reserve the right to be human, to be endowed with imperfections and small foibles. If anyone would care to rub my face in it, I'd be happy to exhibit a foible right up their ass.

  I'll tell you this: I'm a lot more concerned about the deleterious affect Puritans and Puritanism have had on this country than I am about George Carlin, Mel Gibson, or Alec Baldwin. Tell the mother of the dead baby in Iraq that a little collateral damage in the service of our chief asshat's upstanding principals is a worthy sacrifice and then let's judge the temper of her response.

  —rodian Read rodian's other letters
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