I love the Huffington Post

It's a weak comeback. I don't think swearing is a characteristic of left or right... it's a characteristic of insensitive people. Mr. Cesca states that it's the 'intent' that decides whether a word is bad or not. I disagree. It's not the intent of the word, it's the perception of the word that matters.

How many times do we say something that we are sorry for - because it was perceived the wrong way? Plenty right? :)

I believe part of being a good person is not to focus on what makes me happy, but also what makes others happy. The F-Word is simply a waste of 4 letters and can hurt more than help. It should be avoided.

What does swearing have to do with being insensitive? If you say that swearing makes you insensitive, then the reverse is true? Hardly, but now you have to explain why.

I have lots of friends who swear constantly. Should I not be friends with them, because they MIGHT say something that could be offensive? What if they're right? What if in a given situation I AM being a fucking douchecrumpet? What's going to work faster?

"John...you may not have intended it that way, but I think what you said may have caused bob some consternation, and I think he's really feeling so bad about what you said that he's unable to look past the words to the real issues at hand"?

or

"John, you were a real fuckin' douche with Bob back there, and you gotta apologize, or I'll kick you in the nuts myself"?

the first situation is going to make me ask a half dozen questions to figure out just what the hell is meant by all that. THe second is going to prod me to think a little harder on what I said to bob, and do what I can to make it right.

Profanity, like any other set of words can be overused, but it also has a wonderful efficiency. Saying "Dude, stop being a fucktard" is brutal, but it gets to the point, and says what you're thinking in an explicit manner. There's value in not fucking about and getting to the point.

Getting all pissy because you heard a word that MIGHT be used to insult or hurt is stupid, and shows that you are allowing fear to determine your reactions to things.

The second example you provided would have had the same effect without using the f-word. "John, you were a real douche with Bob back there, and you gotta apologize, or I’ll kick you in the nuts myself”

Doug's right, it should be avoided. Can only harm, never help.

BWWAAHAAHAHAHAAH

You tell me that "fucking" is bad, yet calling me a DOUCHE is OKAY? Gimme a break.

And no, it would not have had the same meaning or effect. In this case, "fucking" is an adjective, modifying the "douche" noun. Let's take a look-see at what an adjective does:

ad·jec·tive n
a word that qualifies or describes a noun or pronoun

In our hypothetical situation, I wasn't just a real douche, I was a real fucking douche. I went above and beyond the call of douche-ness in my treatment of Bob. It drives home, far better than your vague attempt at nicing it up, just how badly I was treating Bob.

I'm still chuckling how in your world, it's okay to call someone a douche, but not a fucking douche. You may wish to re-think your little moral stance there. I'm thinking someone isn't going to say "Wow Jacob, had you called me a fucking douchebag with no more reason to exist on God's green earth than a rabid, retarded weasel, I'd have been quite offended. But since you didn't use the "f-word", (Dear lord, save us all from this particular cowardice), your breeding and intelligence shine through, and I shall at once endeavour to change my behavior so as to improve your view of me."

I know I'm cynical, but I just don't see that happening.

Plus, the whole premise of that original "survey" is fucking hilarious.

It was an attempt to prove how much more moral and upstanding right wing bloggers are.

@1. Nah... It's just that the left seems to suffer from the typing version of Tourette's Syndrome.

@5 "he whole premise of that original “survey” is fucking hilarious."

Thanks for continuing to reinforce the premise. :-)

You know what's really ignorant? The idea that Tourette's is just random profanity. That's FAR more ignorant than who says "fuck" more.

Swearing has its place in language, just as much as any other linguistic 'tool'. It can add emphasis, shock value, comedic punctuation, demonstrate extreme anger. Lanuage and literature would be immeasurably poorer if the noisy moral crusaders had their way and we had to adhere to their 'puckered up' view of life.

Of course, like any tool, it can used inappropriately or excessively ... but that's really just down to personal preference.

"Thank fuck for swearing", say I.

To Fuck or not to Fuck... who gives a shit.

The real problem with many political commentators, especially people who post in comments at hard left/right sites, is that they are doing nothing to persuade or at least explain their point of view.

They just get into a shouting match. Demonizing their opponents.

The use of nasty words can merely be a choice of style, but the overall point of the post is the point.

Calling someone a "fucktard" is fine, but you better back up your name calling with an argument as to why he is one. All too often I see jokers who skip the second part. If you overuse the name-calling, the object of your venom may ignore any argument beyond that.

It's be the equivalent of hitting a mule in the head with a two by four to get his attention. It will get the attention of the mule, but the lesson the mule may learn is not the one you want him to, and instead kick you the next time you approach.

"I came here for an argument." "OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse."

No one seriously thinks they're changing a mind. It's all pandering for ratings and ad $$.

If you're talking about the TV pundits and trolls like Ann Coulter, you're dead on John.

But far too many activists are out there think that they are making a difference by yelling insults. At the very least they scare me to the point that a few jokers will take their anger too seriously and end up rationalizing some nasty shit.

We don't need any more Tim McVeighs.

Your favorite political blog is the Huffington post? My opinion of you just dropped. Oh well. Guess you can't please everyone, can you?

I'll be happy to save you some time today and give you the next 5 huffington posts from the future:
Bush Sucks
America is doing something wrong
GOP Member said _INSERT OUT OF CONTEXT/MISINTERPRETED QUOTE_ (see the Newt story)
Post by some celeb (who has a degree in theater, if they finished college at all) on foreign policy
Bush Sucks

And yes, lots of crass language that adds nothing to the articles it appears in. But I know, swearing is just so "fucking" cool.

I've been monitoring HuffPo for awhile. I would have to agree with Eric B's comments re:content although I have occasionally found a nugget in the noise...

well let's see:

Bush does suck on quite a few levels

We are cocking up things in the middle east on a tactical, strategic and any other level you care to think of. (here's a hint...if we wanted to choke off the #1 source of middle-eastern terrorist funding, you don't go after iraq, you go after Saudi Arabia)

The Republican bloggers never use out of context quotes to spin THEIR POV? Please.

Posted by someone who derided drug users, then got busted for drug abuse, and somehow spent mad money to stay out of the same jail that he said was the only appropriate home for other drug abusers.

Again, "Bush Sucks" is not innaccurate.

Wow...we can clearly see how a lack of profanity just elevates the right straight to the high moral ground. Makes it easier to find your next congressional page/male prostitute-meth dealer I suppose.

Hypocrisy is alive and well on both ends of the political spectrum.

"GOP Member said _INSERT OUT OF CONTEXT/MISINTERPRETED QUOTE"

As opposed to the Drudge stories that get pimped on CNN daily?

Here... allow me to Drudge your post...

Your...crass language...adds nothing...so...Huffington...sucks

I'm sorry, but as bad as Huffington might be, the right wing noise machine is far worse.

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Huffington sucks.