Teacher, Ann Said A Naughty Word...

Is it just me, or is the political world starting to seem too much like a playground at recess? "Teacher, Ann used the f-word!" Give me a break. I'll grant you this much; the word is probably inappropriate for political discussion. Of course, my dictionary defines the word as meaning "a bundle of twigs." Look, folks, I understand why certain people get upset when certain words are used, but the only reason John Edwards could be offended by Ann Coulter calling him a faggot is if he were actually a gay man, or believed he was being slandered. Does he really believe Ann Coulter questions his sexuality? This is typical banter, and no different than if she'd said "wuss" or "sissy." Why are you all so surprised? Ann Coulter makes her living by being insensitive and inflammatory, that's what she does, and it's effective, too, because I can tell you, one of my gay, liberal co-workers agrees with her. To him, Hillary Clinton is far more manly (he plans to vote for her, too). Ann may not have realized the amount of press this would get, but she knew her audience, and I know a lot of folks here in Oklahoma who think this was just a little too much for the press to follow up on when "Scooter" Libby has just been convicted for telling the truth. The so-called "rednecks" I work with here use this kind of talk all the time. It's just banter. Example: My boss and I are installing a new water meter and he thinks I'm not working fast enough. He says, "Come on, Mary, my grandma can dig faster than that...and she's dead." Another example: My buddy Brandon and I are at the batting cages, and he sees me miss. He says, "Nice swing, Nancy." It's just guy talk.We take swings at each other with words, and we aim below the belt, if you know what I mean. Now, I understand that offensive words are to be condemned when they are meant to demean a certain race, or gender, or other "victim" of society, but come on, people, we're becoming an entire nation of "victims," here! We're all too worried about who hurt someone else's feelings! It's a consequence of living on planet Earth, folks, eventually, someone, somewhere will hurt your feelings, and if you feel the need to file a lawsuit every time it happens, then you are only making the case for laws to be passed to keeping people from using words you personally find objectionable. As George Carlin once said, there is no such thing as a bad word, only bad intentions, But that doesn't matter either. What matters is that we have become a nation of apologists. Say what you mean and mean what you say. I admire a person who can say something inflammatory, wait for the fallout, and then say, "Yeah, I said that, and I'm not taking it back. It's my right as an American to think you are human garbage and to tell others I think so, too." So, when I hear all of my cohorts in the conservative party condemning Ann Coulter, I just wait for the day when they, poor, sad fools that they are, say the wrong thing and check themselves into rehab.