Ezra Klein, taking to task the press while putting into perspective the President’s outrageous—OUTRAGEOUS!—use of the word “shit” (uttered off-the-cuff to British PM Tony Blair):
[The substance of Bush’s remarks are] 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. So what’s CNN’s headline? “Open mic catches Bush expletive on Mideastâ€Â! The story is not that his substantive views on the issue have been uncovered, but that the president curses. Indeed, the article even speculates on how such a stunner slipped out, arguing that “the escalating crisis in the Middle East prompted him to use an expletive in a conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.â€Â
This is your press corps. The President has a potty mouth is a more pressing story than the President believe sufficient pressure on the sovereign nation of Syria could be the key to ending an intensely volatile war in the Middle East. What a proud day for my profession.
Ah, but Ezra! You are missing the important point. Which, if you’d just read your Christy Hardin Smith you’d realize is that Bush’s use of the word “shit” gives lie to his “born-again veneer” and lifts the curtain from his “‘moral majority’ act.” It invalidates his entire Presidency and, in a certain sense, his very existence!
So you see, the press simply had to foreground the use of an expletive (rather than, say, the implications for foreign policy such a remark about Syria’s role portends with respect to the actions Israel is taking to beat back Hezbollah). BECAUSE OF THE—well, you know.
—Although to be honest, I’ve been searching my Bible all morning (which is no easy feat, mind you, because that means I have to remove it from it’s heavy glass encasement and untether the golden ribbon I use to keep it fastened so that its words don’t illuminate the entire house in a blinding light that would almost certainly fuck up the kid’s nap) and I can’t find the bit where Christ counseled his flock against using earthy colloquialisms in conversations with other adults. But that’s on me, most likely. I’m a shoddy Biblical scholar. On the plus side, though, my ignorance gives me the excuse I was looking for to rewatch The Passion of the Christ in High Def. So, silver linings and all that.
(h/t The Wide Awakes; related: In Bush’s defense, she was probably wearing a skirt that was inappropriately short for the occasion. So she was just asking for it.)
****
update: Much more on the Merkel OUTRAGE here, here, here, and here.
And of course, there’s this, from Gateway Pundit.
The Vagina Monologues could not be reached for comment.
The trouble is that I know a LOT of Christians who transfer to other words, such as f*ck and sh*t, their reluctance to scream “Oh Jesus CHRIST!” in moments of frustration. So do a lot of other people. And both the Christians and the others seem to think that when a Christian uses an obscenity, he’s blaspheming as surely as if he screamed “Jesus Christ”.
Personally, I don’t see how shouting Jesus’ name in moments of frustration is “taking his name in vain”. I maintain that it is a form of prayer.
And besides, what ‘taking the Lord’s name in vain’ really means is that when you say “I swear to God,” you’d f__king well better MEAN it.
“So she was just asking for it.”
All part of Rove’s master plan to have Bush act more like Bill whilst amongst the Europeans to regain some of that lost moral high ground.
TW: congress
Congress of the Cow, maybe.
It’s funny that Cole makes that remark. He made a comparative comment to Michelle Malkin.
A turning point for his blog (roughly when I stopped reading it) was when he said Malkin was deserving of all the racial nastiness and attacks she got. It was soon after that the retardos and their ilk flowed in and turned ballon juice into sewer pipe. He later apologized but who was reading except the Sadly gang and TBogg off course.
Ahh…Balloon Juice. The sewer of stoopidity since Terri Schiavo’s struggle.
A year or so back, I thought the commentariat (& Tim F’s) couldn’t get more moronic. How wrong I was.
Cordially…
You mean the same people who have BushIt bumperstickers on the cars they park in the elementary school lot are upset that he said that?
Presidents should be held to a higher degree of moral accountability. I mean, cursing at a summit? What’s next: sex with an intern? No one would respect him after that!
I had CNN on all evening last night while doing reality-based tasks around the house (aka housework, bills), and they must have run that clip every 15 minutes, and if I exaggerate it is not by much. I will say that GW’s comments tended to prove that he had no “master plan” in mind, nor did he or Yo’ Blair seem terribly acute.
Balloon Juice: Vinegar and Water
I think the press is miscalculating on this one. I think better of The Bush for knowing that he doesn’t carry this ‘stick up his butt’ religiousity into his (semi-)private life.
Shit, the prez was merely trying to behave in a more European fashion by being physically affectionate. Had she been Italian, he would have grabbed and/or slapped her ass. Had she been French, a good hand kiss followed by some light groping.
Since she’s German, you know, he could have given her worse things than a neckrub. . . .
Dispite his many flaws, it’s things like this that remind me why I like this guy.
Bush’s remark was a howler. I don’t care about the profanity, and I think the press was nitpicking to even mention it. But who can make Syria do anything? And Syria says the word, and hezbollah drops their weapons? Pretty simple-minded thinking; coming from our decider president, it’s downright scary.
More evidence of the juvenile nature of the news media.
I saw the coverage via CNN, and it was obvious that they were having too much fun with it.
“You want to fine us, FCC? Just because we showed the President saying ‘shit’? Just in case you missed it, here’s the footage and a reminder on the ticker that the President said ‘shit’. Nya, nya, shit, shit.”
These clowns are howling about a neck rub – assault, harassment ! These are the same people that defended the President getting a hummer from a person in his employ, in the Oval Office, while diddling her with a Cuban cigar (a damn fine waste of a good cigar). Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.
I don’t see whats the big deal with him swearing. Adults talk like that—religious god fearing dry drunk ones too. Who wouldn’t curse not being able to have a drink?
For me the big deal is him acting like the child that got a seat at the adult table.
An FDL official has disclosed to me, on condition of anonymity, that Christy Hardin Smith would never say shit, even if she had a mouth full. Moreover, she does not shit, or even fart.
“I’m a shitty Biblical scholar” would have been better.
Cole’s site used to be decent, but since Schiavo has become unreadable. Even Cole seems to be giving up on blogging, with Tim F. taking the reigns and steering it wayyy left toward the cliff.
“You, Luke! Don’t write that down.”
— Stuff Jesus Said, vol. XXVII
The profanity thing is another strawman – for whatever reason, the “tolerant” left thinks Christians don’t cuss. Ever. And if they do, well they’re hypocrites.
The only commandment I know of that involves swearing is don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, which I don’t.
Thus, as a Christian, I can say “fuck” “shit” “asshole” “bastard” as much as I want b/c shockingly enough, they’re just words- words that “society” considers unacceptable but I find it highly unlikely God gives a shit.
shrug
#1 There’s no proof that she was humming when she was blowing. That’s the very first I’ve heard of that.
#2 The thesis of presidential earthiness correlating to popularity is exploded by the Dark Lord of Expletives, Dick Nixon.
Hey Christy,
Go fuck yourself.
Who wants to go to Fire (dog) Lake?
“It invalidates his entire Presidency and, in a certain sense, his very existence!”
Good job Mr. Goldstein. It’s just coming across the wires that President Bush has vanished in a puff of non-validity.
That is fucking unbelievable.
If Bill Clinton had cried out The Name of The Lord whenever he was alone with Monica, I’ll bet his supporters would have deserted him in less than a day.
Eh? What did Monica cry out? Sheesh! Think about it, dude.
Don’t worry, actus, you’ll get there someday.
I’m looking forward to that pig.
The New Testament does contain several prohibitions against coarse language, e.g. Colosians 3:8 “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.”
I’d google the other references, but care too little to do this, and in any case am happy to see Bush so succinctly summarize reality. Perhaps an early Christian hermeneutical dictum is a better guide here: What is true must be from God.
Bess Truman was once asked to please do something about Harry constantly saying “manure.” She replied, “It’s taken me years to get him to say that.”
I’d bet Laura is just happy Dubya says “shit” instead of, oh, maybe “actus.”
TW: saying
That’s what I’m
Don’t oversimplify Bush’s supposed oversimplification. He didn’t imply any “easy button” answers, just his thought that leaning on Syria is the key (or at least a key) to the solution. I don’t think there is any question that Syria pulls a lot of the strings involved here.
I wouldn’t automaticall take a brief sound bite to mean there isn’t more thought behind it.
But I’m weird like that.
Do you mean they’re serving Spanferkel, or did you blow your cool and forget to put a comma in there?
I could show Dubya a thing or two about squeezing out a few tears once he realizes a camera has caught him in a “private” moment. Being able to feign emotion works with the ladies at the bar at Chili’s around the corner, too.
-Bill
See, this illustrates the distinction between classical liberals and conservatives, on the one hand, and leftists on the other. For the former, Bush’s words are reassuring, indicating as they do a frank, no-bullshit approach to the problem. Problem: Syria arms Hezbollah and facilitates the transit of Iranian weaponry to the terrorist group; Conclusion: lean on Syria hard enough and you’ll hurt Hezbollah, perhaps decisively. No-one thinks that this exhausts Bush’s thoughts on the matter, but they indicate a refreshing hard-headedness in his approach.
For leftists, Bush’s words are dismaying on at least a couple of levels. Firstly, they come nowhere near the lofty, high-flown language they like to imagine world leaders speak to one another; on the contrary, they indicate that the people in charge are guys not all that different from us, and given how much leftists distrust and look down on ordinary people, that’s pretty disturbing to them. And of course, Bush’s words imply his unwillingness to resort to the traditional, comfortable, and entirely fucking useless pieties about the Middle East.
TW: justice. Ha.
kyle: Of course there may be more substance behind the “Hey, Kofi, call Syria and tell them to make hezbollah quit that shit” line of thought. I certainly hope so, but I wonder. And I realize that Bush didn’t know there was an open mic, so it may have been an exasperated off-the-cuff remark. But please.
“Yo Blair! Have Kofi shine my shoes!”
Hmmm.
“Wrong hole! Wrong hole!”
sw: “students”. Creepy.
I’ve been a registered Republican for almost 40 years and I have voted Republican straight ticket in virtually every election, and yet, I don’t like GW and I never have. This is not a left/right thing, and, for that matter, it’s not a name calling thing either. Best.
Oh that part is fine. Its all the “how long to fly home” crap that’s the child talk.
“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;”—1 Pet. 1:15
“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ”—Phillip 1:27
“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”—1 Tim. 4:12
Just to name a few.
“Taking the name of the Lord in vain” doesn’t mean using God’s name as an expletive; that’s an old Protestant belief. It means that if you take upon yourself the name of the Lord, by way of covenant, you shouldn’t do it lightly. Because once you become a disciple of the Lord (whether a Jew or Christian), you’re expected to live up to the terms of the covenant.
I mean, it’s in the top 5 commandments. Why would cursing rate higher than murder?
Dennis Prager says that it means that you shouldn’t do evil things in God’s name, or that you shouldn’t do evil things in such a way that people know that you’re a believer, e.g., if you’re going to go to that strip club, take off the yarmuluke so that you don’t damage God’s image.
Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah.
Name-calling? Whuh?
As for the left/right thing, I dunno. The general reaction on the left seems to be split between “Oooh, he said a bad word!” and trying to cast it as indicative of Bush’s frightening simple-mindedness (pace actus and Juan Cole). Whereas the classical liberal/conservative contingent may not like the guy all that much, sure, but find it hard to disagree with his assessment.
Did you catch the Syrian ambassador talking to Wolf Blitzer on CNN over the weekend? Blitzer asked straight out, several times, whether Syria was allowing Iran to send weapons to Hezbollah through its territory. The guy simply refused to answer the question each time, resorting to the usual Arab boilerplate over the “occupation”. It was almost as good as a straight-out yes, and backs up Bush’s assessment perfectly.
Is the spinny thing you are refering to the propeller on actus’ beanie?
This is just too funny. Bush is bad becase he swore. If you can’t handle swearing, spend a few minutes at FDL with actus’s friends (or DU or KOS or …) and you will be vomiting. You’d think with the amount of swearing from the left that they would be holding Bush up as a hero…..
Monica said, “Look what you did to my dress you {espletive)!”
So, uh, Monica, you like to fool around?
Oh, fine. Yes, that was inane.
mgl: Sorry, the name calling comment was proactive, I don’t want to be called some kind of fucking communist because I don’t like this particular POTUS.
BTW, I did notice the Syrian ambassador repeatedly refused to answer the trans-ship question, he kept say, “That’s not the point!” Uh ….
BTW – what do you think of the judge who sent a guy to jail (on contempt of court charges) when the guy loudly mentioned Jesus when his acquittal verdict was read? Man…./sarcasmonmode…that guy should have been strung up for doing something like that…I mean thanking Jesus when he got his life back…the nerve…/sarcasmoffmode
Hey, he was just speaking truth to the power….
The POWER OF FLIGHT!!
It was a subtle JSF reference to Blair. Duh. Get with the times.
I keed, I keed.
Good thing they got the mike turned off before Bush said the thing about Ahmadinejad being a lying cocksucking sack of motherfucking dogshit, that’s all I can say. Because then the left would be really steamed.
actus, can you explain this?
ACTUS
I think Actus was just describing his physical surroundings in a moment of Zen.
“Hey Moses! There’s a burning bush in reception looking for you. Says it’s name is “I AM”, whatever that means…”
Maybe. Go have a look.
Get the pig’s consent in writing actus – for your own protection.
I’m frankly amazed (not really, but go with me on this) that the telephone pole tries to slam Bush for being a “dry drunk”. I guess telephone pole lives such a faultless life he can’t imagine anyone having anything to overcome.
I guess when you’re a frigging moron leftist, perfection’s assumed.
Elfernik I don’t get it. And what happened to the pig?
I gotta say, anyone who has problems with the word “shit” in 2006 is a flat-out fraud. Kramer was calling himself the “Assman” on Seinfeld back in 1994. Give me a break.
Christy must be the kind of person my dad meant when he said “She wouldn’t say shit if she had a mouthful.”
Dry drunks can legally marry, and that burns actus’s ass.
That and gerbils that wear BenGay hair gel.
He also said “Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one fills up the fastest.” But that’s OT. Wait till there’s a thread on the resurgence of the Democratic party, Gail.
I understand the discreet charm of the blue-blooded east coast life. Also why being sober would be cause to swear.
Firedoglake – wasn’t that the setting for that movie where the giant catfish ate all the people at the Indian fishing camp and then the unconventional marine biology professor from the university, Professor Sloan (Heather Locklear), reluctantly flew in by seaplane with the Indian chief’s son, an oppositional but brilliant student of hers, and then, led by rigorous application of the scientific method, concludes within 2 mins that radiactive waste dumping by the evil industrialist Graham (Lance Henriksen), whose plant requiring a 500 person payroll sits across the lake 3 hours from the nearest payphone and who has been covering up the mysterious deaths of 20 people working there, must have mutated both the catfish and the ducks and possibly the Indian chief who is the only survivor from the fishing campexcept for a mute 5 year old girl and who is now living in the forest and praying continuously in a sweat lodge, when that very same night, while Dr Sloan confronts the heavily drinking hunters that beat up the chief’s son, creeping up on the lakeside house where Graham’s wife is entertaining the chief of his security force…
Or was that a different lake? Anyway, the movie made more sense than the blog does.
Is making an actual statement beyond your mental capabilities?
Or would exposing your contempt for us mere humans be giving the game away?
Hanging out at Hyanus are we now Actus?
Just Passing Through—I think the movie you’re thinking of was “Snakehead Terror”. One of the fine productions of SciFi TV.
Have you noticed that attacks on Bush are almost always literally irrelevant, like he’s a “dry drunk” or “seeing god” or today’s, gasp, he has a gutter mouth, or he’s a bigger terrorist than Jesus, who himself was a bigger terrorist than OBL. They’re almost never substantive.
And there’s never an alternative plan. Never.
Okay, actus. Tomorrow. Four o’clock EST. Behind Treacher’s. The gloves come off.
Timmy is playing with the table saw and cuts off his finger. He yells “shit”. Little Lucy runs to tell Mom, “Mommy, Timmy said a bad word!”
Noble journalists, changing the world one tale tattled at a time. So noble. So courageous.
my country ‘tis of thee swee…………..
Dan are you bringing the Spanferkel?
Rick–
Yeah, but I don’t have anything to stuff its mouth with . . . yet.
That is one terrifying image. And I thought “shit” was bad.
Actus, in reference to the first link, I did look at it. That is why I asked you about it.
In reference to the second link you asked for, I was able to find it HERE.
Which raises interesting questions. But we can address those question later if we so choose.
Of course, pace Patterico, I denounce myself both pro- and retroactively. But in my defense, I can’t help it. It’s not that I have Tourette’s. It’s just that I’m a Celt.
“When the Fecal Matter Impacts the Rotating Airfoil”
Potty mouth.
That would be the Celt Defense. It has been successfully tested (and upheld) in court, as I am sure Patterico will attest to.
Me, I’m a card-carrying Irish, which I whip out from time to time.
The card, actus, the card.
Well, obviously, speaking as a person who just reread Pride & Prejudice (but hasn’t yet seen the movie), I could never marry someone who talked with his mouth full and used such coarse language, even if he was the scion of a good family. (Grammarians in the crowd, correct me if I’m wrong: because Bush is the scion of a good family, I didn’t say “were” there. ???)
Vote for him, yeah, sure.
The part that amused me over at firedoglake was the looooong comment thread about how disgraceful it was that Bush had done those two things and how he’d irrevocably destroyed the dignity of the office of President. I always thought that’d already been done… and thusly that Bush, measured against the standard set in the previous administration, could have done pretty much anything up to and including smacking Rice on the ass before we’d have to conclude he’d gone farther to damage the office than his predecessor, in the line of personal behavior.
Keep the gloves on, Dan. You’re talking about handling raw sewage, after all.
They’re more like mittens, really.
Dicentra: That’s not a really convincing reading of Phillipians (link to commentary that seems much more appropriate to the context).
The context there and in 1 Peter is walking the talk; but note that there’s nothing there about saying “shit!” or other scatalogical terms. Cursing is another matter entirely. (Which is why the quote from Timothy, likewise, doesn’t really apply – there’s nothing in what Jesus said, or what Moses brought down from Sinai, that says you can’t say “shit”.
Such a word is literally profanity, in that it is not holy… but so is ordering lunch, or doing business. There’s no commandment or general injunction against being non-holy (as opposed to un-holy) where appropriate, is there?
We’re not all called to be saints, as I understand the theology.)
<A hreef=”http://www.newadvent.org/summa/312203.htm”>Aquinas</a> thinks the Second Commandment means you shouldn’t swear false things in God’s name.
(Swearing false things without God’s name would be a lie, but not taking God’s name in vain; swearing true things in God’s name is not, likewise, in vain. Swearing in God’s name in the form of anything not God (an idol, say) is likewise vanity and forbidden. Presumeably swearing on the Bible is taken as acceptable because it’s God’s word, and God is the Word, ala Genesis 1.)
(And anyway, what does it matter if a belief about the commandment is Protestant?
To determine if the President is being hypocritical, we have to judge him by his beliefs… and he’s a Protestant through and through.)
Yay, theology!
Lets do it in the other thread.
And as Celts, of course, we go to war over stolen pigs or bullocks. We don’t need any over-the-top provocations, such as soldier abductions. So, I propose moving the Palestinians to Northern Ireland.
Lets do it in the other thread.
Is that some sort of code?
Dan that’d be a hoot. Warm Guiness all around.
Seems like shit isn’t enough. You guys hear about the “new scandal” -> gropergate
too stupid for words
TW: put as in put ting it mildly
It seems that our erstwhile friends on the Angry Left love the sin and hate the sinner.
“Who wants to go to Fire (Dog) Lake?”—Bob Seger
Mr. Collins, I have my fake beard, so watch it.
Turing Word: will, as in Lyle Lovett singing:
God does, but I don’t,
God will, but I won’t,
And that’s the difference between God and me.
He had a link to another thread. So lets go there.
capt joe–
What about Expurgate?
Old Dad wrote:
That would explain why she seems full of it.
Oh. Well, I hope they’re flushable.
So, it appears impotence and constipation are the motivating factors behind BDS.
Maybe a mixture of Viagra and ex-lax will help cure the bottom-feeders.
Sadly, Just Passing Through has described half the films I watch. I’m not proud of that.
Let’s be honest with ourselves: that was a weird thing for Bush to do. Maybe not dance with Kim Jong-Il weird, but pretty strange and inappropriate.
If that quick shoulder grasp is what passes for a massage in leftyland it is no wonder the women over there are so fucking cranky all the time.
A teacher/coach at my parochial high school refused to use the Lord’s name in vain, but he did use other curses copiously. So you had the legend; “What the fuck is wrong with you gosh darn idiots out there?”
High School was a confusing time for me…
I thought everyone one here would be upset about the President’s language!!!!…
I remember an incident with Clinton early in his Presidency or maybe it was during campaigning. He was scolding a young assistant (male) who had failed to do something. I remember they were walking up the sidewalk and Clinton was just cussing him out. I don’t remember the left being too upset about that.
Yah, that was it. Snakeheads from Firedoglake. Made a lot more sense than the blog. Except for the wolf. I mean, I got the whole Spirit of the Hawk Totem thing (Cher) and the mysterious disappearances of the gristled ex-hippie shaman (Bruce Dern) and Dr Sloan’s boss, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli the Dwarf), but not the White Wolf. Or the Samoan (that guy from Hawaii-Five-O). That was a reach.
Award winning special effects in the movie though. Which is kinda like the blog.
Here in the Bible Belt, we realize (like it is written in Corinthians) “to everything there is a season.” So a pregame pep talk from our football coach would go something like this:
“Goddamnit gentlemen, I wanna some fuckin’ headhunters out there! Bust them motherfuckers up! Put them on their ass! You see some sumbitch wandering around la-la-la lower the goddamn boom on his ass! No mercy! Ya hear me!! No fuckin’ mercy! I want their quarterback starin’ up at the lights all goddamn night! Number 88 has two broken bones in his left hand, so work on it! Rip their fuckin’ heads off! We need this game boys, so go out and play like you’re a bunch of bloodthirsty motherfuckers!!!
Awright, helments off! Our heavenly Father, we come before you tonight…”
It’s all about context.
I prefer more articulate statements of position, such as Hillary’s “You fucking Jew bastard!” which she has repeated several times to great effect…
Two days ago we were discussing whether this was the onset of World War Three, now we’re talking about whether GW sexually aroused Bonehead Merkel when he massaged her delts. Whatever.