This page was last updated on July 3, 2004.

Dirty mouth; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; July 1, 2004.

When the P-G tries to compare VP Cheney to "gansta rappers," it's really getting hard up for things to throw at the Bush administration.  Fed up with 4+ years of non-stop bashing by Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), VP Cheney finally got fed up and hurled an obscenity at Leahy during a Senate photo shoot.  I'm not a big user or defender of profanity, but everyone has their limit.  Sometimes there's no other way to show you've had enough.  To his credit, Cheney refused to apologize and even said he felt better afterward.

To the P-G, however, this uncharacteristic outburst signaled a lack of civility in the White House.  The P-G didn't cite the lack of civility of the incessant and hateful bashing conducted by liberals for the last several years.

When Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) used the same word in a Rolling Stone interview, the P-G didn't offer the same level of disgust.¹  That editorial could only muster several sentences about the Kerry incident, saying "adversaries will spin the remark against him [Kerry]."  To the P-G, criticizing Cheney is legitimate but doing the same to Kerry is spin.  Nice double standard.

Now let's compare the Cheney incident with gangsta rappers and Kerry's usage in Rolling Stone.  It's clear Cheney's use was in the heat of the moment, not planned, and was heard solely by adults.  Gangsta rappers, however, purposely plan their vulgar lyrics and their target is youth.  Likewise, Kerry thought his use of the obscenity would make him look "with it" to the youthful readers of Rolling Stone.  Only the P-G could equate a quick, unplanned outburst with planned exploitation of youth.

1. Raunchy politics; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; December 18, 2003.

© 2004 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.