THE 'F' WORD
In my earlier post relating to a particularly venal comment by a Roman Catholic Archbishop, I initially used the 'f' word. When I related this to both my roommate and Bradykins, they urged me to get rid of that word, and I did. I'm not sorry I did that, but... well... maybe a little bit.

Here's the thing: I'm afraid too many people have bought into the old line that only stupid people with limited vocabularies use profanity. A lot of us have heard that since we were kids, but it's a lie.

Profanities can be very powerful. They can punctuate a statement, or express frustration, or express an thought far more sincerely than typing a mere "I disagree with you strongly, Archbishop O'Malley."

The 'f' word... the 's' word... whatever. They are the way real people talk.

To the extent I discuss anything too heavy here -- which will probably be minimal -- I'll probably keep those 'bad' words to a minimum. But I do believe a good 'fuck you' every now and then serves a purpose, so, despite my capitulation tonight, you are all on notice that I am quite willing to use the 'f' word with clergymen, congressmen, and anyone else who pisses me off.

I respect people who find the word offensive.

And they shouldn't use it on their own blogs.