WHADDAYA MEAN BY THAT?

How dare they!

It's said that words matter. That's particularly true when it comes to the news. Words and phrases that were perfectly acceptable over the years have apparently been put on the networks' forbidden list. That's a good thing when the words are derogatory or racist. But what if they're honest?

For instance, there was a time, when reporting a plane crash, the anchor would have said, "132 people died today..." in a direct, no-nonsense way. Over time, it was softened to, "132 people passed away...", like they zoomed by on a train. 

That was a little strange, but over time I grew to expect though not accept it. A few years back, though, someone decided that people at home had become even less able to handle the truth. Now the news people take the audience by the hand and murmur, "132 souls were lost..." 

I said souls!

132 souls were lost? Why are we to believe that these unfortunate victims -- or viewers, for that matter -- believe in souls? What if there were atheists onboard that plane? They would take umbrage at, say, Anderson Cooper or Joy Reid assuming that they had souls to begin with.

And lost? Their remains are there in the wreckage! Get the authorities on the crash site, they'll find what's left of them. And if they're not up to it, bring the search dogs. 

Meanwhile in New York, reporters seem not to want to offend the offensive. That's why it isn't unusual to hear something like, "A woman was slashed in the face on 4 train today. She gave the police a description of the gentleman who perpetrated the crime."

OK, maybe this guy.

Hunh? What the hell kind of "gentleman" goes around slashing people, particularly women? Personally, I call a slasher a slasher, Twitter be damned.

It's difficult, if not impossible, to trace these kinds of niceties back to one source -- except for one particular phrase. In the days and months after 9/11, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld started referring to terrorists as "bad actors." 

I guess he is a bad actor after all.

Comparing beasts who fly airplanes into buildings to Steven Segal and Rob Schneider kind of cheapens the event, doesn't it? Perhaps it was just a way to soften the blow to us weaklings at home. The worst thing a bad actor can do is waste your time for an hour or two. 

Maybe that's why it's caught on, to the point where a Stalin wanna-be like Vladimir Putin is referred to as a bad actor. Who wants to be reminded that he's a bloodthirsty tyrant with one finger on the nuke button? 

This tough-as-rice-pudding language isn't limited to news people. Hollywood insiders are claiming that Motion Picture Academy leadership didn't "suggest" that Will Smith leave the Oscar ceremonies following his physical assault on Chris Rock. Rather, it was a "firm ask." Oooh, that'll tell him! Until he told them to fuck off.

In private, Cawthorn calls him Daddy.

This week, we hear of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy describing his meeting with Madison Cawthorn. Cawthorn, a representative from North Carolina (and, as I mentioned in a previous post, someone who is horrible enough to be referred to as a stupid cripple) claimed to have been invited to sex-and-cocaine orgies by his Congressional colleagues.

This was quite interesting, considering that he would likely have been approached by his fellow Republicans. I mean, I actually believed him. But Cawthorn later told Rep. McCarthy that he had "exaggerated" his claims. 

Exaggerated how? Instead of orgies, were they just make-out sessions with joints passed around? A game of Strip Monopoly? McCarthy was a little clearer when he said Cawthorn "did not tell the truth" -- a polite way of saying "the stupid cripple lied." Doesn't that sound more on the nose? 

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