Trash Talk

Last week I saw a famous person hurl insults at a woman whose opinion differed with his. Instead of refuting her comments with intelligent discourse, he resorted to a tactic we see way too often; nasty-name calling.

What I can’t understand is the need to be nasty. I don’t mind people disagreeing with me, heck, I have two teenaged daughters so it happens on a daily basis, but what I do object to is the name calling and nastiness. That’s what preschool kids do; they don’t have the vocabulary to explain their feelings so they resort to calling someone that upset them a poopy head.

Sadly, Rush Limbaugh didn’t use “poopy head”, he called Ms. Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” and, as if this were not bad enough, he referred to her and others like her as “femi-Nazis” and this was the word that made my jaw hit the floor. Did he really just compare her to a Nazi?

That made my blood boil–is Mr. Limbaugh aware of what a Nazi is? If not, I took the liberty of getting him the definition, according to Dictionary.com;

A member of the National Socialist German Workers' party of Germany, which in 1933, under Adolf Hitler, seized political control of the country, suppressing all opposition and establishing a dictatorship over all cultural, economic, and political activities of the people, and promulgated belief in the supremacy of Hitler as Führer, aggressive anti-Semitism, the natural supremacy of the German people, and the establishment of Germany by superior force as a dominant world power. The party was officially abolished in 1945 at the conclusion of World War II.

By using the word, I’m sure he was referring to her zealous protection of her rights, but I don’t think Ms. Fluke wanted to suppress those who opposed her? I fail to see how the use of the word is ever appropriate unless you are referring to the war and genocide.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I want to express my disdain at the misuse of other words used in an offensive manner. I hate the way younger people have taken to describing something as “gay,” usually when they are talking about something they don’t like. Newsflash, there is nothing wrong with being gay so use another adjective; pathetic or lame are two examples that are off the top of my head.

And the next time you hear someone use the word “retarded,” ask them what they mean. Chances are they are unaware that it is a dated derogatory term for a person with developmental delays. Anytime it’s used to describe a person or object, it's offensive.

So the next time someone disagrees with you and you feel the need to enter into a discussion or argument; choose your words wisely. If you resort to name-calling or being nasty, you are only coming across as ignorant (according to dictionary.com; Ignorant 1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man. 2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact. 3. uninformed; unaware).