Originally posted by Ally
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I was on a plane recently where they loaded the wrong flights baggage onto our plane, and the pilot announced that they were going to have to "abort takeoff and return to the gate". Perfectly correct use of the term abort, but several people around us looked shocked and started whispering about the word "abort". I would never tell a pilot to stop using the word "abort" because of a generally accepted alternate definition. However I am told that doctors used to use the word all the time for when a procedure had to be unexpectedly halted, and now they don't say that anymore, especially to patients, since it creates panic and confusion. And I think this was probably a correct decision.
I'm not going to be the word police. If something offends me, I am fairly good about either saying so, or recognizing that my discomfort with a word or phrase is not a cultural or societal constant. I am of an age where I and all my friends grew up using "retard" as a pejorative, and I still haven't successfully purged it from my own use.
Of course, a politician should strive to offend with ideas, not with words. And I am afraid that the self proclaimed "Caribou Barbie" hasn't had that many ideas, either to acclaim or offend.
One thing I have absolutely detested since she came on the political scene is the use of her daughter as a punchline or a weapon. I don't like Sarah Palin. I think she is a hypocrite, I think she is a slow thinker, I think she is manipulative, and I think she is egotistical. Bristol has nothing to do with any of that. I have known a lot of girls who got pregnant in high school, and a lot of them had great parents. A lot of them were raised really well. They just made a series of bad decisions. I have no reason to think that Bristol Palin is any different, I don't think that her mistakes necessarily reflect on her parents, on her education, or on her moral character. I don't think she should mocked on national television because of her Mother's career. I don't think she should be mocked at all. Was it an unusual situation? Yeah. Shocking even? Maybe. Is it a punchline? Absolutely not. Does a young girl deserve to get picked on by 50 year old men with a national audience? Christ no.
There was a young pregnant girl here who tried to kill herself because she thought she would be mocked and gossiped about like Bristol Palin, and her parents would be mocked because of it. And maybe she would have. But she didn't get to see the side where they all dealt with it and moved on. The late night hosts didn't talk about that part. And it's not their fault she tried to commit suicide, anymore than it's Sarah Palin's fault Loughner tried to kill Giffords. But it both cases, somebody stepping up and showing us the other side of the issue could have done a world of good.
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