This commentary is about language – foul language, nasty language, language that seemingly incites people to bad behavior. Ironically, I can’t use that language, because these words will be broadcast, and the public airwaves in America are subject to regulation by the Federal Communication Commission – which forbids holders of broadcast licenses from airing words that it considers (to quote the FCC’s rules) “obscene, indecent or profane.”
The FCC is guided by a 1964 Supreme Court ruling on obscenity and pornography, and I’m not about to imperil a broadcast license by using bad language – because, as Justice Potter Stewart memorably noted in that case, “I know it when I see it.” Certainly, that would include the so-called “seven dirty words” that George Carlin listed in a monologue a half-century ago as words you can never say on TV.
So: no obscenity, indecency or profanity will come your way just now. I’m only going to use words that my dear mother would have tolerated.
More irony, though: The FCC is these days more directly controlled than ever before in its history by the President of the United States, whose public language is more profane, indecent and obscene than that of any of his predecessors. Outrageously more provocative and inflammatory, too, I’d say. Get him in front of a crowd these days, and Donald Trump will offer up an earful of profanity. He seemingly doesn’t give a s--- what you think about what he says.
Think about the impact of this language, though. Not just obscene words, but nasty and mean stuff, too, which is also Trump’s stock in trade – prompting a lot of politicians to similarly let ’er rip. What’s up with that? Or, as you might say, WTF?
An Associated Press story last week took stock of this, with the AP’s deputy Washington bureau chief, Steven Sloan, noting that among politicians of both parties, “vulgarity is now in vogue.” I can’t read the AP story here, because the FCC wouldn’t approve, but it notes that important Republicans and Democrats alike are using words that my Mom would not have tolerated – people like JD Vance and Kamala Harris, and senators and White House officials.
It's not that politicians haven’t always used crude language. It’s just that it used to be kept behind closed doors, because it was interpreted as a mark of bad character. And politicians used to want to be seen as role models. Now crudity seems to be a considered a signal of authenticity, as though the pols want us to know they’re just like us. They cuss.
But what’s problematic is beyond the casual use of swear words. It’s nasty slurs, hurtful attacks, denigration of whole populations by language. Lay aside for a moment Donald Trump’s memorable bragging about grabbing women’s genitals. Think about how he described Haiti and African nations as “s---hole countries” and referred to undocumented immigrants as “animals” and “vermin;” how he called people from Somalia“garbage.” Consider that he routinely asserts that his political opponents are “degenerate” or “evil” or “radicals who hate America,” and that he attacks journalists who ask him hard questions as “horrible” and “stupid” and “enemies of the people.”
Here's the thing: This behavior is infectious. Gallup recently polled Americans about whether they think people have “gone too far in using inflammatory language to criticize their political opponents.” And overall, 69 percent said Republicans had gone too far, and 60 percent said Democrats had, too. Pew Research likewise reported recently that a wide majority of people in both parties agree that elected officials should avoid heated or aggressive language because it could encourage violence. Only 16 percent of Democrats and 24 percent of Republicans say pols shouldn’t worry about what they say, that it doesn’t matter.
Indecent language deepens our political polarization. When leaders use language that demonizes opponents, it undermines the basic principles of a deliberative democracy where debate and compromise are necessary for governance. It can cause the public to disengage from politics altogether, because it makes politics seem too mean and coarse. It’s not just talk; it damages democracy.
So I’m with the big majority, and I hope you are, too; I think people in positions of public trust should button it up: Speak decently, and for heaven’s sake, try to behave decently. I’m tempted to say, “shut up,” but my mom wouldn’t tolerate even that. So in her honor, I’ll say that we ought to expect those who aspire to roles of leadership in society to be good role models for the nation, not leaders in the coarsening of America. There you go, Mom. This one’s for you.
Rex Smith, the host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
