September 5, 2000

6:45 AM

Major league asshole: Y'all have probably heard about this already, but I'm thinking it'd make for good discussion. While I'm always happy to hear of dirt on Dubya, is this really all that big of a deal?
posted by aladfar (10 comments total)

Y'all have probably heard about this already, but I'm thinking it'd make for good discussion.

You're 2 for 2. Nicely done!
posted by luke at 6:54 AM on September 5, 2000

Doh!
Should read all previous posts before slapping something up here.

Sigh . . . time for a bit of self flagellation.
posted by aladfar at 6:59 AM on September 5, 2000

I think this is a great story, Worth posting twice, in fact.

It illustrates something absurd about our culture, or at least about traditional media. Newspapers and TV and Radio can't use the word Asshole. I suppose because a child might hear it and immediately turn to a life of crime and, possibly, contract AIDS. It's insane. Grown men and women reading the news can't say a WORD. It's just a word. But instead they have to use terms like "A-word" or "Rectum-Hole".

I don't really know what I'm trying to say, but it's very deep, and would probably rock your world. Trust me.
posted by Doug at 11:33 AM on September 5, 2000

The media can use the word asshole, although I think some of this may fall under FCC regulations. For example, on ABC World News at 6pm last night, they just used "a-- ----" or whatever to refer to the word. On a news update at 11pm on the radio, they played the clip unedited and you could clearly hear the "asshole." And then, an hour or so after that I got joy from hearing the BBC radio news mention the story and tell the listeners that GWB said "major league asshole."


posted by gluechunk at 11:53 AM on September 5, 2000

BBC used the word; made it sound like quite an elegant epithet. ABC radio news said "the governor used a word that rhymed with 'glass bowl.'" And that's what I'm calling my enemies today: major league glassbowls.

Unfortunately, when my wife asked me where she should put the flowers I brought home - well, never mind.
posted by lileks at 12:25 PM on September 5, 2000

It would have been 10x funnier if GW had said "Major League Rectum Hole"
posted by chaz at 12:55 PM on September 5, 2000

Interesting point, though: Would this be as extensively reported, even if only in euphemism and secret profanity code, had Bushie said "There's Clymer, major league A-hole for the New York Times." and Cheney has replied "Yeah! He's an effing ess-oh-bee!"
posted by rschram at 1:32 PM on September 5, 2000

Washington Times used "rectal aperture." Who says right-wingers don't have a sense of humor? Not me!

(But did you hear about the Republican special at KFC? Nothing but right wings and assholes.)
posted by luke at 1:41 PM on September 5, 2000

Today's Progressive Review has a good take on it, under the heading RIGHT APERTURE, WRONG GAME. It's also on the "text-only" about 25% of the way down the page...
posted by dcehr at 2:01 PM on September 5, 2000

BBC don't care, to them it's just a hole in a donkey. The dirty word over the pond is "arsehole". ;-) For the record, NPR ran the word unedited ANd quoted by a reporter on an overnight news update, but All Things Considered today was quite circumspect. The FCC does recognize a family hour, after all.

It was such a slam dunk for the press that naturally they'd report it with glee.
posted by dhartung at 8:27 PM on September 5, 2000