Strange Decorum

Everyone is quoting this example of Bush getting naughty:

Speaking of George Bush, with whom Sharon developed a very close relationship, Uri Dan recalls that Sharon's delicacy made him reluctant to repeat what the president had told him when they discussed Osama bin Laden. Finally he relented. And here is what the leader of the Western world, valiant warrior in the battle of cultures, promised to do to bin Laden if he caught him: "I will screw him in the ass!"

To try and make a novel point about this, why wouldn't Bush say he wants to "fuck" OBL in the ass? It strikes me as strange to get fastidious about the terminology used to express the rape fantasy as long as you're going to express the fantasy. I had a similar thought yesterday's watching Cradle 2 The Grave (truly the poor man's Romeo Must Die) on TNT where it was okay to show giant gun battles, a woman performing a striptease to distract a guy while her colleagues break into his office, etc., but everyone had to say "freak" instead of "fuck." What does this accomplish? Meanwhile, there were an awful lot of ads for K-Y Jelly running during commercial breaks which seem much more likely to me to generate a situation that will make parents uncomfortable ("daddy, what's a lubricant for?") than would the occassional dirty word.

Comments

LBJ is supposed to have said, after a Vietnam bombing escalation: 'I didn't just screw Ho Chi Minh. I cut his pecker off.'

Posted by David Tomlin | February 19, 2007 12:18 PM

"and what is it warming?"

Posted by Jon H | February 19, 2007 12:22 PM

Some people just use different words than you would.

Posted by Fr33d0m | February 19, 2007 12:27 PM

Like Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now": (paraphrasing) "We drop bombs on children, but they won't let me write 'fuck' on the side of an airplane."

Posted by Garamond12 | February 19, 2007 12:34 PM

My understanding is that Bush used to curse a lot before ran for President, and has since controlled his language. So you have situations like this one where the word "fuck" would be completely appropriate, but he says "screw" instead.

It's all incredibly sad. Bushs sound exactly like a teenage boy covering up his deficiencies with fake bravado. And this guy really IS the leader of the free world. I can't imagine how Ariel Sharon, a real warrior, reacted to that comment.

Posted by Korha | February 19, 2007 12:38 PM

Remember this is hearsay - Bush might well have said "fuck" (or not said anything at all). Also, to echo Fr33d0m, "fuck" isn't obviously the better choice.

Posted by minderbender | February 19, 2007 12:41 PM

I am sure Bush said 'fuck'. That got changed to 'screw' through the various translations.

Posted by DP | February 19, 2007 12:43 PM

I visited a college friend in Pakistan once, and flew on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA, which the locals referred to as "Perhaps It Arrives"). The in-flight movies were edited for content: Gun battles? No problem. But no kissing. You would see the actors begin to lean in for a smooch, and then a jump to the next scene. Very, very weird.

Posted by dj moonbat | February 19, 2007 12:44 PM

Bush is a curser, and that's probably a good thing. I'm told this story from his governor days:

When he first took office as governor of Texas, one of his first priorities was tort reform. He has a strong distaste for the ambulance chasers and was dead set on reducing the number of frivolous court cases in Texas.

In a meeting to discuss one of the first bills on this matter, the head dick spokesman for the slimeball, money-grubbing trial lawyers (I'm trying my best to be civil here), a guy named Mike Gallagher from Houston, tried to lobby Bush on the matter.

"You know, Governor, I represent a dear friend of yours from West Texas, a gentleman by the name of Bobby Holt."

Bush said, "Is that right?"

"Yes," Gallagher continued. "In fact, we're discussing something that is near and dear to Bobby Holt's heart, and that is the law of joint and several liability."

Now, this is part that I love. Bush looked this guy right in the eye and said, "You know, Mike, I've known Bobby Holt all my life. Grew up with Bobby Holt. One of my warmest, closest personal friends."

Then he paused and added, "Fuck Bobby Holt."

Don't get me wrong: I do believe Dubya is the worst US President since Herbert Hoover, but I still love that story.

Posted by PEG | February 19, 2007 12:51 PM

You just have to appreciate his linguistic nuance.
Bush screws guys but fucks his wife.
And Sharon probably suggested that they tag team Osama.

Posted by tiptap | February 19, 2007 12:51 PM

You mean you don't use that stuff to make sandwiches with peanut butter?

Posted by BushYouth | February 19, 2007 1:06 PM

Most likely he did say "fuck." If I were relating someone else's blue remark, and I felt a little delicate about doing so, I'd probably tone down the language in the same way. But I hardly see why it matters which word he used.

Posted by Steve | February 19, 2007 1:28 PM

So, it turns out that Geogre W. Bush is simply Amanda Marcotte in drag . . .

Posted by rea | February 19, 2007 1:36 PM

"Sharon's delicacy"

Ponder that expression if you will.

Posted by otto | February 19, 2007 1:45 PM

Just in. Osama's bin Laden's graphic response to George Bush's statement:

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1100

Posted by Ron Chusid | February 19, 2007 2:23 PM

Of course, Osama is rebuilding his army while Bush ties down our entire army in Iraq, because he's is an incompetent buffoon who thought it was more important to use our army to prove to his daddy that he was a tough guy than to catch the sonofabitch who killed 3,000 American citizens.

So, who's fucking who now?

Posted by anonymous | February 19, 2007 2:57 PM

Jeez, PEG. So only corporations are allowed to have lawyers? Or are you like Tom Delay, and plaintiff's attorneys are just for the rich and powerful? And the rest of us should just eat shit and enjoy it?

Posted by Nat | February 19, 2007 3:09 PM

While I'm pretty much a pro-plaintiff kind of guy, the Texas plaintiffs' bar is pretty much a racket and, more to the point, extremely politicized. They give as good as they get.

Posted by Steve | February 19, 2007 3:13 PM

Wait, is it just me or is anyone else more appalled that Matt was watching "Cradle 2 the Grave" that at Bush's sophmoric bravado?

Posted by Col Bat Guano | February 19, 2007 3:16 PM

I'd assume that the words Gabrielle and Union would figure in the answer. Or maybe the words too and lazy and the phrase 'to change the channel.'

Posted by witless chum | February 19, 2007 3:25 PM

Not just you, Col.

Any child young enough to ask a parent about k-y can just be told, "to keep your car running smoothly."

Posted by prostratedragon | February 19, 2007 6:19 PM

Fuck (and its many derivatives) has got to be among the commonest words said everyday by maybe a majority of Americans (certainly those under 50). So why are all the good four letter words verbotten in 'polite' society? Why is crap better than shit, socially? Why is it a scandal to use the word scrotum in a children's book?

All this is mysterious when we show on TV gore and murder and torture (24). "Yeah, you can show how to cut a throat, but don't call the victim a fucker".

Posted by JimPortlandOR | February 19, 2007 7:21 PM

Clearly, "fuck Bin Laden in the ass" would've sounded too gay.

Posted by Royko | February 19, 2007 9:04 PM

I'm probably caricaturing myself with this remark, but I sort of wish we could move towards a way of talking about anal sex where it isn't a brutal thing you do to hurt somebody else. I'd rather think of it as an act where somebody who fascinates you outside and in lets you explore the most private and intimate parts of their body.

Posted by Neil the Ethical Werewolf | February 20, 2007 12:45 AM

2 things you must keep in mind: first, that you were reading Haaretz's English language site. The English lang. site in the process of translating tends to clean up lang. you might find in the original Hebrew lang. print edition of the paper. In addition, you ought to check out the original Hebrew edition of Dan's book to see what lang. he used there. Chances are the original Hebrew uses spicier terminology you expected.

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