NOTE: Please see the update at the end of this diary.
Last night, in the context of a diary about Rachel Maddow's righteous smackdown on Scott Brown for the repeated lies he's told about her, I made an arguably intemperate, but certainly heartfelt, comment in which I suggested that Maddow should sue Brown for libel.
The comment got hiderated into near oblivion. For the sake of reference, here's the full text of what I said:
She should sue the cocksucker for libel.
Just because he's a politician and she's a pundit doesn't give him carte blanche to knowingly and repeatedly lie about her in a deliberate attempt to undermine her credibility--because that's what this is really about--and use her as a prop for his fundraising efforts.
Stuff like this will continue until people like Rachel begin asserting their rights under the law.
Not being an expert on libel or law in general, I half expected some people to take issue with my assertion that Scott Brown committed libel. And I know that there are tightasses in every large group, so had I thought about it long enough, I might have expected someone to take offense at the lack of grace I showed in my use of one of George Carlin's seven words. What I did not anticipate, however, was to be accused of using it as a homophobic slur. Apparently, a few of you feel that using the word "cocksucker" is an attempt to belittle someone by suggesting that they're a gay male, under the theory that the person using the word "cocksucker" must (1) see fellatio as something that only gay men do and (2) think there's something wrong with being gay.
Now, I'm bisexual, and I have a nephew I'm very close to who is openly gay, not to mention a couple of other family members and several friends. So I feel that I can speak with some authority in saying that "cocksucker" is not a slur against gay people. It's just not. It certainly hasn't been used that way in my experience. And yes, gay and bi men suck cock. So do women. Occasionally, I suck cock too. I do so because I enjoy it.
When I call someone a cocksucker, I do it because it's a widely used perjorative with a lot of weight behind it. I don't envision the person I'm directing the word at actually sucking cock any more than I envision the people who I call motherfuckers actually fucking their mothers, or any more than I intend actual insult towards the mothers of people who I call sons of bitches. When I call someone a douchebag, I'm not setting out to denigrate women who douche, or vaginas. Nor, when I refer to people as pricks, am I setting out to suggest that there's something wrong with pricks, or with having one. I use the word asshole a lot, and pretty much everyone has one of those including me, so I don't see how the word could be taken as a slur against people with properly functioning digestive systems.
I've seen a lot of shit go down on this web site, and I've even seen people called out for using the words "fuck", "fucking" and/or "fucker" before, but I don't ever recall someone being called out for their use of these words under the theory that by using these words as perjoratives, people are implying that there's something wrong with fucking, or with people who like to fuck. I don't know if the problem here can be boiled down to a few people who take everything they read too literally, or to a few people who are way too hypersensitive in their pursuit of political correctness, or to a community that has far too many people who just like conflict, or...fuck, I don't know. All I know is, there is a problem here, and it's a problem that has become increasingly apparent to me and others who used to post here a lot more frequently than we now do--some of whom don't come around at all any more.
To all of the cocksuckers, motherfuckers, sons of bitches, douchebags, pricks, and assholes who hiderated my comment: I am not a homophobe, and fuck you for suggesting that I am. I've gone with my nephew to the emergency room after one too many of the asskickings he's gotten from real homophobes not to take that shit personally--my nephew who I hardly ever see any more because he moved up north to get away from all of the rednecks down here who were offended by his lifestyle. It's infuriating, because if I were more open about who I am as my nephew is, I might be getting my ass kicked every now and then too. And it's especially infuriating given all the oxygen I've spent here defending GLBT rights against people here who consider those rights politically expendable, some of whom may have been among the people who hiderated me.
To the wider DKos community: I used to really enjoy coming to this web site because at one time, it actually felt like a community to me. I lurked for the first few years and didn't start posting until after Obama's victory in Iowa, but i still felt like a part of this community even before I was a vocal participant in it. That's no small thing to someone who lives in a state awash with right-wing ignorance. But I don't feel that way any more, and I guess that's why I spend so much less time here. This isn't a GBCW diary, despite its title, and I can't say that I won't come here any more because this is still an important web site, and there are still more than a few people here who I like and respect. But there aren't as many of them around as there used to be, and many of the ones who are still here aren't around as much. It's gotten downright toxic around here. I've gotten sucked into the negativity more times than I care to recount, so it wouldn't be entirely off-base if some accused me of hypocrisy in pointing this out. But it needs to be said, even if it probably already has been several times. Besides, I think we're all entitled to at least one whiny meta diary. And this is mine.
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UPDATE: First of all, a big thanks to everyone who had kind words below, and for joining in on all the fun that we've had in the comments section. I honestly thought that I would get a lot more grief for this diary than I actually have, and for that I'm grateful.
Second, a bit of clarification: as I said in the last paragraph of this diary, this isn't a GBCW diary. The "GBCSW" in the title was just a lame attempt at humor on my part (hopefully it's clear by now what the "CS" in "GBCSW" stands for). As I stated above, despite my general frustrations there are still people here at DKos who I like and respect, and as long as that's the case I'll probably still be around in some capacity, though I don't know if I'll be as active as I used to be. Besides, even if I had intended this as a GBCW diary, I think we all know that 99% of the people who post GBCW diaries end up reneging on them. :-)