Memo for politicians: Swear words are not substitutes for thoughts.
I know, this is kind of a hot take in 2026, where the way to show that you’re a new brand of politician is to use a word that requires some bowdlerization in publications with standards. Sometimes, it works. Heck, even the president uses it occasionally, like underlining that he expected both sides of the Israel-Iran cease-fire deal to, ahem, cease fire.
Profanity can work in public life — perhaps not as promiscuously as in the dialogue in a Tarantino film, but for the same reason: to underline well-written dialogue. It does not replace well-written dialogue. This is why people hold “Pulp Fiction” in higher regard than, say, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”
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