last night, as i was watching the state of the union, i had just one wish (you can keep reading, dear political-fearing siblings: i promise this intellectual exploration does not require that you have read a newspaper in the last four years or that you know the difference between federalism and despotism). i wasn't hoping for an answer to healthcare reform or a single silver-bullet solution to social security. i wasn't hoping for any tragic fate to befall our unethical leaders or any sudden onset of leprosy.

and besides wishing that either geena davis (commander in chief) or president david palmer (24) was the president actually describing the status of our nation, i wanted, more than anything, for the president to slip-up and say "fuck."

really. how great would that have been?

much attention has been paid recently to censorship and the loss of the first amendment right of freedom of speech (at the very least, you know that dear political-fearing siblings, right?). even more attention has been paid to the effects on children of bad language, bad video games, and bad pierce brosnan movies. in fact, there are claims that a single exposure to the f-word permanently harms a child.

are you fucking kidding me?

oh, i mean, are you joking?

don't get me wrong: i am not a staunch liberal unaware of the potential problems with profanity (i.e. lack of ability to express oneself adequately). but a single f-bomb permanently harm a child? does a fairy die too every time a dyslexic reads advertisements for french connection united kingdom? as a twenty-something who uses language for purposes of personal expression and sexual innuendos to get a rise -- pardon the expression -- out of people , i just don't find any threat or profound evil in fuck.

i mean, other than STDs.

a few weeks ago, eric and i went to see a performance by our favorite NPR radio host, ira glass, MOT. ira hosts a show called, "this american life" -- a story-telling program based on a different everydaynormalamerican theme each week. it's not a news show or a talk show or a call-in show. they make movies for radio. it's kind of like the infamous "car talk." except just one host. and no cars.

ira spent a bit of time voicing his fuckstration with how the federal cummunications commissionary's limitations affect his show. it's not like he wants to offend his listeners with an endless stream of profanity (did anyone else notice that profanity begins with the prefix "pro?" derived, of course, from the same latin root as prophylactic). it's just that, in the middle of a particular episode that tells the intimate and powerful stories of individuals affected by gang violence, there is really no better way to describe something inserted "up one's ass" other than saying ... "up his ass."

and yet, in final editing, his lawyers instructed him to bleep the expression from the program.

clap if you believe in fairies.

as a young communications professional whose job it is to craft words into meaningful, thoughtful, and often deceiving messages (pre-lawyer practice), language -- for me -- is cathartic. swear words are often used not in shock or anger, but rather as a sort of a social lubricant.

having worked in an environment where cursing (and leather straps) was used as a form of punishment ("here's the fucking article you were supposed to find yesterday" and "you fucking did what?"), i understand and appreciate the belittling effects imposed by the power of swear words.

yet what ultimately underlies the phenomenon of cursing is that the real meaning of a word is only as powerful or harmless as the emotion behind it. (having written my law school personal statement on the power of language, i am now clearly qualified as an expert on the subject.)

afterall, free speech is not about licking, i mean, liking what other people say, is it?

titillating question, no?