Vice President Potty Mouth, by Scott C. Smith

One of George W. Bush's famous campaign promises was to "change the tone" in Washington, D.C.; to bring civility to politics. At a GOP event on Feb. 1, 2001, according to the Washington Transcript Service, Bush told his supporters, "thanks from the bottom of my heart for your sacrifices. It also gives me a chance to say how deadly earnest I am about using my position as your president to change the tone in the nation's capital to say to America that we'll have our disagreements, we'll fight over principle and we'll argue over detail. But we'll do so in a way that respects one another."

Vice President Dick Cheney also promised a new era of civility in Washington. At the GOP political action committee conference on Feb. 15, 2001, Cheney said, "We (he and George W. Bush) do not mind debating our opponents. He and I are going to make our case just as vigorously as we can. But we also take seriously the responsibility to be honest and to be civil. In my office, I have a picture of John Adams, the first vice president. Adams liked to say, 'The facts are stubborn things.' Whatever the issue, we are going to deal with facts and show a decent regard for other points of view. This is not about questioning people's motives or their good faith. The days of the so-called war room and the permanent campaign are over."

It all sounds very civil, doesn't it? What a concept. Respectful disagreement. It sounded too good to be true. And it was. On June 22, 2004, Cheney decided he'd had enough of that civil tone in Washington. In a heated discussion on the Senate floor on with Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, Cheney told Leahy (reports vary) to "f--- off" or said "f--- you." The exchange occurred after Cheney confronted Leahy about criticism Leahy had made of the vice president and the company he used to work for, Halliburton.

Cheney had no regrets over the incident and, as he told Neil Cavuto of Fox News, he "felt better" afterwards.

Another famous cursing incident occurred when Senator John Kerry was snowboarding in Idaho on March 19. After taking a tumble, Kerry blamed it on a secret service agent who had knocked it over: "I don't fall down. The S.O.B. knocked me over."

Oh, the horror! John Kerry cussed out a secret service agent. Conservatives were not amused. Tony Blankley of the Washington Times wrote on March 31, of the incident, "but what may become the enduring exemplar of the Kerry style was his spontaneous expletive on the ski slopes when his Secret Service guard bumped into him by accident (while guarding him): 'I don't fall down. The S.O.B. knocked me over.' To instinctively say that about the man who is sworn to put himself between Mr. Kerry and a bullet, paints a lasting and contemptible character portrait."

Kerry calling a secret service agent a "S.O.B." is contemptible. What about Cheney telling Patrick Leahy to "f--- off"? According to the June 28, 2004 Washington Times, there was little reaction to Cheney's cursing: "Republican leaders yesterday made no request for an apology from Vice President Dick Cheney, who cursed at Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy on Tuesday, and the White House said Mr. Cheney's expletive was 'not an issue' with the president."

Not an issue? How could it not be an issue? Bush promised to change the tone in Washington, to be civil, but doesn't care when the vice president is very uncivil with a senator?

A search through the Washington Times archives shows no indignant editorials over Cheney's gutter-talk. Kerry calling a man a S.O.B. makes him "contemptible," but Cheney's potty mouth is not an issue.

As quick as they were to admonish John Kerry for his use of expletives, conservatives have remained mostly silent on Cheney's use of an expletive. In fact, right-wingers apparently think what Cheney did was not an issue, as Dick Morris explained on the June 25, 2004, Hannity and Colmes: "but you know, you've got to realize, there's a special exemption in the United States Senate for cursing at Patrick Leahy. He's the most irascible member of the Senate. Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio used to have that title, and now Leahy does. You can get a medal for cursing him."

The Bush administration was correct. They would change to tone in Washington, D.C. For the worse.

-- Scott C. Smith, July 2004

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