{"id":1667085,"date":"2026-03-02T02:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T07:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1667085"},"modified":"2026-03-02T02:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T07:40:00","slug":"i-do-solemnly-swear-how-profanity-has-taken-hold-of-american-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/i-do-solemnly-swear-how-profanity-has-taken-hold-of-american-politics\/1667085\/","title":{"rendered":"I Do Solemnly Swear: How Profanity Has Taken Hold Of American Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

I Do Solemnly Swear: How Profanity Has Taken Hold Of American Politics<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Jonathan Turley,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRespectfully, f\u2013k off.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Those words<\/a>\u00a0by California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, summed up the current race to the bottom of American politics.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats appear in a competition of the profane where voters are now subject to a virtual carpet-bombing of f-bombs and other indecent language.<\/p>\n

Gardon\u2019s response was to a standard media inquiry after Newsom\u2019s controversial statement to a black interviewer.<\/p>\n

In an Atlanta event,\u00a0Newsom declared<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019m like you \u2026 I\u2019m no better than you. I\u2019m a 960 SAT guy \u2026 literally a 960 SAT guy. You\u2019ve never seen me read a speech because I cannot read a speech.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> It was widely denounced as racist, but Newsom insisted that he was only talking about his struggle with dyslexia.<\/p>\n

The spin quickly fell apart after his statement, \u201cI\u2019m like you \u2026 I\u2019m no better than you,\u201d<\/strong><\/em> which suggested\u00a0he thought the audience in Atlanta had low scores.<\/p>\n

Reporters followed up to ask for proof about his disability, including his claim that \u201cI cannot read.\u201d The response was an f-bomb from Gardon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newsom, too, unleashed a profane attack on Sean Hannity of Fox News \u2014 who gave the California governor a chance to respond to\u00a0his critics.<\/p>\n

When Hannity criticized Newsom\u2019s comments in Atlanta, the governor\u00a0posted several four-letter words<\/a>\u00a0on X, concluding with: \u201cSpare me your fake f\u2014ing outrage.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

There was a time when political leaders maintained basic standards of civility and avoided profanity in public.<\/p>\n

Presidents like Lyndon Johnson could be quite salty in private, but drew a line in public.<\/p>\n

Notably, one of Richard Nixon\u2019s objections to his tapes being made public was the inclusion of foul language used in the Oval Office. <\/strong>He noted in his book In the Arena that \u201csince neither I nor most other presidents had ever used profanity in public, millions were shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not long ago that Trump\u2019s then-new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci\u00a0shocked<\/a>\u00a0many with a profane diatribe.<\/p>\n

He defended it as \u201can Italian thing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time, I\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0that, as someone who was raised in an Italian family,\u00a0we clearly had a different upbringing. I noted that if I used that language in public, my Sicilian grandmother would have ended the diatribe with a backhand.<\/p>\n

Profanity sometimes added to the mystique of military leaders who sought to convey that they were unconcerned with social norms as warriors.<\/p>\n

Gen. George Patton was known to drop some doozies. In one scene in the famous eponymous movie, Patton is asked about the Bible next to his bed and whether he really prayed. Patton responds, \u201cI sure do \u2026 Every godd\u2013n day\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Politics was different. The public once looked to political leaders as role models who exemplified social norms.<\/p>\n

It now appears that profanity is viewed as an essential element of political speech on the left.<\/p>\n

Katie Porter this week\u00a0thrilled a crowd<\/a>\u00a0by waving around a sign reading \u201cF\u2013k Trump.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Porter was previously criticized for using such language to abuse staffers to \u201cget out of my f\u2013cking shot<\/a>\u201d in an interview.<\/p>\n

At the State of the Union, Rep. Rashida Tlaib wore a button on the House floor reading \u201cF\u2013k Ice.<\/a>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Such behavior is not just limited to Democrats. President Trump has used profanity on occasion.<\/p>\n

However, the Democrats appear to have made profanity a signature element in their campaigns.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas, seems a perpetual profanity machine, regularly telling figures like Elon Musk to \u201cf\u2013k off\u201d and dropping the f-bomb at a higher rate than prepositions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some are virtually giggly over swearing in public. Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) declared, \u201cI don\u2019t swear in public very well, but we have to f\u2013k Trump. Please don\u2019t tell my children that I just did that.\u201d The crowd roared with approval that Dexter was feigning being naughty with dirty words.<\/p>\n

There is a belief that profanity is a way to connect to younger voters who trash-talk and seem to like what was once called \u201cpotty mouths.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there is also a clear use of profanity as a way to establish your bona fides with the mob.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trashing conventions of civility and decency is a way to convey that you are part of a radical chic.<\/p>\n

Figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have tried cringeworthy efforts to connect with voters by\u00a0dancing<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0cooking burgers<\/a>. Schumer then\u00a0joined his colleagues<\/a>\u00a0in dropping the f-bomb to show that he is very, very angry.<\/p>\n

The use of profanity has risen alongside the rise in rage rhetoric.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democratic politicians now regularly call Trump, Republicans, and law enforcement \u201cNazis\u201d and \u201cGestapo.\u201d Many are\u00a0promising to carry out a crackdown<\/a>\u00a0on Trump supporters once they are returned to power, including through criminal prosecutions.<\/p>\n

Figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have tried cringeworthy efforts to connect with voters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The devolution of American politics is occurring as politicians and pundits call for radical changes to our constitutional system. Showing that you do not respect social conventions adds to your cache as a radical leader.<\/p>\n

In my book\u00a0<\/em>Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,<\/a>\u00a0I explore comparisons with our current politics and the conditions that led to the French Revolution.<\/p>\n

There is a value to dehumanizing one\u2019s opponents to justify radical, even violent, action. Profanity conveys your self-authenticating anger to the mob. You may be an establishment politician, but you are one of them.<\/p>\n

It rarely lasts. Revolutions tend to devour their own.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swearing up a storm will not satisfy the mob very long. Democrats hope to ride the rage wave back into power and assume that, once they have that power, the mob will simply disappear in gratitude.<\/p>\n

It is likely that politicians of both parties will continue this trend toward potty-mouth politics. If you are speaking with civility, you are not mad enough.<\/p>\n

These politicians are feeding a rage addiction in this country by showing that they do not respect any limits of decency or decorum in seeking radical changes.<\/p>\n

Mark Twain said that \u201cunder certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

The difference today is that the profanity itself is a prayer by politicians seeking power.<\/p>\n

There is a belief that, if you want to be sworn in as the new governor of California or senator from Texas, you\u2019d better start swearing now.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the author of the New York Times bestselling \u201cRage and the Republic<\/a>: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 03\/01\/2026 – 21:40<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/i-do-solemnly-swear-how-profanity-has-taken-hold-american-politics<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I Do Solemnly Swear: How Profanity Has Taken Hold Of American Politics Authored by Jonathan Turley, \u201cRespectfully, f\u2013k off.\u201d\u00a0Those words\u00a0by California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s spokesperson,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1667086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1667085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-6ZGt","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/PEGI_Bad_Language_annotated.svg__0-e4CfLC.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1667085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667095,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1667085\/revisions\/1667095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1667086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1667085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1667085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1667085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}