The "B" Word - Is This Just a Phase?

It seems that lately - well, the past couple of years – that I have been hearing the “B” word more and more. First, I heard it among groups of women referring to themselves, as in “How ya doin’ b*itches?” Then, as a real epithet from others trying to put women down. “You bleeping b*tch!” or “Don’t be such a b*tch!” Today it is gender-neutral, but I’d have a hard time calling a dude a “b*tch.”


There was some attempt initially to soften the word by the bizarre pronunciation, something like “Bee-Otch.” Lame. Then it became a word in the casual vernacular of the young and the restless. And now it even comes in title of movies, books, TV shows (“Good Christian B*tches). What a slap to Christians everywhere. Or would that be a “b*tch slap” to Christians? Seems offensive to me.

As kids, as we became more worldly (and could cross the street on our own), we snickered as we used bawdy language. I, myself, started with hell and damn, righteously defending their use by saying, “It’s in the Bible, so how bad can it be?” Same with ass. Let’s see, something like, “Mary was riding Joseph’s ass as they entered Bethlehem.” I am not sure which Bible version that is from – you get the picture.

Then when we really wanted to be bad, (not in today’s sense of “good”) we might call someone a “b*itch” as a gross putdown. If an adult happened to hear us, we would meekly say we were talking about female dogs. Likely story.

So even though it has been present for some time, that word still slams into my eardrums and is not pleasant. There are so many better words to use when using “b*tch” in a nice way, like “How ya doin’ guys?” Of course, (can you believe it), there are women who are offended by being called “guys” but not by being called “b*tches.”

I continue to hope it is a phase. Like cursing your mother when you were really mad, just to get a reaction. We grew up and out of that (if we lived). Maybe we need to find a replacement, something a little softer and less hard on the ears. Let’s keep to the dog theme, so “How ya doin’ puppies?”

Striving For Mediocrity?

I once wrote about the “Rise and Fall of the American Empire,” at the time more tongue-in-cheek, but as we slog through campaigns and elections I begin to worry that something in the American Enterprise isn’t working.

Some like to say that America is “exceptional” and while that may be true, it is certainly not demonstrated in our seats of government. Despite the pleas from the citizens, the pundits, and even the media, politicians seem willing to ignore the pitfalls of doing nothing.

Doing nothing with the budget, doing nothing about the deficit, doing nothing about serious healthcare issues, and doing nothing about the unsustainable growth of Social Security and Medicare, all seems to be OK. Just push it down the road. Instead the Congress and the President try to one-up each other with cute sayings and epithets that add nothing to the solution. The old adage, “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem” is even more true today.

I have written to my senators and representatives begging them to propose some compromise, to be true statesman, and not just partisans who tear asunder our American fabric. Discussion is good, lively discussion is better, but in the end it probably takes a compromise, a bargain, a deal. We used to denounce such back room dealings where senators would make an agreement to vote for one of the opposition’s pet projects in return for support for another on the other side. Oh, I long for those days of “sausage making.” At least there was a product, a movement forward. Today we are stuck; no, we are in reverse, and if something doesn’t happen soon, it will be irreversible.