New Yorker Editors: What the Fcuk?

What does it take to offend a copy editor at The New Yorker?

Could it be a certain slang term for an evil, sinful, dirty, body part?

Jon Favreau, a twenty-seven-year-old speechwriter who had worked for John Kerry in 2004, told me, “People were drawn to him and inspired by him in a way that you knew this was about electing Barack Obama. People had come from places where they were probably disappointed in politics. I was, after 2004. It was painful, and I didn’t know if I was going to do it again.” He added, “Even during tough times, everyone sticks together. There are not a lot of Washington assholes on this campaign.”

Nah. That’s not it.

Perhaps it’s the filth that comes out of that evil, sinful, dirty, body part?

McCain couldn’t keep up. “From the second week in September to the middle of October, we were doing two or three to one against McCain, and at least three to one in some of these battleground states,” Messina said. “Republicans couldn’t play in North Carolina. They couldn’t play in Indiana. They weren’t in Florida for forever, and so we’re up by ourselves just kicking the shit out of them.” Obama won all three states.

Nope. Gee, what could possibly offend a copy editor at The New Yorker?

Furman, glancing at a television, saw McCain walking up to a lectern; a caption at the bottom of the screen said that he was suspending his campaign and might not attend the first debate. When Furman told Obama what McCain was doing, Obama used a salty expression to describe the move and hung up the phone.

Thank goodness the copy-editors at The New Yorker are working so hard to protect my delicate sensibilities. I had heart palpitations just looking at the words “salty expression” and imagining what it could be.

Seriously guys, there is no need to worry about offending the delicate sensibilities of Democrats. I always thought it was cool that Dick Cheney would tell other politicians to go fuck themselves. It was cute, but in a grouchy, old man kind of way.

But Obama saying shit, dropping the dreaded f-bomb, or muttering, "What the fuck?" That’s actually cool. It’s the kind of thing you’d imagine the actor (Denzel Washington?) playing him in a movie would say - only it happened in real life.

Rather than go for some punchy writing, the copy editors (or worse, the actual writer of the piece), have decided that the plebeians couldn’t handle the revelation that their anointed leaders use colorful language.

What a bunch of bullshit.