The recent brouhaha emanating from the Colorado State University student newspaper editorial use of the f-bomb in derision of President Bush reminds us that this is the 35th anniversary of comedian George Carlin’s monologue “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” The f-bomb was one of those words. And sure enough, one should never say never, for we have seen growing acceptance of the use of hitherto never allowed words.
Use of profanity, as such, is not built into the Constitution. But in 1971 the United States Supreme Court decided that mere public display of the f-bomb is protected by the First and the Fourteenth Amendments (Cohen vs. California). So why after 36 years are we finding ourselves still debating and dancing around the use of what my No. 2 son once described as the worst word in the English language? Well, the debate over freedom of speech is long-standing and will be ongoing long after any eyes reading this have passed on.
It may come as a shock that not all speech is totally free from legal constraint. From court decisions we may summarize there are three types of speech; the first being fully protected speech. The second is limited protected speech. The third being unprotected speech. The context of use determines the category. Political speech fits into the first; advertising in the second; and defamatory in the third (as examples).
George Carlin aside, as society ambles through the ages, we see sensibilities evolve. We become desensitized to that we once found shocking. How prevalent has use and tolerance of the f-bomb become? Well, in 2003 John Kerry, in an interview with Rolling Stone, regarding his vote for use of force in Iraq said, “Did I expect George Bush to f*ck it up as badly as he did? I don’t think anybody did.” In 2004 Vice President Dick Cheney, during a heated exchange on the floor of the Senate, told Senator Patrick Leahy to either “f*ck off” or “go f*ck yourself.” And, after receiving the Golden Globe Award on national television, U2 member Bono uttered, “This is really, really fxxxing brilliant.” (The FCC demurred, finding it not obscene, but a mere intensifier).
Still we find use of the f-bomb somewhat unsettling. (One arguably would not want to hear your grandmother dropping f-bombs at the Thanksgiving dinner table). In the final analysis, considering the political context in which the Colorado State University editorial was couched, it would seem to qualify as protected speech.
Opinions are like our noses – we all have ’em.
Jay Garrett is an assistant professor for the Deptartment of Business and Administration