While I’m thinking about it . . . .

I intended to post this several days ago, but I was stymied by my hosed hard drive.  I found it courtesy of blog buddy Maru, who is one of my all-time idols of incivil bloggery goodness.  Predictably, it’s being promulgated by another blog buddy, Official Role Model of Blogger Incivilitegritude NTodd.  Kidz, I love you both.

You know, this is all of a piece with the Broderella-style pearl-clutching over all of us "incivil," "vituperative, foul-mouthed" bloggers "named Vinny" who sit in our "efficiency apartment[s]" that we "haven’t left . . . in two years," with "an opinion, a modem, and a bathrobe" - and a delusional mission from God to make real journalists lives hell.  [Um, guys?  See why I love your real journalist colleague Dan Froomkin, below.] 

So I think it’s worth posting NTodd’s glorious Holy Fucking Pledge Not-Pledge in its entirety.  Especially since, as we all know, we’d suddenly get a pass from the SCLM if we simply jettisoned one lonely little word from our posts.  Yeah, that word.  Fuck.

Now, I ask you, what the hell is so wrong with the word fuck?  I like the word fuck.  It’s expressive, it’s cathartic, it’s multitasking, fercrissakes:  It’s a noun, a verb, an adjective.  You can use it to mean very bad things, and everyone knows exactly how you feel.  You can use it mean very good things, and everyone knows exactly how you feel.  Hell, I like to fuck.  Fucking’s fun.  Which, of course, is the root of the whole problem, but I digress . . . .

Anyway, without further ado, NTodd’s Holy Fucking Pledge Not-Pledge:

We fucking celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces words like ‘fuck’ and open conversation. But frankness does not have to mean we can’t have fun and swear like sailors. We present this Holy Fucking Pledge in hopes that it helps create a culture that encourages both personal expression and constructive conversation. One can say naughty words and insult one’s mom without losing points in the discussion.

1. We take responsibility for our own words and reserve the right to call stupid people names when they fucking annoy us.

2. We won’t tell anybody to fuck off if we wouldn’t tell them to fuck off in person.

3. If tensions escalate, we will start a metablogpissingmatch, if only to generate traffic.

4. When we believe someone is unfairly attacking another, we escalate and get more personal and nasty.

5. We allow anonymous comments because who the fuck really cares?  It’s a goddamned blog.

6. We troll other sites for shits and giggles.

7. We encourage parody sites because if you can’t take a fucking joke, you’re a goddamned moran and shouldn’t be blogging.

 

Exactly.