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"Politically (In)Correct": A Term Devoid of Value

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I’m…well, not surprised, but still have some capacity for irritation at the fact that CNN continues to employ an abject bigot hasn’t gotten more attention. Hilzoy takes the opportunity to note how the term “politically incorrect” is used to shield abhorrent statements:

Um: no. This is not ‘political incorrectness’, in the sense of casting off the bonds of convention and saying something daring and clever and insightful, though slightly out of bounds. This is accusing a newly elected Congressman of treason, on the grounds that (a) he is a Muslim, and (b) he holds a view about Iraq that is shared by a significant chunk of the American people, and (c) he’s a Democrat. (Nice to have the idea that being a Democrat helps to make one presumptively treasonous stated so explicitly.)

Or maybe Beck is kinda sorta not accusing him of treason, but just saying that he feels like saying: “Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.” Frankly, I’m not sure I really understand this distinction. If Beck is really just divulging his own personal feelings, why on earth should he think that they are of any interest at all to us? If, on the other hand, he is expressing his feelings because he thinks that maybe they’re onto something, and that that something might be worth talking about, then he does not get to hide behind the claim that he’s not saying what he thinks, just what he feels.

Actually, I would push this argument further. Whatever value the term once had–and I’m a little more skeptical than Hilzoy–as Amanda says “politically incorrect” now is just wingnut-speak for “asshole.” Or, to put it in more elevated terms, it’s a way of insulating arguments you’d prefer not to defend on the merits from any criticism. For example, like when Glenn “More Rubble, Less Trouble” Reynolds wants to implicitly defend racial profiling or indiscriminate bombing, he can just use the term “political correctness” and, bingo, he doesn’t have to be clear about what he’s advocating and has plausible deniability. See? It’s just a way of pre-empting arguments, and an increasingly dishonest one.

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