Listening to various news sources in the immediate aftermath of the capture of Saddam, I was struck by the extent that "Politically Correct" language has infected the media. Even as unlikely a PCer as Newt Gingrich felt the need to temper his usually descriptive tongue.
The first thing that went through my mind when I saw the footage of Saddam was that he looked like a bum. A homeless person. A tramp. A transient. A drifter. A hobo. A vagabond. A derelict. A vagrant. A bindle stiff.
There are any number of wonderful, image invoking words that would work for the situation. But what bland, inoffensive term was employed by the media (including Newt) over and over again yesterday to describe Saddam?
A street person. They said he looked like a street person.
While members of the media proudly pat themselves on the back for their sensitivity, I wonder if they realize that their submission to the dictates of being politically correct make the news they churn out an increasingly dry, banal product.
By the way, the most appropriate and certainly politically incorrect term to describe the appearance of Saddam?
If you look up bum in Webster's Thesaurus you'll find this classic:
street arab
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