… here is Public Editor Clark Hoyt, nattering on about the Times’ decision not to use the word “nuts” in reporting on Jesse Jackson’s colorful comment, accidentally caught on tape, about Barack Obama. (”I want to cut his nuts off.”)

Talking about bad words is of endless interest in some quarters. On the left, people can mutter darkly about censorship. On the right, there’s an opportunity to play to the cheap seats with talk about the rising tide of vulgarity. For newspaper ombudsmen, there’s an opportunity to both tut-tut and get a little racy.

Hoyt would have served his readers better if he had simply explained how jejune this discussion is, rather than jump into it like a drunk at a dinner party. There’s a spectrum of things Jackson could have said, from “Boy, I’m rootin’ tootin’ mad” (which most papers would print) to, I don’t know, something like “I’m going to fuck him in the ass” (which most papers wouldn’t).

The Times has a clearly articulated policy of how it deals with vulgar and obscene words, and the paper followed it in this instance.

Too many ombudsmen think that it’s their job to give their opinion about editorial decisions the paper’s editors made. “I would have done something different,” they sniff. Who cares?

What more does Hoyt want? He disagrees with the policy? Let him go edit his own paper.

The rest of Hoyt’s column is intellectually incoherent. He doesn’t even have a consistent position on the matter. Here’s his wimpoid conclusion:

Although I would have quoted Jackson[, …] I think the newspaper is wise to preserve its character and adapt slowly and carefully to the language around it. I use some of Carlin’s dirty words, but I do not want to read them in The Times unless it is essential, and I do not think I am alone.

Speaking of George Carlin, the late comedian, the same thing goes for his overrated and silly “seven dirty words” routine.

There’s no law against saying the seven words, or printing them. It was merely TV practice at the time not to use them, for obvious reasons.

Carlin has a reputation as a radical, but wasn’t this kind of a dumb observation? “Hey—I just realized you’re not allowed to show a filmed murder, rape, act of bestiality or suicide on TV. Why, that’s censorship! I’m going to do a comedy routine about it!”

After a radio station played Carlin’s routine on the subject, the FCC got involved. The resulting case went up to the U.S. Supreme Court and… the FCC prevailed, and the government’s ability to punish broadcast outlets that did broadcast the words was codified.

Nice work, George.