Hoodeet (JW)candidates is fine. Personal attacks on other Babblers are not.
On the subject of "oppressive, homophobic language," I was a bit disturbed by the following passage from a recent Maclean's article on Mulcair:
Mulcair was first elected to public office in 1994 as a Liberal member of Quebec’s national assembly. Journalist Vincent Marissal recalls first encountering Mulcair a year or so later, during a friendly game of hockey, Liberals against press gallery scribes. Marissal was skating in front of his own net, sans puck, when Mulcair knocked him to the ice. “I thought he was going to throw down his gloves,” Marissal says. Instead, Mulcair hissed at the prostrate columnist: “Stop complaining, you big sissy, and get back on your skates.”
(Source: http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/03/16/thomas-mulcair-is-mr-angry/#.T2NqYN7j...)
Isn't using the term "sissy" rather offensive and insensitive? Personally, I'd like to have a leader who refrains from that kind of language.
I'm not one to tolerate homophobic, racist or sexist language, but in a hockey game, where testosterone rules and primitive behaviour is rampant, it's kind of silly, or at least unrealistic, IMO to expect players to think before they insult an opponent, and "sissy" is pretty tame compared to some other nasty words he could have uttered. It would be another thing to yell it out loud or to use that language in conversation or in political debate. :)
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In my experience, the word "sissy" has literally zero connection to anyone's gender or sexual orientation. It means "wimp". Obviously we can debate the meaning and basis of every insult until the cows come home, which just goes to underscore the stupidity of eliminating context from every interpersonal exchange.