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Mark Halperin suspended indefinitely from MSNBC: When language bites

After referring to President Obama with a term that can't appear in a family newspaper, MSNBC commentator Mark Halperin was suspended from the network and issued a warning by Time Magazine, where he is an editor-at-large.

MSNBC senior political commentator Mark Halperin was suspended indefinitely on Thursday, after casually tarring President Obama with 鈥� well, let鈥檚 call it an epithet that polite company uses only as a nickname for Richard.

The Time editor-at-large, appearing on Joe Scarborough's "Morning Joe," was dissecting the president鈥檚 Wednesday press conference when the host asked him how he really felt.

Mr. Halperin asked if the seven-second delay was available, and the cohosts urged him to 鈥済o for it.鈥�

He did.

The delay was not used and the term went live. Within hours, everyone from the network brass to Halperin himself, Time magazine, and the White House press secretary had weighed in, dubbing the word 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� and 鈥渋nappropriate.鈥�

The hubbub over Halperin鈥檚 comment raises questions about the decline of political and civic discourse, the pressure for ratings in a 24/7 news cycle, and of course, the impact of a popular culture more comfortable with throwing potshots than respect at political leaders.

But it also has to be asked, whatever happened to the well-turned insult?

鈥淭hou clouted, rampallian haggard,鈥� anyone? How about 鈥淭hou mangled, beef-witted barnacle鈥� or 鈥淭hou tottering, weather-bitten lout鈥�?

Not on your sound bite, says Matt Hale, political scientist at Seton Hall University. 鈥淏ack in the day when commentators had all day to craft their comments for the half-hour evening news programs, you might have seen some more careful word-smithing going on,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here is simply no time in a pressurized news cycle, where everything is right now.鈥�

The choice of a word with shock value also points to the rising influence of the comedian-as-commentator, says Robert Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center of Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York.

Comedy Central鈥檚 Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert both operate within different parameters, he says, yet they play an important role in setting the tone for politics in the media. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that surprising to see someone reach for a more colloquial attitude,鈥� Professor Thompson says, adding that the use of a coarse word when talking about politicians is much more acceptable today because, on the comedy shows, disrespect and insult are part of the comedy itself.

鈥淗alperin鈥檚 use of the word was tasteless,鈥� Thompson says, 鈥渂ut he was just reaching for a word where language is more exciting.鈥� The problem, of course, is 鈥渢hat language didn鈥檛 adapt very well to a very different venue,鈥� he adds.

鈥淭his was a great example of the Dumbing Down of Political Discourse,鈥� says Mary Ellen Balchunis, a professor of political science at La Salle University, via e-mail. She suggests the president was out of line as well, in the condescending way he addressed Congress during his press conference. 鈥淲e should insist that all our elected officials are treated with civility,鈥� she says. 鈥淥ne branch of government shouldn't talk down to the other; and the fourth branch of government, the media, shouldn't contribute to the uncivil discourse."

But, lest the rosy glow of nostalgia for some earlier era of greater civility spread too widely, Western New England University historian John Baick notes that politics has always been dirty. 鈥淭here has never been a golden age of decorum,鈥� he says via e-mail. There might have been more etiquette and more filters, he says, 鈥渂ut the polite courtesies involved in blocking civil rights legislation in the 1950s were far more toxic to American life than the bombastic threats involved in Republicans blocking judicial nominees today."

He adds, "Language matters. But the context and subject material should matter more.鈥�