A Screw Loose?
Not even the news of some over-enthusiastic Novacastrians getting crash tackled by Iemma's security detail could arouse the slightest excitement for me in the snoozefest that has become the New South Wales State Election. As usual it took a nutter independent to add a bit of colour to what has been a funeral procession of an election. Care of Dylan Welch of the Sydney Morning Herald:A Supreme Court judge has found the phrase "we're screwed" is offensive and
inappropriate to be used on how-to-vote cards for Saturday's state
election.
The judgement comes as a result of an appeal to the Supreme Court
by independent candidate for Wyong Greg Best, who had been ordered by the NSW
electoral commissioner to remove two voting cards containing the phrase "we're
screwed" and two containing the phrase "dickheads and wankers rule".
The
commissioner found the phrase could be offensive to people being handed the
campaign material.
Mr Best agreed to remove the "dickheads and wankers rule"
slogan but challenged the commissioner's decision on "we're screwed".
In her
judgement, Justice Virginia Bell found the commissioner had acted responsibly in
refusing Mr Best permission to use the slogan.
She said it was likely to
possibly be offensive to some among the "broad potential audience for election
material".
At first reading of the article I had a bit of a chuckle. Wankers and Dickheads? I don't think I'd want granny Higgins of the Presbyterian Ladies Society reading that, even if quite a few in the general population wouldn't find it offensive. Sorry, granny Higgins or any of the Presbyterian Ladies Society if you happen to be reading this blog, by the way.
But not for the first time I have sided with a nutter independant on an issue. I can recall references to being "Screwed" many times in general exhibition television. If Monique the fat fighting Freak off the Lardiest Shedder, can scream "arrrrrrrgh, I'm screwed" after a stomach churning walk up a hill, at 7:30 PM... on national television.... surely the Champion of Free Speech himself Greg Best of Wyong, can inform the residents of Wyong that they're screwed as well? It seems not. Further on in the article it describes where the lawyer and the judge debate whether context is necessary:
Mr Best's barrister, Ms Louise Byrne, and Ms Belinda Baker, representing
the electoral commission, spent about three hours in court today arguing whether
or not the phrase "we're screwed" could be deemed offensive to a reasonable
person at the polling booths.
"If someone walked into a party and said 'we're
screwed', unless they were engaged in group sex it is not [a sexual
connotation]," Ms Byrne said.
But Ms Baker disagreed. "The dictionary
definition of the word 'screwed' includes reference to a sexual act," she
said
It would seem to me that regardless of dictionary definitions, context is completely relevant. "Let's Screw" may be offensive, but "this candidate has a loose screw" is not... unless of course his partner happens to be particularly promiscuous, but that's undermining my own argument...
Screw is not a profanity. Contextually, this rather harmless word has the potential to be offensive but "We're Screwed", while rather defeatist, even for an independent, is not offensive. Not even to Granny Higgins.
So Greg Best, Warrior of Free Speech, you have my moral support as you take the good fight to the court of appeals. Let's hope you're not Screwed.
Labels: Greg Best, New South Wales Election, New South Wales Politics
posted by The Dentist @ 1:14 am
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