Banned in Boston: William Lantigua's potty mouth
Globe columnist Brian McGrory's must-read piece on new Lawrence mayor William Lantigua--who promised to reliniquish his Mass. legislative seat during the campaign, but now seems determined not to do so--is a fascinating study in political tone-deafness. I have one question, however. By censoring Lantigua's apparent use of "naughty" language, might the Globe be inadvertently protecting Lantigua from himself (to the extent that's possible)?
Consider the following (emphases added):
For nearly 90 minutes...Lantigua - elected in November and sworn into office early
last month - offered a profanity-laced, point-by-point rejection of the
demands that he relinquish his position in the Legislature so he can
devote himself to being mayor of Lawrence....
Colorful? Alternating sips between a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and a bottle
of Poland Spring water, the Dominican-born Lantigua repeatedly referred
to parts of his own male anatomy and said his critics were constantly
kicking them. As an example, he dismissively held up the Eagle-Tribune,
which has carefully chronicled the jobs controversy.
But he claimed not to care. “I can take the criticism,’’ he said. “I’ve been taking it all my life.’’
Now, if Lantigua merely said, ad nauseum, "They're kicking me in the balls," that's not too shocking. But one can imagine other profanities and/or references to testicles, etc. which--if made public--would be considerably more damaging to Lantigua's already dicey public image.
Here's my friendly suggestion to the good people at the Globe and Boston.com: append an online sidebar to McGrory's piece that features Lantigua's more outre moments. Then warn readers that the vocabulary contained therein may be disturbing to some. Delicate types can then go elsewhere--and the rest of us can get an unvarnished sense of just how coarse Lantigua really is.