Wise words.

[zotz]

We have now reached the point where every goon with a grievance, every bitter bigot, merely has to place the prefix, 'I know this is not politically correct, but...' in front of the usual string of insults in order to be not just safe from criticism, but actually a card, a lad, even a hero. Conversely, to talk about poverty and inequality, to draw attention to the reality that discrimination and injustice are still facts of life, is to commit the sin of political correctness. Anti-PC has become the latest cover for creeps. It is a godsend for every curmudgeon and crank, from fascists to the merely smug.
Finian O'Toole, The Irish Times, 5 May 1994

Comments

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

I noticed this as well, many moons ago (don't remember if it was before or after the article quoted). The frustrating thing is, Rush "Big Fat Idiot" Limbaugh and his dittoheads were able to completely spin this term and make it a term of contempt, when it was initially a left-wingers term (at least where I was living) to describe the triangulation we then associated with certain fiscal conservatives in the South when it came to social issues. They'd tow the anti-tax, big bidness line without question, but when it came to, say, repealing anti-miscegenation laws in Alabama, they would read the polls, go pump the flesh at Lulabelle's Cafe down on Elm Street and eventually come out with a position paper which sounded remarkably like what everyone else in the district had been saying all along. It was the politically correct thing to do.

But try explaining that to the imbeciles I deal with nowadays... On second thought, don't bother, it isn't worth it. The term was corrupted too long ago, and is irredeemably part of the right wing's arsenal of ass coverings. The only thing for it now is to add people who begin hateful screeds with "I know it isn't PC but..." to the list of people I'm compiling whom I shall nuke from orbit when I am king.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Mind you, a subset of the left does use "reactionary" to mean the same thing as "political correctness" now conveys on the right; "a thing I dislike".

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Yes, but at least "reactionary" is a straightforward insult. No-one goes around saying "I know it's not very reactionary of me, but..."