Doug McIntyre: There's nothing civil about censorship

Censorship is not civility.

Yet that's the argument made in this newspaper last Sunday by columnist Tim Rutten. (Killing 'illegal' is about civility, not politics.)

Rutten made a spirited defense of The Associated Press' decision to prohibit their reporters from using the phrase "illegal immigrant" when referring to an individual.

I couldn't disagree more.

The last people on earth who should be telling journalists what words they can and can't use are fellow journalists. That's exactly what the AP has chosen to do.

"Illegal should describe only an action," explained AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. "Our goal always is to use the most precise and accurate words so that the meaning is clear to any reader anywhere. "

Nonsense. This isn't about style; it's about setting the boundaries of debate.

George Orwell, author of "1984," in his essay "Politics and the English Language" said, "Never use a long word where a short one will do."

"Illegal immigrant" is the vernacular. This is how people speak. But the Associate Press has concluded the term is offensive, an ethnic slur, and therefore what are we left to conclude? If the AP isn't making a political statement, it is certainly making a moral judgment. The objective reporters of facts are now partisans.

While the Senate and House of Representatives

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Doug McIntyre: There's nothing civil about censorship