EDITORIALS – ‘Bite me,’ ‘bitches’- whatever happened to Parliamentary language?
Chief Roland Willson in media scrum. (Image: leadnow.ca)
An Armchair Mayor editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
SOME OF US were left shaking our heads at Coun. Donovan Cavers’ promise during a council meeting to eat his own shorts if the emergency water intake approved for the North Shore ever has to be used.
Half of us didn’t know what “eat my shorts” means, while the other half know what it means but couldn’t figure out Cavers’ usage of it. As Bart Simpson, the saying’s originator, employs the phrase, it basically translates to “screw you.”
Instead, Cavers’ use of the term simply conjured up unpleasant visions.
As unhappy a picture as his use of the phrase creates, if that’s the worst language uttered in City Hall we don’t have much to worry about.
On the weekend, columnist Jack Knox described on this website the case of the Nanaimo City councilor who repeatedly told the mayor during a meeting to “bite me.”
“Bite me” means, well, pretty much the same as “Eat my shorts.”
If either of those phrases remains confusing, there’s no ambiguity at all about the intentions behind calling women “evil bitches.”
That’s what Chief Roland Willson of the West Moberly First Nation is reported to have called Premier Christy Clark and BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald in a Facebook post with respect to the controversial Site C dam project.
One can imagine the repercussions if a Caucasion man were to use such a term for indigenous women but it’s inappropriate no matter whose mouth it comes from.
There are many famous examples of politicians in senior governments describing each other as dimwits, loons and wingnuts, and there was Pierre Trudeau’s famous middle finger salute, and taunting opponents in the B.C. Legislature is a time-honoured tradition. Donald Trump, of course, has fought an entire presidential campaign on defaming others.
Up to a point, it’s good sport but, all in all, not terribly productive. Cavers intended no insult with his commitment to digest his own shorts but it’s just another example of where politicians might consider raising the level of debate instead of lowering it. Whether they’re insulting each other or quoting Bart Simpson, it would be nice if they could show a little more respect for the offices they hold.
mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca
ArmchairMayor.ca 
I respectfully disagree. Bart Simpson invites others to ‘eat his shorts’. That’s a taunt and obviously a slightly less unacceptable way to say ‘screw you’.
I’m a little surprised that few *apparently* understood Caver’s promise to ‘eat his shorts’… I always thought that was a commonly-understood expression for “I think there is zero chance this will happen, so I’ll commit to eating my shorts if it does… which clearly, it won’t… because obviously I can’t…”
Frankly, I think anyone feigning ignorance on this is really just playing ‘silly bugger’ with the politics of it.
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