Quote Originally Posted by TexasBob View Post
I don't see an intersection between common courtesy and "Political Correctness". I guess it depends on what you consider PC to be (assuming everyone understands courtesy, common or otherwise, which I basically equate with politeness and consideration of others).

I think the term PC equates to the act of adopting terminology that presumes your own personal political orientation and then promoting the idea that the use or non use (depending on the term in question) of that terminology is a form of bigotry. It is messing with the language and culture in a dishonest way to make any disagreement with your personal politics difficult to express without stirring up a lot of smoke and dust. Read 1984.

This has escalated beyond language (where it originated) to attitude and behavior. The Fort Hood shooter was only able to get where he was through a series of situations made possible by the fear of retribution that pervasive PC has created. No one wanted to be the first "bigot" (a career-threatening tag to be stuck with) even though the several situations that should have been been acted on had nothing to do with actual bigotry. "Diversity" and "multiculturalism" were the trump cards that blocked any proper response. PC kills. Not in theory but in observed fact.

The above is probably not a PC definition of PC.
Some good points there Bob. Maybe common courtesy doesn't equal political correctness after all. My example of Lillian Carter was more what I was talking about. I could give some other examples but they wouldn't be politically correct.