Perhaps nothing contributes more to the rancor of political discourse than the indiscriminate use of political labels as partisan epithets. Labels such as “left-wing” and “right-wing,” “red state” and ...

This fifth week of the session has been the most dramatic to date, with vetoes, overrides and epithets flying about. The theatrics began last weekend. Leaders of the House and Senate met with Gov.

One of the ugliest moments in the health care reform debate came last week when someone used the “n” word on Cong. John Lewis (D-Atlanta). Let me say at the outset that I don’t think Rep. Lewis has ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...

Racial slurs. Anti-gay epithets. The N-word. The F-bomb. Over the last three years, the language used by members of the public at Los Angeles City Council meetings has grown increasingly graphic, ...