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WASHINGTON (June 26) - The Washington Post on Friday defended its decision to print an obscenity uttered by Vice President #^&#^&#^&#^& Cheney during a confrontation in the Senate this week.
In a story published Friday, the Post quoted Cheney as saying "F--- yourself" to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The Post printed the entire four-letter curse, minus the dashes, something the paper says it hasn't done since publishing Kenneth Starr's report on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair in 1998.
In a story posted on its Web site, Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. said, "When the vice president of the United States says it to a senator in the way in which he said it on the Senate floor, readers need to judge for themselves what the word is because we don't play games at The Washington Post and use dashes."
A few dozen readers had complained about the curse, the paper said.
The Post's story on Friday also made mention of a 2000 incident in which then-presidential candidate George W. Bush made an off-mike comment about a New York Times reporter, calling him a "major league expletive." The Post did not print the expletive Friday. Downie said the Post printed the word in its 2000 story and he saw no reason to repeat it.
According to Senate aides, Cheney confronted Leahy about the senator's criticism of military contracts awarded to Cheney's former company, Halliburton. Leahy responded by criticizing the White House for standing by its allies who accused Democrats of being anti-Catholic in opposing one of Bush's judicial nominees. Cheney then responded with the F-word.
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