Chavez Article

1. "Civility in public discourse is important". This opening shows that Chavez believes that being articulate and well mannered in public is important. She places high value on proper word choice and in politeness to avoid a public scene or tragedy.
2. The word "bellicose" used in this article describes an eagerness to fight, which fits this articles purpose perfectly. It serves as a perfect segway from the arguement that colorful vocabulary did not cause the Tuscon shootings to the arguement that we use words all the time with references to battle. For example, the word "campaign" is derived from a French word to describe military manuevers. She also argues that using words like "target", even in light of the shooting, should still be used because words like this did not cause the tragedy.
3. The point Chavez is trying to convey is that we should still use words that are not politically correct as long as they are used in polite and correct context. Her best arguement for this purpose comes about when she references the use of the word "niggardly" by former Washington mayor, which forced him into early retirement. This word sounds as though it is politically uncorrect and offensive, but used in the correct context, the word actually means miserly. It was incorrect to assume the offensiveness of the former mayor's statement, showing that people need to stop worrying about word choice as long as it is in the correct context.
4. I disagree with Chavez. Not all people are intelligent enough to know that some words that may sound insulting are not actually that demeaning.