Would a man be called a whore?

[c9]

...well, yes. When I was eight. Brian Mulroney said of Bryce Mackasey, a former Liberal cabinet minister and hanger-on, who was named an ambassador: "There is no whore, like an old whore."

Additionally, Paul Wells (Maclean's columnist) tells me the crowd he was with when Scott Brison defected made use of that word and worse.

But I guess it comes down to this: how fucking sad is it that we need to use that kind of insult to describe someone we disagree with on social or economic policy?

As I wrote back to Wells, "I hope I lose my naivete soon, it's distracting."

Comments

[miket61.livejournal.com]

Defining a "whore" as someone who shamelessly sells himself, then the term could easily fit. It's not questioning the morality, rather the motivation.

Of course, one could also use the term "Machiavellian" to describe shameless self-serving behavior. Not much better morally, but the willingness to trade public favor for personal gain is defined a bit differently.