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I don’t have a problem with a leader swearing on some occasion, like “damn” or whatever. But I have an issue with leaders who descend into personal ad hominem accompanied by foul language.

I am no prude. But I don’t want to hear the “F” word coming out of any of my elected officials. You are expected to be in control of yourself.

I once knew a Captain of a carrier who lined up crewmembers and used the most foul epithets while yelling at them. As I said, I am not prude, but watching this spittle-lipped red-faced performance, it startled, and to a degree, frightened me.

I am not fully against bad language, and those crew members who had brought it on fully deserved it, IMO.

But on a warship with thousands of men and weapons (including nuclear ones) I want my Captain to always be in full control. And that day, it didn’t seem like it to me.

My father was a naval officer, and only once in my entire life did I ever see him become emotionally “unhinged”. Any time he had to discipline us, it was in a low, terrifying tone of voice, and deliberate, measured words with only the most infrequent oaths mixed in. It was his measured approach that scared us. Of course, my mom scared us too, but she was Italian and Armenian, and would completely go off the deep end.