Profanity is certainly not new.

But it used to be there was general agreement that salty language had its time and place, maybe after-hours in a bar, maybe in private with friends, or when you slam your thumb with a hammer, but it was not to be used in certain circles. Higher circles. Like public discourse by those we hold up as leaders and role models.

And now, it’s used with impunity by elected leaders to get attention and to appear — what? — tough? Impassioned? Serious?

So here comes Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a bit late to the profanity party, using a crude word to criticize President Donald Trump.

Does tweeting a dirty word make her look tough? Impassioned? Serious? Or does it make it look as though she’s angling for attention, the kind of attention Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono got for dropping some bombs during the Kavanaugh hearing?

Gabbard doesn’t really need to clamor for attention. She just got re-elected by a landslide. She gets fawning national coverage and everyone at home gives her a pass for not being around very much. Maybe she’s feeling the competition for attention from the freshman class of lawmakers, particularly newbies like New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who are stealing the limelight.

Gabbard’s profane tweet feels like copy-catting. Trump set the tone and politicians all the way down to city hall feel like they have to talk dirty to be trendy. But Honolulu Councilman Ikaika Anderson can spit a string of filthy things in a Council meeting and it’s kind of a shrug. Like anyone expects Ikaika Anderson to be Mr. Class and Mr. Eloquent.

Congresswoman Gabbard, however, is supposed to be a trendsetter, someone people can look up to, a representative of all these diverse things we’ve never seen before in higher office.

Plus, she’s been called out for similar behavior for defending Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader whose civil war has killed hundreds of thousands. She may not like Saudi Arabia, for good reason, but the Syrians aren’t the guys in white hats, either.

The crude word Gabbard chose has long been used as a bludgeon against women. It is employed to demean an opinionated woman, an angry woman, a woman who doesn’t put up with nonsense. More recently it’s slang used to describe a weakling, male or female, who lets themselves be pushed around and used. It is not a feminist word. It is not a precise word. It is vulgar.

Beyond issues of propriety, use of profanity reveals a limited or lazy vocabulary. Surely in the English language there is a better word to describe Trump’s refusal to rebuke Saudi Arabia over the killing of a U.S.-based journalist.

With the new year right around the corner, perhaps we can ask our Hawaii politicians to resolve to be better, communicate better, and to not follow the poor example of a bullying, potty-mouthed president.

Profanity is unoriginal, it’s lost its shock value and it’s rarely effective for moving a discussion forward.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.