Word banned, censorship shoe on other foot

"Mate" has been banned in parliament (Oz). Good. Next they can ban "mate-ship" and "larrikin". Maybe now politicians will become a bit more creative. I often wonder if the whole "dumbing it down" approach is not so much that politicians really think that we are dumb, as that they aren't really smart enough to speak as well as bloggers write.

Or maybe I am asking for a bit much;

Labor MPs labelled the ban un-Australian, while the Prime Minister, John Howard, who has used the term to describe the US President, said it was unworkable. read it all

Like there aren't enough other problems in the world already.