Glenn Greenwald may be many things.

But as a poof reader, his skills leave much to be desired. (Via Glenn Reynolds, who dared to utter this multifaceted four letter word.)

The way Greenwald rants, you'd almost think he imagines poof is nothing more than a synonym for Republican fear of ick.

I mean, what is this? Even Maureen Dowd is allowed to express intolerance over the slightest whiff of poof, but Peggy Noonan can't even use the word in its proper context?

Oh the hypocrisy!

In the interest of full disclosure, I had no ick reaction to the alleged poof in dispute. (Quite the opposite, in fact...)

MORE: Justin made me do this.

UPDATE: It's "poof or consequences" time!

My thanks to Glenn Reynolds for linking this post, and a warm welcome to all.

As I take a broad general view of things and really don't care who anyone is around here, all commenters -- even sock puppets -- are always welcome!

MORE: I don't know how off-topic this is, but years ago when I worked in a stodgy San Francisco law firm, I first learned the derogatory meaning of the word "poofter" from a British working class co-worker from Manchester. He complained to me constantly about the "poofters" he believed were lurking everywhere making passes at him until I finally reached the end of my patience and told him I was one too. He was horrified, but after he recovered from the shock, he stated that while I might be gay, I wasn't a "poofter." So, not only did I learn a new word, but I learned there was some sort of distinction - at least in his mind. While I don't know how accurately his usage of the term was, it was clear to me then that the closest American equivalent to the term (at that time in San Francisco) would have been the word "queen." How derogatory such words would seem to depend on context.

A Virginia activist recently won a legal battle to get the word "POOFTER" on his custom license plate.

Am I supposed to be offended?

MORE: The Washington Post's Marc Fisher digs into the details behind the Virginia "POOFTER" battle:

Then and now, Phillips found the name funny but hardly offensive. Merriam-Webster says "poofter" is "usually disparaging," and the Oxford English Dictionary calls the word "derogatory slang," but it's routinely aired on broadcast television, and Phillips says it's less disparaging than "nancy boy," which happens to have been his previous license tag message ("NANCBOY," for four years, with no complaint from the state). "Poofter," Phillips contends, "is a pretty neutral word. It gets past any e-mail filter."

UPDATE (01/13/08): My thanks to Glenn Reynolds for linking this post for a second time in a new context!

More thoughts on whether "POOF goes the Culture" (as well as Greenwald modeling theory) here.