Sir, - The current controversy about the use of the term "bastard" in political discourse brings to mind an Australian experience.
In the 1970s a party now known as the Australian Democrats formed as a breakaway from the Liberal Party. The Democrats' leader, Don Chipp, coined the slogan, "Keep the Bastards Honest". This referred to the Democrats' aim to gain the balance of power in the Senate and thus restrain the two major parties, the Liberals and the Australian Labor Party.
The slogan was used for some years in quite a formal way in the Democrats' electioneering material. There was little, if any, protest from the Liberals or the ALP. This was due partly to the robust nature of political debate in Australia, and also to the fact that in Australian usage the term "bastard" has many shades of meaning.
Depending on context it can range from abuse, to mild reproof ("you silly bastard"), to sympathy or endearment ("you poor bastard"). It hardly ever has anything to do with the marital status of a person's parents. - Yours, etc.,
Peter Heerey, Tritonville Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4.