Jane Fonda said the "C-word" on NBC TV on Thursday - how ironic. That's the word I usually think of when I hear mention of Jane Fonda.

All kidding aside, I think it's ridiculous that she said that word on national TV. A few weeks ago, Diane Keaton made a similar slip when she let slip the f-word on Good Morning America. But unlike Fonda, Keaton's utterance seemed more like a genuine mistake, for as soon as she said it, she seemed flustered and looked like she realized she made a mistake. Fonda let loose with her profanity in an almost calculated effort to shock.

Whether it's a mistake or not, people swear all the time, but most of us know when to keep it in the back room or to do it when you are with the appropriate people. One of the reasons there are no comments on this blog is that the general tone of discourse on the Internet nowadays has grown increasingly vulger, and I'm not going to pay for web space and have it filled up with people who contribute to that. If you have an opinion about what I've written, put it on your own web server, and you can use all the expletives you want, but I'm not going to publish it.

Many people feel that the reaction to celebrities using vulgar language on national TV is overblown, that people use these words all the time and we're making to much of it. Maybe so, but I don't have to agree. To me, it is evidence that many of today's celebrities are so self-centered that wherever they are, they believe it is all about them, and the rest of the world be damned. It also shows a lack of intelligence when you can't find a balance between expressing yourself and using a careful and appropriate choice of words for the venue you happen to be in.