California idea worth copying? Abso-darn-lutely

As Florida's Legislature counts down the final hours to its annual sausage-making session, it's clear there is plenty of heavy lifting ahead. (OK, I mixed metaphors. What do you want for 50 cents?)

There's a $66 billion budget that requires trimming; an economy that cries out for expansion and diversification; an education system begging for reform; an energy policy ripe for rational re-inspection free from climate-change hysteria; and a tax code that invites tweaking. Add a couple of historic-moments resolutions intended to remind Washington why the nation is named the United States of America and you've got a mighty full table.

Still, you wonder if there isn't late-breaking room for one more item. One that's comfortably small and, except for its ability to invite ridicule from certain smug corners, bereft of controversy. One that engages our better angels and attempts to lift us from the muck of our social quagmire. And one, best of all, that doesn't cost a dime to implement.

We refer here to a quaint little movement, born in Southern California and now sprouting green shoots around the globe, designed to reduce - if not stamp out altogether - the human proclivity for foul language.

A week without cringing

That the push was born a couple of years ago from the brain of a Pasadena, Calif., teenager - living just over the mountain from Hollywood, the world's potty-mouthed enabler - is intriguing enough. McKay Hatch, 16, identified foul language as a portal to less suitable behavior, including drug abuse and bullying; he started a club, which led inevitably to T-shirts, a rap video and a Web site (www.nocussing .com). Next: a global tour.

Can peace in the Middle East be far behind?

But first, the California Assembly, some of whose members represent that self-same tawdry Tinseltown, has passed an anti-cussing resolution. If the state Senate follows suit, the Golden State will establish the first week of each March as "Cuss-Free Week."

While supporters of the measure passed out "cuss jars" ahead of the vote - utter an oath, deposit coinage - lawmakers were quick to note the resolution carries no statutory penalties. It is, simply, an attempt to raise the level of discourse and with it the degree of civility in our otherwise combustible relationships.

Dust off your thesaurus

This Space understands and values the purifying, edifying and challenging nature of living without swear words, having declared our own selves profanity-free in the 1980s. In this X-rated world, where people think nothing of broadcasting vulgarities into their Bluetooth devices while standing in line at Starbucks, the habit is ever in need of reinforcing.

But it's worth it. The endeavor expands the imagination, cultivates the vocabulary and elevates the practitioner. What's the last social program passed by any government agency that accomplished nearly as much?

We would prefer the Florida Legislature consider an entire cuss-free month but even if all they can come up with is a week, will we cheerfully consider it a hopeful beginning?

Darn tootin' we will.