The intent of the first six words of her column is to say that politeness in public communication is important. This is something we should practice as long as it doesn't effect a debate, passion, or metaphors.
Chavez decides to use the word bellicose to describe the way our politics run. They are based on eager to fight or aggressive/hostile metaphors such as, " took his best shot". Chavez explains that we don't literally aim a gun at his opponents, but simply is a rhetorical device that we use to get our point across.
Chaves persuades the reader into believing that tampering words distorts the intent and interferes with the understanding of the message. Chavez discusses how restrictions were placed to avoid potentially offending people in the L.A times in words as: indian, hispanic, or ghetto. The case of Huckleberry Fin is the best example as it shows how changing the word from negro to slave effects one from learning the books message on racism and social mores of earlier eras.
I would say that I do agree with Chavez. We shouldn't have to change our way of speaking to conform to civility in public discourse. We should simply be thoughtful of what we are about to say before we speak it.
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