If You Don't Get It, Just Forget It

By Janice Castro

You know what they do: the politician who spews platitudes at ethnic voters. The guy who patronizes women on the issue of sexual harassment. The big-city police chief who downplays his department's gang beating of an errant motorist. What don't these folks do? They don't "get it." Suddenly the phrase is everywhere, a shorthand K.O. punch that vaporizes opponents by skewering their lack of social intelligence. And for public figures it can be fatal. If you just don't get it, you're hopelessly out of touch.

With reporting by Sidney Urquhart