If John McCain’s [expletive deleted] exchange with John Cornyn has taught us anything, it’s the Washington Post’s policy on [expletive deleted] and what not and shit.

Here’s today’s Post story on McCain:

His absence from backroom negotiations over the immigration bill sparked a heated exchange last week with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who accused him of “parachuting in” at the last minute.

“[Expletive] you,” McCain replied, according to several people who witnessed the exchange.

[Expletive] for some naughty words. But not for others.  Here’s a Washingtonpost.com story by Peter Baker story about President Bush cursing at the G-8 summit last July:

“What they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it’s over,” Bush says with his mouth full as he buttered a piece of bread.

And from the Washingtonpost.com’s transcripts of Richard Nixon phone conversations, a 1973 conversation between Nixon and William P. Rogers:

Nixon: Hello.
Rogers: Hi, Mr. President.
N: Hi, Bill.
R: Gee, that was terrific. Really superb.
N: Don’t give me that shit, you know.

As we’ve pointed out before, things were a little tamer with the Washington Post before the Internet — when Harry Truman was stopping bucks in the White House.

In response to Washington Post Music Critic Paul Hume’s harsh December 6, 1950, review of Margaret Truman’s singing performance at Constitution Hall, President Truman wrote: “you write such poppy-cock.”

These days, that might translate to, “you wrtie such [expletive] poppy-cock.”