Did I miss something. . .

. . .about the government passing legislation barring people from using the word "jihad", or what?

I've never quite understood the point of flamboyant sarcasm in cases like the one Andy McCarthy seems to be on these days. It always seemed good enough to me to simply go on using the word.

For example, I don't think I've ever used the word "African-American" in conversation. I may have used it in writing on occasion, simply to keep down the redundancy in the use of "black" in a race-related piece.

It always seemed to me that when you engage in that kind of dramatic parody, you've pretty much demonstrated that you've let "them" get into your head. Just keep using the word and forget the sideshow. No biggie.