Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities – and the people who love them – is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking.This is a good place for Palin to posture, but, seriously, I think that anyone who takes this trumped-up offense seriously is... pretty silly.
February 2, 2010
Sarah Palin wants Rahm Emanuel fired...
... for calling someone "retarded" — actually, "fucking retarded."
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1 – 200 of 270 Newer› Newest»Palin needs to shut up on Rahm. I want him to say right by Obama's side from now on. I mean right there providing as much advice as possible.
Please.
No big water-carrier for Palin, I, but good for her. Rahm cannot expect himself to be held to the same standard as Joe Everyman. He is the CoS for the POTUS and everything he says should first come through that lens, if for no other reason than political survival.
Does Rahm hate "retards"? Probably not. Does Imus hate black, female basketball players with questionable hairdos? Probably not, but he lost his job.
These are the wages of PC speech and the culture it pervades. If that were not the case, I would tell Palin to go far, stay long, get over it while you're there. But our culture IS steeped in PC and it's the left that has done it to us. They came up with the rules and set the stage...they have to expect to be held to the same ridiculous, free-speech-killing standards.
I agree with Hoosier. Rahm needs to stay where he is for as long as possible, say November 2012?
Julius makes a good point from a political point of view. She knows there's not a snowball's chance in hell Rahm is leaving that job, but slings and arrows, death by a thousand cuts, etc, etc. Politically, another saavy thrust from Palin's corner.
It is a very well-thought-out attack on politically correct speaking. She's not seriously insisting that Emanuel be fired, but she is seriously drawing the logical consequences of Obama & Co's language-policing. The offense is the way-of-thinking, not the remark. How fucking smart of her.
Remember, dear Professor: This is modern America. All politics is political theater. God made Sarah Palin and her boobies for just this sort of environment...
At the linked-to article, what is up with the microphone cover in the picture?
How is that a slur on people with cognitive disabilities? Did he say something about people with cognitive disabilities? No, he said that certain people without cognitive disabilities seemed as if they did have cognitive disabilities.
I understood the anger about the Special Olympics remark because it demeaned an event where people are striving their hardest to do their best.
This just seems like something to get all worked up over without much basis.
I see no no difference between this and using the dreaded "N" word.
None at all.
Except the targets of Rahm's derision are less able to defend themselves.
But yeah, I guess it is nice to see the PC bust a PC pusher.
How is that a slur on people with cognitive disabilities? Did he say something about people with cognitive disabilities? No, he said that certain people without cognitive disabilities seemed as if they did have cognitive disabilities.
Well, he said it like that's a bad thing. Which, to be fair, it kind of is.
Quas, I might agree if Rahm had said that to people who actually have cognitive disabilities.
Oh dear god, he "allegedly" said this. Imus said it live on a radio show. Sometimes people on this site are frickin' retards.
What is Palin saying?
That her baby boy is like the bunch of liberal Democrats Rahm chastised?
In fact, most Down syndrome kids have IQs high enough where they can be mainstreamed in school.
If the shoe doesn't fit, don't wear it.
Which, to be fair, it kind of is.
Exactly. Does anyone want to have cognitive disabilities? Don't parents of children with cognitive disabilities do their best to minimize the disabilities' effects?
Rahm is hoisted with his own reetard.
Good for Sarah Palin. Strong people need to stand up for those unable to defend themselves.
Would Rahm Emmanuel say "fucking Jew?"Or maybe "fucking girls". Probably not, as Jews and women (and others) can defend themselves. There would be a price to pay. So he disparages people who are at the bottom of the barrell.
Maybe you think his comments aren't a big deal. So be it. But that doesn't mean that they are okay, and it means that Emmanuel should be held to account for what he said.
If I wanted to hurt Trig Palin's feelings I'd call him "No smarter than a moveon.org member."
"Retarded" is not, as she suggests, the equivalent of the "n word." It's pretty ignorant to make that equivalence.
The reality is, our language wants to have words that mean "stupid" that also convey the speaker's anger about his target's stupidity. That search for new, more wounding words to express that meaning always leads to the latest and most acceptable term for people with impaired cognitive functioning, which term then becomes so loaded with negative associations that it has to be replaced.
For many years, "retarded" was the acceptable alternative to "moron," "imbecile" and "idiot," all of which were technical terms in the mental health sphere until their abuse required their replacement. This is the "euphemism treadmill," an effect noted also in terms for things ranging from toilets to prison camps.
That is nothing like the etymology of the "n word." That word was always meant to denigrate and degrade its target. Even its ironic use -- such as in "Pulp Fiction" -- is a clear reference to the word's derogatory qualities.
On the issue of mental retardation, Palin has the zeal of a convert. If she wasn't the mother of a Down's syndrome child herself, Emanuel's comment wouldn't have caused her to bat an eye.
Sarah Palin is the only politician with the life story and the chops to shoot that accusaion at Obama's henchman. Maybe it is unfair to win by shooting a fish in a barrel, unless we want that fish removed from the game. Politics ain't beanbag, Rahm.
Michael, the reason that he wouldn't say those other things is because they wouldn't make any sense. What would they even mean? By saying what he said, he meant, "You guys seem cognitively disabled!" or "I don't think you're acting intelligently."
His choice of language was classless, but I don't think it's a slur on the disabled.
{Rahm} called plans by liberal groups to run ads against moderate Democrats "F—ing ________."
Fill in the blank with
Black
Hispanic
Freeman Huntish
Former law studentesque
Then try to tell me it was not a slur on the mentally handicapped.
Rahm is scum - someone who aspires to be as good a human being as Lee Atwater.
For many years, "retarded" was the acceptable alternative to "moron," "imbecile" and "idiot," all of which were technical terms in the mental health sphere until their abuse required their replacement.
The term Negro was a no no until Harry Reid brought it back into fashion.
I must say, it is difficult keeping up with what's acceptable from day to day anymore.
From the article: Palin called for his firing for comments attributed to him in a Jan. 26 Wall Street Journal article where he called plans by liberal groups to run ads against moderate Democrats "F—ing retarded."
Seems to me that Emanuel used the phrase -- the whole phrase -- quick correctly. He wasn't referring to the cognitively disabled. He was referring to liberals.
Now if he was a Kennedy, Emanual would have said "retahded."
Really classic short man syndrome.
Rahm has already blinked ...
There are plenty of better reasons to have Rahm Emanuel fired. Still, while by no means should anyone should take it literally, it's an impolitic remark.
Then try to tell me it was not a slur on the mentally handicapped
Oh no you di'nt. You did not just say "mentally handicapped."
You must have meant "differently abled."
Or "Handicapable."
"Mentally retarded" was euphemistic back in the 50s.
That was several generations of euphemism ago. Every euphemism becomes an epithet, as js points out.
Palin is correct. Comparing liberals to retards is insulting to the retards.
1) Emanuel has been forced to apologize.
2) This is straight out of the Alinsky playbook of forcing your opponent to live up to his own standards. Couric wanted to know what Palin reads? Evidently "Rules for Radicals" made the list.
3) For a group of people whose main line of argument consists of calling their opponents 'racists' in a completely cynical (and failed) attempt to delegitimize their policy disagreements, complaining about this is so irony rich that they should just sprinkle some powdered sugar on it and call it breakfast.
You can criticize Palin all you want, but this is hardly the first time she's hemmed in Obama's administration and forced them to retreat - even if this particular thing is minor. And she did it from the lofty perch of a Facebook page. It's no wonder that the recent Supreme Court decision sent Obama into such a tailspin. If one citizen with a Facebook page can embarrass his closest adviser, just imagine what people who can afford to run ads against him will be able to do.
So which is it: Is Sarah Palin such a political genius that she can outclass the entirety of the Obama administration by repeatedly manipulating the political discourse from Facebook or is it just that Obama is so pathetic that an out-of-office private citizen with what the Left keeps insisting is a sub-average IQ can outmaneuver him politically over and over again?
I'm going to go with a little bit of both....
I forgot to mention.
Rahm said "fucking retarded," which actually implies inability to perform sexually at a mature adult level.
This is no insult to Trig at all, as his sexual performance would not be an issue for years.
And it's a bit creepy for his mother to talk about Trig's sexual performance.
I think guerrilla theater protocol mandates Palin's tactic at every turn. These moronic lefties with their sanctimonious positions on every single solitary topic need to have any violations thrown up in their faces. Always. Make them eat it.
This is not going to impress moderates who, I'm pretty sure, matter.
@Jim-
How fucking comprehensive of you. And fucking correct too, on both fucking counts!
One more thing:
This is exactly the sort of question that the good little American proles can discuss around the dinner table. "Is calling someone a retard wrong?" "How about if the Chief-of-Staff to the President says it?" It's the sort of thing that has legs once it gets sufficiently out of the gate. And the question will always be associated with Palin. With her cred of having a child with Downs Syndrome, the only possible result is that she ends up looking good and Obama & Co end up looking bad. Then Rahm plays rights into the publicity game when he apologizes.
This is not going to impress moderates who, I'm pretty sure, matter.
Oh, I dunno. Her ability to stay inside the left's OODA loop is pretty impressive.
GFL.
Scott - "No big water-carrier for Palin..."
Bullshit.
"This is not going to impress moderates who, I'm pretty sure, matter."
It won't bother them either. But it does bring attention to still another stupid comment by someone in Barry's administration. Had she not commented it would have disappeared.
Death by a 1000 or 10,000 cuts . . .
My wife will punch me when I say retard. It has something to do with her being from Michigan. The upper P, whatever the hell that is.
Ramn's style has seemed more like the nasty Carville/Begala mode, not the more calculated CoS role of a Leon Panetta for example. But I agree with HD, please keep him, Holder, SEC Treasury Timmy and all those czars around well into 2012.
Rahm-bo is really, really in the wrong job. Never hire a political hack for an executive job.
Let Rahm-bo stay, if you wish failure for BHO.
@Jeremy
Scott - "No big water-carrier for Palin..."
Bullshit.
Thus displaying the length and breadth of your reasoning on this particular subject? Pitiful and yet another example of your trollish, lazy intellect.
I am frankly amused by the way she, a failed VP candidate and now former governor seems to have perfected the art of forcing the Obama administration to react to her. Any strategic expert will tell you this is side of loosing.
On the other hand I consider her to be a policy lightweight, somewhat pandering, and not ready for high office. Her stint at FNC, while maybe the best thing for her punditry, isn't the best thing for her if she's got long-term political aspirations.
So, no, I don't readily defend her on any front because I don't really care. She's got some serious horizon expanding to do before she would get my vote.
You, on the other hand...I can say for absolutely certainty that you would get an anvil instead of a life jacket from me.
This is not going to impress moderates who, I'm pretty sure, matter.
She lost me at "Goodbye."
Quasimodo said..."I see no no difference between this and using the dreaded "N" word. None at all. Except the targets of Rahm's derision are less able to defend themselves."
Oh, so you're saying, because he was referring to Democrats, "they're less able to defend themselves"...because they're not very good at delaying (retarding) the development or progress of their actions?
Your learning abilities appear to have been retarded.
He used a reference to a group of people as an insult. Therefore, it is very much the same as "f-ing n-word" or "f-ing c_nt."
Fucking retarded is an awesome line for what it's worth. I'll be sad to see it go.
Rahm would've been on much firmer ground if he had said the "R-word".
Childish.
It's not just this one thing. It's everything - the combative mode of Obama's handlers - the with-hunts, the perpetual campaign mode, the sending out of Obama's ACORN/SEIU stormtroopers every time Rahm wants to exact revenge on some segment of the society or legislature that isn't falling in to line.
It's the mentality that the White House is at war with American citizens. Instead of dialogue we have tactics employed against the people. For simply disagreeing, asking questions and saying, "No."
I agree with her - Rahm needs to go.
"F—ing fags."
Perhaps Palin is sincere with her outrage given her son has DS, but this also seems politically calculated.
Palin has a bit more Michael Corleone in her than I thought. She's beating the Chicago boys at their own game.
First, President Obama makes a crack about the Special Olympics and then Emmanuel tosses off a seventh-grade slur.
At the lease, these guys are insensitive to those with cognitive disabilities, which liberals have designated one of the deadly sins.
Well, Rahm might have called the President an effing retard, but at least he didn't use the N word.
Your learning abilities appear to have been retarded.
Your grammar abilities appear to have been retarded.
@mccullough, you're right. A Democrat should be more sensitive.
It should be remembered that a lot of awesome words used to belittle fucking retarded people were once associated with developmental pathologies. Moron. Idiot. Imbecile. To think fucking retarded is the same as fucking n*ggers is pretty moronic.
errrrrr, 'witch hunts' - not with hunts... or "rich" hunts, the "Working Families Party" stakeouts of the execs' homes.
dang typos
It was a good political stab by Palin to point out the PC hypocracy of the democrats.
But really, why is it wrong to call someone retarded when they're not even remotely retarded?
If you run up to a "cognitively disabled" child and taunt him by calling him retarded, then certainly you've done a bad thing. The child is faultless and deserves our pity and compassion, and does not deserve taunts and insults. All grown up people should know this.
But using a word to describe stupidity and directing it at someone who is not "cognitively disabled" is an insult and there's no getting around that.
Would it have been better if Rahm had said "Oh, he's a fucking cognitively disabled person?"
Face it, there's no good way to insult someone's intelligence without implying that they don't have intelligence. If we forbid using any adjective or descriptive noun to describe someone's intelligence then what we're saying is that we shouldn't ever insult someone.
Hmm. How about that? The rule should be not that "retard" is so hurtful, but that insulting someone is uncivil and shows a lack of character and manners. That's the real problem. The specific word used is not the problem, it's the insult itself.
To answer my initial question in this post, it is wrong to call someone retarded because you're not supposed to insult people, not because a specific word was used in the insult. It was a mildly obvious avenue of attack for Palin and might have gotten a small jab in, but all it really did was to further the cause of political correctness and made it more possible for future democrats and busy bodies to forbid the use of specific words.
@AllenS, that works a bit better since it doesn't appear to be aimed at a particular group. The problem with words like n*gger isn't that they are intrinsically bad, it is that the associations are bad. Plenty of once terrible words are now very much ok in modern parlance.
I'm just glad I've escaped the SEIU/ACORN Stormtroopers living here in the Peoples Republic of Madison. Bet it's scary.
Rahm Emanuel has been known to use harsh, insulting, and biting language. He is a Chicago Street politician and street thug. I'm surprised he did not threatened to drown kids or pets or something.
It is expected of him to be rude, inconsiderate, crass, and low. So, in effect, he was just being himself. No problem.
Allegedly he apologized, so in the Dem world that makes it all OK. "Let's just move on, important issues, can't get bogged down in..."
I just realized Rahm's remark was from last summer. How is this news now?
Jesus. Palin could fart and there are people who jump up and bottle it as the fashionable new fragrance.
Chris, go back up to that post, and then follow my progession.
I do not see what all the hub bub is about. The Democrats throw all kinds of federal money at those people and get special laws passed that inconvenience the rest of us.
Those fucking retards should just STFU and be grateful there is a Democrat Party!
@Beth, that was not very sensitive.
"F—ing retarded Negro gays."
Jesus. Palin could fart and there are people who jump up and bottle it as the fashionable new fragrance.
If Ramses II had farted into a bottle 3300 years ago and it were just opened today and analyzed, it would be still news.
Parents of special-needs kids can be very aggressive in defense of their children--I know I am--and I don't think it's a bug, but a feature. I don't think Sarah Palin is doing this for political gain--that's just a side benefit. She hasn't taken up this issue--she LIVES this issue. It's also not political with me. If I heard Karl Rove say the same thing I'd be tempted to kick his fucking ass too.
Well, to be fair, people with retarded relations can be very sensitive about that kind of thing. I got chewed out by a girl once because her brother was literally retarded, and she didn't appreciate my liberal use of such a derogatory term.
I just realized Rahm's remark was from last summer. How is this news now?
Because our media treats every Facebook post or tweet from Sarah Palin as "news" that must be reported.
Beth:
People here were just having a conversation about a very sensitive topic and you appear with your hateful remarks. Do you defend the use of the term that Mr. Emanuel used? Do you use it yourself? Are you trying to hide behind the passage of time to cover your mean spirited support of people who mock the disadvantaged? People are people you know even if they don't have the gifts that were bestowed on you.
NOBODY gets props for posturing in my book.
I used to call people fucking retarded when I was in high school. It is a crude term and I could see how actual mentally challenged people might be offended. I go out of my way to avoid using it, even though occasionally it is so appropriate to describe certain people.
That alone is not grounds to fire Rahm Emanuel. There are plenty of other grounds to fire Rahm Emanuel.
Jesus. Palin could fart and there are people who jump up and bottle it as the fashionable new fragrance.
Well, I doubt you'll be bottling her flatus, but she sure can make you jump, Beth.
I eagerly await the Oprahfication of everything and will cheer when politicians have to enter 'rehab' for sensitivity on the altar those who insist on being outraged. Also, I question whether the use of "retarded" to refer to campaign strategy is offensive. Really?
What a bunch of maroons.
Beth MUST renounce Rahm Emanuel now!
I anoint this thread with crazy. Bwahahahahahahaha.
Skyler said..."It was a good political stab by Palin to point out the PC hypocracy of the democrats."
Yeah, just like when she mouths off about abstinence...oh, wait...
My bad.
I'm having fun imagining the string of f-bombs Rahm must have dropped on the way to the apology.
And who leaked this? Presumably Rahm's original target(s). Too funny.
And when I say Rahm should be fired, I say that from President Obama's perspective (because he sucks getting anything done in congress), not my own conservative feelings of anipathy against Rahm.
Beth and Garage:
I suppose because you support torture you support the use of the hated term that Emanuel used. The two go together of course. No one who could support the R word could oppose torture. It is just so sad.
Beth wrote:
"I just realized Rahm's remark was from last summer. How is this news now?"
The same reason that Rahm Emanuel waited until last Wednesday to apologize for the remark: it became public knowledge last Tuesday.
This was stated pretty clearly in the linked article in the first paragraph after the lede.
oh yes. let's hang him and pray the hypocritical bitch throws herself on the funeral pyre in her grief.
when will you fools on the right get it that she just winds you all up at her whim, uses you, and doesn't give a rat's ass about you unless you help her get ahead.
Jeremy:
Hypocrisy is when the person sermonizing against something is herself doing that very thing. It is not hypocrisy when another person does that thing even if related. Small point, but as a lefty the only sin in your book is hypocrisy so you should at least be able to correctly identify it.
And count me with Hoosier and the others that advocate for Rhambo's continued employment in the Obama administration. This dude (say, Emmanuel--isnt that a Hymie name?) is worth lots of votes for the other side.
Let's face it. What conservatives really want it for Obama to actually do something ridiculous and fire Rahm and to be fair he's got a good track record of throwing people under the bus so why not give it a shot.
"Fucking retarded Jeremy Crackerass Motherfucker."
⋅tard /rɪˈtɑrd, for 1–3, 5; ˈritɑrd for 4/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-tahrd, for 1–3, 5; ree-tahrd for 4] Show IPA
Use retard in a Sentence
See images of retard
Search retard on the Web
–verb (used with object) 1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.
–verb (used without object) 2. to be delayed.
–noun 3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.
so the question is why the knee-jerk reaction to a word thar was used correctly????
Wally you narb.
House, learn how to capitalize, spell and punctuate, you fucking retard.
For some reason you know how write a semi-coherent sentence as "Opus One Media" but not as yourself.
Very odd. You should get yourself checked out.
Hardy Har Har!!!
'Bout like calling idiots that voted for obama fools...
I agree with Ann that this is trumped up posturing. i felt the same way about so many Republicans getting all upset and holier thann theou about Harry Reid's remarks. George Will is the only Republican Iheard who said clearly that he thought there was nothing wrong with what Reid had said.
What Palladian said.
Blacks are reclaiming a former hate word. Compare sexpert Dan Savage's former reference to himself in his columns as "Hey, Faggot!", the former Queer Nation, etc. They're still insults coming from straights, correct?
Palin is retarded.
Right on, Palladian. You might have to type slower if you want Jeremy to understand.
FLS, reclaiming it? Did they claim it before?
I don't think it has anything to do with that--at least not any more. It's just common slang now.
And even if there were an effort to reclaim the word, that wouldn't make it sound any better. How does it sound when women go around calling each other "bitches" and "hoes"? Not too classy.
when will you fools on the right get it that she just winds you all up at her whim, uses you, and doesn't give a rat's ass about you unless you help her get ahead.
LOL. Those getting wound up aren't who you think they are.
I was hunting yesterday and saw the rooster, the fabled black pheasant, Phasianus colchicus tenebrosus, which has been seen and missed for months on this preserve. I am sure Althouse commenters will be relieved to learn that I did not even shoot, lest I be suspected of being a racist; and being suspected, be denounced; and being denounced, be convicted.
niger ~gra ~grum 1. Dark in colour, black, or of a colour approaching black. b. (contrasted with white, esp. in proverbial exprs.) c. (as the name of special varieties of plant, commodity, etc.) d. (neut. as sb.) a black spot; ~grum oculi, the dark part of the eye, pupil.
2. (of persons) Having a dark skin or complexion, swarthy, dusky. b. Having black hair.
3. (of places) Black from absence of light, dark, shadowy. b. (of night, darkness, or sim.)
4. a (of storms and sim.) Dark, black. b. (of fire, light) murky, smoky. c. (of water) turbid, clouded.
5. Black with dirt or grime, filthy, etc.
6. Having an unhealthy dark colour, discoloured.
7. Black as the colour associated with death or the dead, dark, sombre: a. (of the Underworld, or things associated with it.) b. (of mourning clothes); (of persons) dressed in mourning (in token of grief). c. (of animals sacrificed to the Underworld.) d. (applied to the day of death.)
8. Black as the colour of ill omen.
9. (of character, reputation, etc.) Black, evil.
Financially, would you rather be in the black or in the red?
Exactly, hd, on both counts.
oh yes. let's hang him and pray the hypocritical bitch throws herself on the funeral pyre in her grief.
That metaphor is so confused it makes zero sense.
Besides you all are pronouncing it wrong.
It is REtard with the emphasis on the first syllable.
But why attack Rahm as a foul mouthed hater of the disabled people among us when a Christian (and Palin is one ) feels like he can kill an abortionist at a church? I await your answer. If Rahm is no worse than a bad Christian, then no one should put him down.
Jeremy, you missed the entire point of my post.
George Will is the only Republican Iheard who said clearly that he thought there was nothing wrong with what Reid had said.
True. It was the use of the word Negro based on Harry Reid's age and the culture of the time when it was a more respectable term.
Had it been my husband's grandmother speaking, she would have been even more refined and use the term "Darky".
:-)
Isn't this fun.
Rahm is hoisted with his own reetard.
El Pollo wins the thread!
Growing up with my cracker relatives, I didnt even realize the correction pronounciation was negro! Learn all kind of stuff these days.
"Jeremy, you missed the entire point of my post."
That's a given, no matter whose post it is.
"Had it been my husband's grandmother speaking, she would have been even more refined and use the term "Darky"."
My maternal grandmother calls black people "coloreds", pronounced "kellerds". She's 90 and means no disrespect at all by it. Her mixed-race great-grandsons think she's cute, and vice-versa.
*snicker*
Chris said n*gger.
Hey, AllenS, what's a n*gger?
And don't give me none of your n*gger shit, either! (I hate that n*gger shit!)
Signed - this blog's token n*gger,
Th* Cr*ck *mc**
I'll bet many Palin supporters object to the word "fucking" more than they do the word "retarded."
Nagging someone just for using the f-word seems kind of petty and nannyish, but the "retarded" bit gives Palin an excuse to expose Rahm as a trashy, pottymouthed dirtbag.
South Park Republicans and most Democrats won't mind, but most of them hate Palin anyway.
Cheney's opponents tried to make hay out of his coarse remarks, but I don't think it made him any more or less popular.
Speaking of posturing, this from Tim Blair is entertaining.
Hey, AllenS, what's a n*gger?
And don't give me none of your n*gger shit, either! (I hate that n*gger shit!)
Signed - this blog's token n*gger,
Th* Cr*ck *mc**
Hmmmm. I'd like to buy a vowel please.
wv repregi, superfetatious.
I just now saw a public service ad on television in which one teen-ager says to another "that's so gay", as an insult.
Teen number three butts in and lectures teens one and two about the insensitivity of using "gay" as a pejorative in any manner.
But apparently "fucking retard" is okay.
@crack. You have to at least agree that you can't play the equivalence game with bad words. N*gger is not the same as r*tard.
"Teen number three butts in and lectures teens one and two about the insensitivity of using "gay" as a pejorative in any manner."
"Gay" is pejorative. I personally prefer to be called "dirty cocksucker".
FLS, reclaiming it? Did they claim it before?
More like Harry Reid reclaiming "Negro" for old white guys to use.
I love when Crack comes over here and destroys.
In what way has Crack destroyed?
Crack has destroyed in the sense that his arguments are superior to yours. Also, Crack is the very opposite of posing, whereas you strike me like this.
I normally agree with Ann but there is nothing silly about Palin's complaint.
Often, politicians on both sides are pretty insincere in complaining about non-PC remarks by political opponents (i.e., the Reid "negro dialect" remark, and the Lott's remark on Thurmond), but here, there is reason to believe that Palin as the mother of a Down Syndrome child is sincere in taking offense at the remark.
It also is hard to fault her logic in connecting the treatment of comments that are racially offensive with the treatment of comments that are offensive about the disabled.
I think there is a logical and persuasive argument that, in the PC world created by the democrats and liberals, Rahm should resign.
It is true that Rahm was using a derogatory term for disabled to describe someone who was not disabled, but how is that different from using a derogatory term about blacks to decribe a white, e.g. "you're like a lazy N Word?"
@7. That was pretty awesome and funny.
KC, see how you had to put the word lazy in there? Try it without that. Doesn't even make sense.
But that ain't me. I am the opposite of hipster.
thanks K*thy.
and Dust Bunny Queen...do a little thinking on funeral pyres ... that metaphor is as old as the hills and you must have heard it for ohhh these many years.
Very, very Alinsky.
Hit back, twice as hard.
Make them live to the letter of their own commandments, precisely because it's impossible. It's the language equivalent of work-to-rule, destroying the system by following it precisely.
P.S. I have two tard brothers and am therefore free to describe them as such. It makes the sensitive types get the vapors when I say it.
Plus I'm a mick and a cracker.
Jeremy is
sofa king
wee
todd did.
Here's the distinction, people. R*tard is more or less a word like welfare. It -- or a form of it, retarded -- was once used by progressive types to flower up whatever word was used before for the same thing. R*tard and retarded slowly morphed into something unacceptable because -- and this is where the truth hurts -- the idea of being what the word represents seems terribly wrong to people on a deep and unavoidable psychological level.
N*gger is altogether different. It's just an ugly pejorative for something that is not at all terribly wrong on any level. We can all understand that the color of your skin is in no way de facto negative.
This is why Palin's argument is a specious reach.
At the lease, these guys are insensitive to those with cognitive disabilities, which liberals have designated one of the deadly sins.
No. The rules of Political Correctness don't aim to silence what is said as much as who says it.
Rahm is on the left. There might be a slight uproar because Palin called attention to what he said, but you'll notice, no liberal commenter here is upset at all.
The Rules of Political Correctness are not meant to police certain words or thoughts; they are meant to silence people on the right.
"This is why Palin's argument is a specious reach."
Not the point, Seven.
Make them follow every one of their goddamned rules, every day, without fail.
Because they will fail.
Pogo -- I agree. However, imagine that you are an independent voter who follows politics in a half-assed way.
Doesn't this look shrill?
Pick your battles. You know?
@pogo. Fair enough. I can't really counter your argument except to hope it doesn't stick.
Hasenstab - "Would Rahm Emmanuel say "fucking Jew?"Or maybe "fucking girls". Probably not, as Jews and women (and others) can defend themselves."
I practically guarantee that Rahm Emmanuel has said fucking Jews, fucking Arabs, fucking bitches, fucking Fundies, fucking moron MOVE people at some point.
I understand that Palin and her present handlers and advisors may just be giving the Dems a taste of Alinsky demonization by their own standards.
If she is serious that Emmanuel should be fired for calling liberal Democrats jeopardizing the election of moderate Democrats - "fucking retards", well then Palin is more fucking retarded than her infant.
This is interesting.
Freeman Hunt said...
KC, see how you had to put the word lazy in there? Try it without that. Doesn't even make sense.
Freeman is wrong. Rahm said f-cking r-tard, so I compared it to lazy N Word. Calling someone the N Word without "lazy" would still make my point, as would calling someone r-tard without f_cking. Or calling someone f_cking N Word would make my point. I just used the word lazy as a substitute for Rahm's word f_cking.
Seven Machos said...
"Here's the distinction, people. R*tard is more or less a word like welfare. It -- or a form of it, retarded -- was once used by progressive types to flower up whatever word was used before for the same thing. R*tard and retarded slowly morphed into something unacceptable because -- and this is where the truth hurts -- the idea of being what the word represents seems terribly wrong to people on a deep and unavoidable psychological level.
N*gger is altogether different. It's just an ugly pejorative for something that is not at all terribly wrong on any level. We can all understand that the color of your skin is in no way de facto negative.
This is why Palin's argument is a specious reach."
Seven Machos makes no sense to me. Calling someone a N Word is not calling someone something bad? Of course it is. Blacks for years have used the N Word to disparage people. The word historically has been used by whites to disparage people.
The use of r-tard to refer to someone negatively is perfectly analogous using the N Word to refer to someone negatively.
Rahm under the PC code deserves to be fired, but we all know the liberal press will protect him. We also know that a republican COS would have hell to pay for use of such a term.
Calling someone a N Word is not calling someone something bad?
I'm trying to get at the truth here. There's a big difference. N*gger is bad because it based on a belief that black people are inferior to whites. This isn't true. It was a belief based on a theory that has been discarded by virtually everyone.
R*tard is different. You and I can sit here and say that we think people with mental disabilities are equal in every way. However, in our guts, in deep and dark psychological places, we believe differently.
Here's a simple test: would you rather have been born black or with a serious mental disability? Why?
Madison Man... fuzzy mic covers are commonly used in windy situations.
and Dust Bunny Queen...do a little thinking on funeral pyres ... that metaphor is as old as the hills and you must have heard it for ohhh these many years.
The idea that if we hang Emanuel for using the word retarded and that THEN Palin would throw herself on his funeral pyre....is just retarded in and of itself.
Only the grieving widow would throw herself on the pyre. In this case I think Palin would not be grieving and instead would be dancing around it.
Unless I have the characters (Emanuel and Palin) mistaken....your metaphor was confused and made no sense.
I think the mother of a child in braces hears the word cripple with more force and impact than the rest of us. I don't think Palin is being manipulative or Machiavellan. She really hurts when she hears that word. I would never use the word douchebag in the presence of Emanuel's mother. The word must have many unpleasant connotations for her.
Whatever happened to the Reagan rule?
Thou shall not trash another fellow republican.
This thing reminds me of nothing so much as when I submit to the sad and terrible guilty pleasure of reading through posts at democraticunderground.com.
It's always an outrage du jour that you just laugh at because you know that it doesn't matter a scintilla.
Again, you must pick your battles. Otherwise, you are the boy who cried wolf.
P.S. Actually, it's not the battle that's the problem. It's a good battle, and an appropriate one for Palin.
But the idea that Emanuel should be fired for using the word r*tard is utterly incongruous. She went too far. Thus, she will seem shrill to ordinary Americans who care far less than people like us about politics.
Reagan was no fool.
Give me a fucking break, Fen. Were Palin going to take a stand she'd be talking substance not the lightweight bullshit she flings around. Good God, how any conservative can support this silly woman is beyond me.
I think the mother of a child in braces hears the word cripple with more force and impact than the rest of us. I don't think Palin is being manipulative or Machiavellan. She really hurts when she hears that word.
This is probably true. I would certainly feel that way if one of my kids were Downs Syndrome.
@Joe, because we like to watch the liberals beat on tables and turn beet red in the face and froth at the mouth?
Just sayin'
This incident confirms my long standing impression that the perfection/purity standard we hold our candidates to is a gift we hand to the other side.. a gift they are wholly unworthy of.
We loved Palin when she said "death panels".. she was a genious.
Thats the Palin I love.. period the end.
Financially, would you rather be in the black or in the red?
Depends- Halle Berry or Megan Fox?
Best thread ever.
This didn't happen last year. It refers to a Emanuel's Jan 26 WSJ article. Learning about it makes me like Rahm Emanuel more. He was referring to liberal groups running ads against moderate Democrats and has nothing absolutely NOTHING to do with Palin or her child. Period. For her to come swinging in from right field drawing attention to her child and to herself is just bizarre. But all your point about Alinsky are noted.
Sourdough loaves requires a period of retardation that slows yeast activity while allowing the bacterial portion of the sourdough culture to build up an acidic environment wherein the retarded yeast stops fucking. For now on I'm going to say fucking retarded yeast in honor of of Emanuel, and to unnecessarily provoke Palin. For fun.
Chris said...
I anoint this thread with crazy. Bwahahahahahahaha.
2/2/10 3:47 PM
Jeremy said...
Fast work.
WV - phibral - too easy.
Big Mike - just got home and saw your response. Ha!
Now now children. Let us have a little understanding here. Rahm Emanuel's tough guy persona is just compensating. Remember he was a ballet dancer. He must overcome the the common perception of ballet dancers and act like a tough guy.
It is all bluster and charade. If some one, hypothetically speaking, gave him a smack in the face, he would cry like a retarded little beotch.
However, again hypothetically speaking, if some one gave him a smack on the ass, he would smile and drool like a retarded Richard Simmons.
Pastafarian -- I probably have not made a vital distinction clear enough. Let me try again.
I'm not arguing about the substantive equality of the mentally handicapped. I am arguing about how all of this is likely to appear to ordinary Americans who aren't tuned into politics as much as you and I are.
There's a big difference there, and it's more than just the difference between me being an asshole or having a shrewd understanding of the world.
Seven Machos,
The idea that Rahm should be fired is a just desserts sort of deal. He and other liberals have been after conservatives for years, even in cases of comments much more innocent than what he said. His defense that he did not mean to offend anyone would be more tolerable if liberals had accepted that defense from conservatives in the past.
I would say if Rahm and his liberal pals believe Rush should have been fired for stating an undeniable fact that affirmative action supporting media folks would love to see Donovan McNabb succeed, then Rahm should be fired for using a highly offensive reference to disabled persons as the method to criticize others.
Your distinction between there being nothing bad about being a N word while there is something bad about being a r-tard just makes me shake my head. If we accept your view as relevant and true, then the use of the r-tard word is more offensive, not less offensive. It is using a derogatory term for persons we should all cherish as a means to disparage others. It is not, as you suggest, whether we would want to be a r-tard, it is the level of respect and love we have for disabled and the level of offense we take at Rahm using a term that mocks them. You know liberals would be demanding the head of any republican chief of staff who used the term.
If he gets fired for that then he got hoisted on his own retard.
Or something like that there.
Ahh, another example of the tea/tards following Palin's lead in being suddenly being the free speech police, wanting to censor a known buffoon for offending the retarded.
It's this kind of third-party marginalized thinking that is defining the 'tards.
Loves it....! Keep digging that hole, Mrs. Palin.
Pastafarian provided a superb intellectual take down of Seven Machos and explanation of why what Rahm did should be highly offensive to all of us.
But I especially love his pithy, perfect and accurate conclusion:
"Rahm's an asshole. Palin is pointing this out. Good for her."
Trooper: LOL!
I have to agree with Republican, whom I suspect of not being a Republican.
Lem invokes Reagan's 11th Commandment. I invoke the Golden Rule: treat other people the way you want to be treated.
Rahn just slipped up. He is used to calling his retarded friend something else.
Mr. Vice President.
Mentally disabled people haven't been lynched because they're disabled. The history isn't exactly the same.
True. They've just been sterilized, gassed to death and other lovely things.
The issue isn't just the words. It is the double standard. The hypocrisy that if the same words had been uttered by a Repbulican instead of a Democrat there would be no end to the amount of feces hitting the oscillating mechanism being throw by the gibbering monkeys on the left.
People need to be called out on this double standard. The people are sick of it.
Political correctness for some but not for others.
Kansas City -- I don't feel taken down. My argument is not about substance but about appearance.
And since this won't actually go anywhere and is, in fact, all about appearance from every conceivable angle, how this appears is what matters.
"Mentally disabled people haven't been lynched because they're disabled. The history isn't exactly the same."
Wait a minute. Isn't that the plot of "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and all the other liberal shit they make you read in high school so you will love the commies?
The way to fight the stifling awfulness of political correctness is not with more political correctness.
And this, incidentally, is a substantive argument.
My stock answer for Dems who don’t like the fact that the shoe is now on the other foot:
"If these Obama & Obami, er, faux pas are so unimportant, how come every unimportant faux pas of Bush, Quale, or for that matter Ike was important? Could it be that those guys had an (R) after their names?"
Seven Machos,
I don't know what you mean by this being about appearance, but to borrow Pastafarian's widsom, it "appears" Rahm is an asshole, liberal excuse makers are hypocrites, and Palin is doing a good thing.
Inwood -- It's a tremendous mistake to shift the political debate from serious and substantive economic and political issues to superficial cultural or politically correct ones.
Conservatives will win on economic and political issues every single time. Thus, you even see Democrats running right on these issues at election time.
The left will always win on cultural issues. Why is long-winded but the easiest way to see it is to look at how undergrads who haven't yet been mugged by reality overwhelmingly vote.
Stay focused, people.
Kansas City -- To normal people who pay little attention to politics, Palin will appear shrill and silly for suggesting that Emanuel be fired for using the word retard.
I cannot make it any simpler and conclusionary than that.
Of course, Democrats can use the n-word with no repercussions. Even if they used to be in the KKK.'Cuz they're Democrats.
Seven, I don't see how this makes Rahm look good, and Palin look bad. Maybe to 7th grade boys, who like to toss around the word "retard"; but they can't vote for 5 whole years, and hopefully, by then, they'll have acquired some common decency.
Re. political correctness: I'd love to be able to advertise for a "draftsman" instead of a "draftsperson". But that's not really the same as using someone's disability as an insult toward a third party.
Refraining from the use of such an insult isn't really political correctness, as I understand it. It's just good manners. I don't know anyone who would take offense at the term "blind" in place of "visually impaired", or "mentally retarded" when used to describe someone who's....mentally retarded. But to use the term "retard", with emphasis on the first syllable, is something else entirely.
I'm not saying this kerfuffle makes Rahm look good. I'm saying it makes Palin look bad.
The reason it makes Palin look bad is because she went over the top and said he should be fired. That's incongruous to the offense. It will strike people as unserious and shrill.
Moreover, it shifts the debate to cultural issues, where conservatives and libertarians and everybody I want to vote for loses, always.
"Sarah Palin wants Rahm Emanuel fired..."
I want a pound of Hundreds. I guess neither one of us is going to get what they want today.
"The reason it makes Palin look bad is because she went over the top and said he should be fired."
Hey tell that to Don Imus. Al Sharpton did the same thing that Palin did and got a couple of new Cadillac's out of it.
Troop,
Shaprton probably got an Escalde with spinners and a couple of nappy headed hos to ride along.
I don't know...that's a pretty good point, Seven. Asking for him to be fired is certainly an over-reach.
But that's a fairly standard stock move in politics, so I'm not sure if those ordinary non-political people will take more notice of the over-reach of Palin, or the asshole move of Rahm.
To me, the asshole move stands out more. And unless you're hoping Palin runs, it doesn't really matter if she comes off as shrill; she might expend a little political capital with this, but she'll also make the Dems look bad. Sort of a kamikaze attack.
And as for staying on message: There's a lot of time between now and the next election. Plenty of time to bring up all sorts of topics that make the Dems look bad. To just relentlessly hammer away on a few points might lose people's interest.
Palin's demonstrated some pretty good political instincts in the past.
I say we keep the pressure on. titfor tat!
If Palin would forcibly retire from politics, it would give her more room to say this kind of thing. As it is, because people think she's going to run for president or be some kind of kingmaker, it's a perception problem.
Also, the right does not need an Al Sharpton.
Seven -
I have to disagree about this making Palin look bad for several reasons:
1) This story doesn't help advance the Left's agenda, so it's mostly going to stay relegated to the "inside baseball" blogs rather than being blown across all the media outlets as it would have been if it had been Palin who uttered the phrase.
2) Those who are most likely to run across this story are also the ones most likely to have already made up their minds one way or the other about Palin.
3) To the extent that people recognize that she has a Downs' child, I would argue that there is not going to be any argument that she went too far. People call for other people to get fired all the time in the world of politics. Pretty much everyone recognizes it for the game it is.
4) This is mainly about Palin staying inside Obama's OODA loop. Forcing Emanuel and Obama to constantly be checking their 6 every time they utter a word or make a statement.
I know it's high fashion to decry the woman as stupid, but she really is playing a very strategic game with Obama and has been for months.
At every turn, she is frustrating Obama and Rahm was just a target of opportunity. She's clearly got them rattled and off their game. She forced Emanuel to make an apology that I'm sure infuriated him to no end. Yep, she sure is stupid and Obama sure is smart.
Yep, yep, yep.
Happy days are here again. Another >200 comment Palin post is in sight. That is no retard using her Face book page. Obama's boys are getting rattled about negative stories from their media brigade. Another rattled Hitler video with subtitles is coming out soon.
Ahh, my eyes!
Trooper, you need to give a heads-up when a link goes to a picture of Susan Sarandon. Yes, I read your praises of her in a previous thread; and shuddered uncontrollably. Sweet Jesus, that's just disgusting. Why not link to a naughty shot of Bea Arthur, or Rosie O'Donnell?
Actually Palin is sort of the conservative Al Sharpton. She engenders the same response on the other side, can get the press and can push the meme and the main stream media douche bags can't ignore her. She is a lot like Al Sharpton actually.
Let's see, when Dick Cheney told Patrick Leahy to go FUCK HIMSELF on the Senate floor that was nothing much to be concerned about.
But when Rahm says other Democrats are being FUCKING RETARDED then that's just rude, unprofessional, and a firing offense?
WTF?
What are we in 4th grade now?
Jim
I think you are giving Palin WAY too much credit here. She is a small pawn in the game.
I seem to recall Lindsay Lohan getting a lot of flack over her use of the word.
Actress Lindsay Lohan uses it, comedian Chris Rock says it, and last year's Ben Stiller movie Tropic Thunder took it to a new low, when it mocked actors who play disabled characters, using the phrase "going full retard." From Hollywood and music, to the water cooler at work, "retard" has slipped back into the lexicon.
Pastafarian, right back at you!
Jim -- good points, all I had not thought of.
One caveat: the left is fucking genius at turning this cultural shit around and killing conservatives and libertarians with it.
Trooper, you are one sick son-of-a-bitch.
Seven, that's true, but I just don't see how they can polish this particular turd.
Big Mike,
I'm not remotely a liberal. My posts on Althouse pretty much show that I am a strong fiscal conservative with libertarian leanings with social issues (even the other Joe at least leans conservative.) That anyone who finds Palin annoying as shit and completely unqualified to be president is labeled liberal is absurd. On the flip side, this knee jerk support for her is just as bad as the knee jerk liberal support for Obama. Like Obama supporters, Palin supporters are largely seeing things in her that simply aren't there.
This latest nonsense to flow out of Palin's mouth provides ample proof that she's a shallow politician who can't look beyond a trivial soundbite. Why the hell to WE Republicans want yet another one of these jokers?
I agree Palin seems to have pretty good political instincts. I doubt that she will be president. She would need to master the art of sounding serious and cerebral, rather than talking in soundbites. You can succeed in politics without that skill, e.g., Pelosi, Reid, etc., but I don't think you can be president.
The right republican (Romney, Gregg, maybe Huckabee, maybe Gingrich, Thume, perhaps Palin) has an opportunity to use the budget issue AND a one term pledge to make a real move at becoming the front runner. I think Gregg in particular would be well positioned to make the move.
Is it possible that this thread contains more profanities and otherwise offensive terms than any thread in Althouse history?
I wonder if there's any way to confirm that.
Palin for Alaska Senate!
Palin for Alaska U.S. Senator even!
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