White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel allegedly referred to liberals as "fucking retarded." This caused great anguish to Sarah Palin, who noted that, "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." (Palin herself has allegedly used "the R-word," although she has denied it.) A chastened Emmanuel apologized to any R-words he may have offended for his unflattering comparison to liberals. And now everything's okay again in America.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
40
First they came for the fucking retarded, and I said nothing, because I was not fucking retarded.
GAY.
Ruh roh, indeed.
That's the nicest thing that's been said about liberals in months.
Not good enough. Let's have another one of his finger's off.
fingers.
Fucking Republicans.
Scott Brown is delightfully retarded.
I imagine him flipping his Rolodex to R for Retarded, Special Olympics CEO to make that call.
But did he apologize to TRIG?
Why? Is Trig a Liberal?
Well, to be fair, liberals have been behaving as if they are cognitively impaired so perhaps Sarah Palin doth protest too much?
I prefer to use the word "special" for my liberal friends.
Yes, this.
I hate to agree with Sarah Palin, but I kind of do. Remember, when you call douchenozzles like Ben Nelson "fucking retarded," you're insulting retarded people. What did they ever do to you? I'd rather spend an afternoon with retarded people than with Ben Nelson; my urge to punch them in the face would be much lower.
(I will not apologize for insulting douches or the nozzles attached thereto, as they are pointless objects that deserve scorn.)
One of my sisters is developmentally disabled, and she will leave the room if a character on a tv show calls someone "retard" even if it is one of her favorite shows. Yes, I say the r-word sometimes, but not around her, which is proof that it's a slur that I shouldn't use.
Methinks I detect a jab at Harry Reid in Mrs. Palin's comment. Well played, well played.
I mean, he shouldn't have said it. Saying it was wrong. That said, I am not disappointed in him, to the extent that this is completely unsurprising. Who ever expected Rahm Emanuel to either a. refrain from rash and unwise behavior when upset, or b. show himself to be a more committed liberal than Jon Stewart, who says the word all the damn time, and also lets his writing staff write the word into the mouth of anyone who has ever performed on that program.
Also, Sarah is a hypocrite who totally has used that word. I trust what Levi says, as he's too stupid to lie.
Also, what's the status of the word "lame"? Because we maybe shouldn't be using that either.
Yes, and "retardedly lame" has definitely got to go.
Perhaps he was using the french definition? In that liberals are fucking late?
Also, where was Palin's outrage on behalf of cunts everywhere when McCain called his wife a cunt? We are all God's cunts.
You bitch.
Is twat okay? Please God, don't take twat away...
You're quite a cunning linguist!
Your comment reminds me of this bit by Mindy Kaling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcOdNc_seyM
Remember when Reagan called Dukakis a cripple? I thought there would be outrage then but it never happened. Here we are, what, twenty-two years later, and the rest of the world has finally caught up to my delicate sensibilities.
Whoever called this site 'highbrow' obviously failed to notice that sex, liquor, and dirty words never fail to generate the most views and comments.
*applause all around
And yet the one about the fireman pinup calendar shoot -- which I figured would be like commentor catnip -- is strangely empty. Oh, The Awl, do you ever cease to astound?
Here's a nice story about the use of the word "retarded". I was having a real conversation with an education professional about special needs kids, and I said "mentally retarded". This was a big problem. I was supposed to say "MR". Let's all guess what those initials stand for...
This was with a smart person too!
I'm surprised that even "MR" is still licit. "Mentally retarded" is no longer AP style. There is a bill before the Senate to get rid of the expression "mental retardation" in US bureaucratic usage and replace it with "intellectual disability."
So if we don't get a comprehensive health-care reform bill passed, we can still make the world a better place by abolishing certain old phrases and introducing certain new phrases that have more syllables.
But what's really fucking MR about the whole thing is that all the expressions now abhorred (also including "mental handicap" and "mental deficiency") were themselves introduced as euphemisms in the first place.
And soon enough, of course, there will be some insensitive political hack (and by "hack," I do mean a stump-fingered individual, one with hacked-off stumps for fingers) who gets himself called out for referring to the people who annoy him as "fucking intellectually disabled" or perhaps "fucking ID."
Oh my God!
Sorry. OMG!
*chorus* "Mr. F!"
Ha ha, sometimes I love Ben Smith:
We need to find hurtful words that won't hurt anyone's feelings.
"Pillock"? The British are really amazing at insulting people, they might be the best.
"Shitsack" applies to pretty much everybody ....
Here is a true fact: Once medical terms for being a halfwit pass into popular usage as slurs for general dumbassery, new medical terms are invented for being a halfwit, and everyone is super happy forever! (Examples: Moron, imbecile, cretin.)
ALSO: The greatest archaic term for a mentally retarded child is "changeling." Because elves or hobbits exchanged your "good" baby for a defective one! Also "cretin" comes from "Christian," because Christians are so fucking simple. True!
Should we just go back to stoning people?
Silently?
(and Ken Layne, I miss you @wonkette)
Does Sarah Palin know her son is a Liberal?