Their goal is the USE and ABUSE of your children.
Posted on 02/05/2010 3:58:53 AM PST by Kaslin
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is notoriously profane and uncouth. So it's not surprising that The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Emanuel had referred to some congressional Democrats as "retarded" in a private meeting with strategists. This has sparked a national kerfuffle.
Who can quarrel about the word "retarded" in this context? It is obnoxious and unnecessary. We should do our best to avoid it. After all, our goal as Americans must be to offend the guilty (some congressional Democrats) without dragging the innocent (the mentally disabled) into the fray.
But what was even more disturbing than finding out that political hacks use demeaning references in private assemblies? It was watching those who usually complain about political correctness dig deep for some of their own artificial outrage and begin playacting the victim.
Do conservatives really believe that an impolite utterance in private should be a firing offense? To begin with, the word "retard," unlike many other purposefully disparaging words, has legitimate meanings beyond insult. An example? Rahm Emanuel has a severe case of ideological retardation.
What is this guy supposed to do now, anyway? Emanuel apologized to the mentally disabled. He sincerely apologized to the mentally disabled. He apologized to the head of the Special Olympics for his remark (and was rejected). He probably apologized to God himself -- and the president, in return, almost surely forgave him.
Emanuel even joined a group whose sole mission is to eradicate the use of the word "retarded" from the English language.
Does intent matter? When a person uses the N-word, without a doubt, he has a very specific subset of the population in mind. He uses it to smear an entire race. When a person drops what henceforth will be known as the R-word -- as many of us did regularly during childhood -- there is no intent to denigrate those with disabilities.
Sarah Palin, whose youngest son has Down syndrome, asked the overwrought question "Are you capable of decency, Rahm Emanuel?" and demanded that the president fire Emanuel, as the word "retarded" is "a slur on all God's children with cognitive and developmental disabilities."
So dragging God's children with cognitive and developmental disabilities into a political tussle isn't that offensive?
Now, inevitably, someone will ask: What would happen to Karl Rove or another Republican if he made a similarly insensitive remark? I suspect it would look very much like the over-the-top reaction we're witnessing today.
Palin went on to write: "Every day they suffer its dehumanizing effects -- mockery, stigma, ridicule. This is a word that is incredibly damaging -- not only to the seven million people with intellectual disabilities in the United States, but also their friends, family and to all of us."
In truth, in nearly every way, the lives of the mentally disabled have improved vastly, from the care they receive to the quality of their lives to the respect they are given.
Though I've heard the R-word thrown around plenty (often, I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn, directed at me), I can't recall anyone's using it as a pejorative to describe a person who was actually disabled. Far from ridiculing the disabled, our culture has humanized them.
Emanuel certainly deserves to be reprimanded. But if his offense is worthy of losing a job, you have to wonder whether we really are a nation of the perpetually offended.
While these people work day and night to destroy this country conservatives are debating whether we should be outraged at their use of this language.
Shhhh... we all cut R.E. a break cuz he’s such a cartoonish-looking freak. Just smile and ignore him, otherwise he’ll have another flare-up.
I propose we ban the use of the word “outrage.”
This would silence at least half the politicians in the country and force them to deal with the issues instead of the sound bites.
I have to agree. We should not become what we despise. That is, people on the other side of the aisle who use political correctness like a hammer to bash their idealogical opponents with. Rahm Emmanuel should be fired, but not for this offense. For the offense of being a total idealogue who came up with the strategy to keep Republicans out of the health care debate and try to jam it through on a party line vote. It failed, so he should be out.
I agree completely with this article. Palin’s outrage is ridiculous and makes her look silly. She should have just ignored it instead of making a big scene about a retarded issue.
I doubt seriously that Rahm has ever apologized sincerely to anyone; if apologized at all.
Is it all that surprising that Palin would be extra sensitive to this comment when she was mocked and criticized for not aborting her retarded son?
Agree 100%. Bump.
:O)
It has the added advantage of being perfectly applicable to democrats in general.
She can be sensitive and irritated all she wants. She should of bottled it up. GOP needs to quit wasting time taking silly snipes at immature liberal behavior. It takes away from the real issues ($1.5t+ deficit) and makes us looky petty.
Their goal is the USE and ABUSE of your children.
We should make as big a stink as possible about these things so the next time libs use the fake outrage that is such a part of their playbook we have episodes like reid and this to throw back in their faces.
As a donkey-owner, I am outraged!!!!!
Taking a few "snipes" at this guy doesn't take away from "the real issues". If she wants address this comment I believe she still has a right to do so in this country. She speaks for herself first, to the extent she represents us is no doubt secondary.
Everybody take a big breath and repeat after me:
"Sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me."
I am convinced that this particular philosophy accounted for much more civility in generations past. You never hear it anymore. It needs to be brought back at every possible opportunity.
“Rahm Emmanuel should be fired, but not for this offense. For the offense of being a total idealogue who came up with the strategy to keep Republicans out of the health care debate and try to jam it through on a party line vote. It failed, so he should be out.”
I agree with your sentiment, but we’re not dealing with rational people who have values similar to ours. This is where conservatives make a large tactical mistake, believing the logic of reasoned debate can change the mind of a leftist. If that were the case, newspapers across the country would have been screaming for Al Gore’s head and exposing the global warming scam. Instead, the opposite has occurred - the newspapers are defending the scam even more loudly.
Leftists are determined to destroy us by any means necessary. The time for civilized debate flew out the window long ago. Left wing idealogues understand only one thing - overwhelming force.
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