# Sarah Palin: "Rahm Emannuel called my retard baby a nigger!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 3, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503 "2010-02-03T06:37:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/181 "2010-02-05T21:24:03Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > “Retarded” isn’t a certain mental condition, either–there are a whole range of causes and degrees. “Retarded” is exactly as specific as “crazy” is. Except that mild mental retardation, moderate mental retardation, severe mental retardation and profound mental retardation are clinical diagnoses. Crazy is not. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/182 "2010-02-05T21:36:32Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > If it’s hurtful to me, my brother and millions of others, why do you want to use it? Is your vocabulary so limited that the only means you have to criticize an idea is to belittle others or their condition? > Seriously dude, WTF? Perhaps people are implying that you and your family should lighten up a little bit, and not go out of your way to take offense where there really isn’t any. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/183 "2010-02-05T21:38:51Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > If it’s hurtful to me, my brother and millions of others, why do you want to use it? Is your vocabulary so limited that the only means you have to criticize an idea is to belittle others or their condition? I’d start saying “are you in a vegetative state?” but you’d probably find that offensive, too. Part of the problem is that you feel like you speak for everyone with a mental disability, which you don’t. They may all feel the same way you do, or they may think it’s fine. Based on the sheer cussedness of human beings, I’m sure you can find at least a few who don’t think it’s offensive at all. So then where does that leave us? “I don’t like it” isn’t a good argument for why people should stop using a word–it’s a good argument for why people should stop using a word _around you_ (assuming they care at all about hurting your feelings or pissing you off). ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/184 "2010-02-05T21:39:09Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > If it’s hurtful to me, my brother and millions of others, why do you want to use it? Is your vocabulary so limited that the only means you have to criticize an idea is to belittle others or their condition? It’s not belittling others. What part of this don’t you get? It is objectively belittling nothing if I say “retard”. You’re the hypersensitive person here who, for some odd reason, has no capacity to detach what is being said about something absolutely, 100% not related to you or your brother to your personal feelings. Also, as was said before, you want to remove nuance from language. No, I’m sure there is a way that I could convey exactly what I intended to convey by saying that an idea was “fucking retarded” without using the words “fucking” or “retarded”. it wouldn’t particularly be parsimonious, and I especially don’t feel that I need to modify my use of proper words and phrases to accommodate your hypersensitivity. > [@](#): > > Seriously dude, WTF? If it’s harmful to you to use “retard” it’s harmful to me to use “dumber than a sack of bricks” Oh, and my uncle was killed in an airplane crash. So please don’t talk about flying, ever, or I may get a bit teary eyed. \*in case you haven’t figured it out, the absolute stupidity of my brick wall and airplane stories is intended to illustrate to you that your position is similarly absolutely stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/185 "2010-02-05T21:41:19Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Terrible analogy. All retarded people are retarded by definition (to varying degrees), but there’s nothing inherent to being Black that causes poverty. That’s not what the analogy says. It simply says someone is “as poor as a nigger.” What makes black people in that area poor doesn’t change the fact that they’re poor. Why that distinction makes it a poor analogy makes no sense. And how about the use of the word “nigger”? I notice you didn’t comment on that. Is that comparable to “retard”? Is asking people not to use such a term trying to impose your own issues on other peoples’ use of language? > [@](#): > > Wow. I can’t believe that you don’t see how completely, 100% parallel the situation is. THERE IS NO IMPLIED INSULT IN THE COMMENT BEYOND THE FACT THAT RETARDED PEOPLE ARE, WELL, RETARDED; THE INSULT THERE IS DIRECTED ONLY AT THE IDEA. And yet you didn’t comment on the comparison to scenario two. Would the family just laugh off such a comment under any circumstance? Of course not. The situations are not analogous. If you were walking down the street and someone shouted out a car window, “Hey, you’re blind!,” how would you react? Probably wouldn’t know what to make of it. It is not an insult per se. Suppose he yelled, “Hey, retard!” Would you have any doubt that it was an insult? The two are not the same. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/186 "2010-02-05T21:42:23Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > But it’s still not conveying the actual meaning you’re intending: it’s not just a bad idea, it’s an idea so terrible that no one with at least average cognitive ability could possibly agree with it. You’re removing all nuance from language. I find it ironic that you are arguing for the usage of phrase “fucking retarded” on the basis of nuance. Implicit in its usage is the idea that the retarded are incapable of developing or understanding good ideas which is patently false. > [@](#): > > So can you see how perhaps you’re trying to impose your own issues on other peoples’ use of language? Of course. Isn’t that how society evolves? If you say something that offends me, shouldn’t I tell you about it? It’s up to you to decide if the feelings of others are important enough to make you change your behavior. Not very long ago, “colored” was 100% inoffensive. Times change and language changes to reflect societal attitudes. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/187 "2010-02-05T21:46:33Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > That’s not what the analogy says. It simply says someone is “as poor as a nigger.” What makes black people in that area poor doesn’t change the fact that they’re poor. Why that distinction makes it a poor analogy makes no sense. poverty is not an immutable characteristic of the immutable characteristic of being african-american, which is why drawing the implication is highly insulting. > [@](#): > > And how about the use of the word “nigger”? I notice you didn’t comment on that. Is that comparable to “retard”? Is asking people not to use such a term trying to impose your own issues on other peoples’ use of language?And yet you didn’t comment on the comparison to scenario two. Would the family just laugh off such a comment under any circumstance? Of course not. The situations are not analogous. nigger has absolutely no meaning whatsoever other than its use as a slur. “retard” does not (it’s not even a slur anyway). which is why society can regulate the usage of the term “nigger” by validly holding someone in contempt for usage of the term. > [@](#): > > If you were walking down the street and someone shouted out a car window, “Hey, you’re blind!,” how would you react? Probably wouldn’t know what to make of it. It is not an insult per se. Suppose he yelled, “Hey, retard!” Would you have any doubt that it was an insult? The two are not the same. well that would entirely depend on why they were screaming at me. screaming for no apparent reason: none would make me feel anything, frankly screaming at me for almost crashing into a granny with a cane: calling me either retarded or blind may make me feel bad screaming at me for holding up a sign that says “1+1=3”: calling me blind wouldn’t make me feel anything, calling me retarded would make me feel bad ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/188 "2010-02-05T21:49:05Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I find it ironic that you are arguing for the usage of phrase “fucking retarded” on the basis of nuance. Implicit in its usage is the idea that the retarded are incapable of developing or understanding good ideas which is patently false. This is a very good point. It’s offered as a given in this thread that all mentally retarded people are “stupid.” There are borderline mentally retarded folks that some people would have trouble identifying, for example. And I know mentally retarded people who, although challenged in other ways, show remarkably consistent common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/189 "2010-02-05T21:52:00Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > This is a very good point. It’s offered as a given in this thread that all mentally retarded people are “stupid.” There are borderline mentally retarded folks that some people would have trouble identifying, for example. And I know mentally retarded people who, although challenged in other ways, show remarkably consistent common sense. Isn’t this then evidence of the fact that while “fucking retard” may be a bad way to convey displeasure with an idea, it isn’t particularly innately and incurably insulting to retards? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/190 "2010-02-05T21:55:16Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > poverty is not an immutable characteristic of the immutable characteristic of being african-american, which is why drawing the implication is highly insulting. Why does it it have to be immutable? It need only be understandable. The black people in that area could be poor for any number of reasons; it could be completely beyond their control. But they’re poor nonetheless. That’s the characteristic I’m referencing. “Quick as a bunny” doesn’t suffer as a comparison just because some rabbits aren’t fast. > [@](#): > > nigger has absolutely no meaning whatsoever other than its use as a slur. “retard” does not (it’s not even a slur anyway). which is why society can regulate the usage of the term “nigger” by validly holding someone in contempt for usage of the term. Nonsense. “Retard,” the slang noun describing a mentally retarded person, is [derogatory](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/retard): > [@](#): > > 1. Slang: Disparaging. > a. a mentally retarded person. > b. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard. Stop the silliness. > [@](#): > > well that would entirely depend on why they were screaming at me. > > screaming for no apparent reason: none would make me feel anything, frankly > screaming at me for almost crashing into a granny with a cane: calling me either retarded or blind may make me feel bad > screaming at me for holding up a sign that says “1+1=3”: calling me blind wouldn’t make me feel anything, calling me retarded would make me feel bad You’re strenuously avoiding the point. “Blind” is not a per se insult. “Retard” is. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/191 "2010-02-05T21:56:20Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I think you might be a cocksucker. No might about it. My husband says I’m a real good cocksucker. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/192 "2010-02-05T21:56:29Z")
I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere here; we’re reaching the wheel-spinning stage of everyone just repeating the same arguments over and over. Retarded means retarded, period. Yes, mentally retarded people can have good ideas, and there are things that they can comprehend. But if they were 100% at the level of cognitively normal people, then they wouldn’t be retarded. So, take whatever it is that puts them into the “mentally retarded” category, and that’s what we’re talking about when we say that someone or something is “retarded.” I can’t believe we’re having to fucking spell this shit out for you. What are you? A person who has difficulties comprehending simple concepts? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/193 "2010-02-05T21:57:16Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > Isn’t this then evidence of the fact that while “fucking retard” may be a bad way to convey displeasure with an idea, it isn’t particularly innately and incurably insulting to retards? Let’s use the OP as an example. If Emanuel intended to convey how little common sense the idea possessed, how do you reconcile that with the many mentally retarded people who have common sense? Should we just ignore them because they don’t fit with the stereotype that makes it a great little insult? ETA: And “retard” is by definition insulting. Just like “nigger.” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/194 "2010-02-05T22:00:28Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I can’t believe we’re having to fucking spell this shit out for you. What are you? A person who has difficulties comprehending simple concepts? Well, at least we already established that you’re a piece of shit. So there was some progress made in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/195 "2010-02-05T22:01:58Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > The black people in that area could be poor for any number of reasons; it could be completely beyond their control. But they’re poor nonetheless. You’re fucking retarded if you think the analogy works. (See how well it works? Bet you can’t give me any other phrase that would convey the exact connotation I wanted to convey.) You can’t just throw any offensive word in there and make it work–'cause it doesn’t. “Stupid as a retard” works, albeit tactlessly, because retards are, by definition, stupid. “Poor as a nigger” doesn’t work, because there’s nothing about being Black that means you’re going to be poor. I previously ignored the slur because it was incedental. I’d assume that you’d be just as offended by “that idea is developmentally disabled” as you would by “that idea is retarded.” You’re not objecting to the vocabulary as much as you are objecting to the comparison itself. > [@](#): > > “Blind” is not a per se insult. “Retard” is. Blind, when applied to a person with the disability, is a descriptor; applied to anyone or anything else, it’s an insult. Retarded, when applied to a person with the disability, is a descriptor; applied to anyone or anything else, it’s an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/196 "2010-02-05T22:03:10Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Well, at least we already established that you’re a piece of shit. No, I’m an asshole, and it’s been well established in advance of this thread. And your comment is offensive to people who clean septic tanks. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/197 "2010-02-05T22:04:40Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Perhaps, if “crazy” were still an official clinical diagnosis, which it’s not. Retardation is. How about “that’s fucking psychotic?” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/198 "2010-02-05T22:04:55Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You’re fucking retarded if you think the analogy works. (See how well it works? Bet you can’t give me any other phrase that would convey the exact connotation I wanted to convey.) You can’t just throw any offensive word in there and make it work–'cause it doesn’t. “Stupid as a retard” works, albeit tactlessly, because retards are, by definition, stupid. “Poor as a nigger” doesn’t work, because there’s nothing about being Black that means you’re going to be poor. I previously ignored the slur because it was incedental. I’d assume that you’d be just as offended by “that idea is developmentally disabled” as you would by “that idea is retarded.” You’re not objecting to the vocabulary as much as you are objecting to the comparison itself. How about “dark as a nigger”? Does that one work for you? After all, they’re darker, to varying degrees. > [@](#): > > Blind, when applied to a person with the disability, is a descriptor; applied to anyone or anything else, it’s an insult. Retarded, when applied to a person with the disability, is a descriptor; applied to anyone or anything else, it’s an insult. No, it’s a non sequitur when applied to some one else, unless it specifically refers to something vision-related. “Retard” is, per se, an insult. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/199 "2010-02-05T22:07:04Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > No, I’m an asshole, and it’s been well established in advance of this thread. And your comment is offensive to people who clean septic tanks. No, to be analogous, it’s offensive to the stuff they clean out of the septic tanks. And you’re right, I do apologize to septic-tank shit the world over for comparing you to them. That was over-the-top insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/200 "2010-02-05T22:08:26Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Nonsense. “Retard,” the slang noun describing a mentally retarded person, is [derogatory](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/retard):Stop the silliness. what part of the word “other (ed: sorry, retard moment)” did you miss? (what are you, retarded?) or are you now claiming that there is no: 1. clinical diagnosis entitled “retarded” 2. there is no verb definition that means “to hinder” oh, and btw, thanks for telling me that blind isn’t per se retarded. my brother in law lost vision in both of his eyes when a leather punch slipped, poked into his left eye, and subsequently infected his right eye as a wee lad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503.md?page=11)