# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/21 "2010-02-03T15:57:20Z")
Are Down’s Syndrome sufferers actually generally retarded? Or are the two just likely to go together? Although I very much doubt ol’ Sarah’s sincerity, I can’t really blame her for making this a talking point. It was a bit offensive. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/22 "2010-02-03T15:58:27Z")
[Retarded - definition of retarded by The Free Dictionary](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/retarded) Her kid is retarded. He will be developmentally slow. That is just the facts. Retarded has evolved into conventional use with a bit of different slant. But in her kids case, it is just an accurate medical ,proper description. It is not equivalent to being called a "nigger’. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/23 "2010-02-03T16:02:33Z")
Meant to add, I’m not a Palin fan. I’d like to see her in running shorts, not running the country. She’s probably spent too much time on the back of Todd’s snow machine inhaling fumes and getting frostbite of the cerebellum. However, she has every right to be offended by the word considering that she has a child with Down’s Syndrome and was given a lot of grief over the years for trying to run a state while dealing with the complexities of caring for a special needs child. We had another thread on SDMB recently pitting another member for using the word “retarded”. This is a very touchy subject for the family members. ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/24 "2010-02-03T16:03:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > He didn’t call anybody “retards,” he called an _idea_ “fucking retarded,” which it was, and which is no more an insult to mentally impaiired people than words like “moronic,” “imbecilic,” and “idiotic,” which used to have clinical meanings, but no longer do. > > Palin is just grandstanding. That’s what she does. That and attention whoring. If she really gave a shit about her baby, she wouldn’t have tried to kill it. If he had called an idea “fucking gay”, there’s no doubt in my mind that someone from the GLBT community would have called him on it. I know that my gay friends don’t like the phrase “that’s gay.” Posting on FaceBook is hardly grandstanding and WTF does your last sentence mean? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/25 "2010-02-03T16:05:12Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Isn’t a big deal to whom? To people with mentally handicapped children. I’m making a generalization, obviously. > [@](#): > > Neither the noun nor the verb have any place in a professional setting. Bottom line is, the guy was being candid and he said something that was rude. He shouldn’t do that, but it’s no big whoop. Next you’ll tell me football coaches and drill sergeants sometimes say rude things, too. Somehow civilization refuses to collapse despite occasional use of profanity by intense people in positions of pressure. ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/26 "2010-02-03T16:10:23Z")
> [@Slypork](#): > > However, she has every right to be offended by the word considering that she has a child with Down’s Syndrome and was given a lot of grief over the years for trying to run a state while dealing with the complexities of caring for a special needs child. No she wasn’t. First of all, she only had the fucking kid like a year and a half ago, so there wasn’t any “over the years” period to begin with. I don’t remember exactly when she quit, but she had the baby and the job for less than a year at the same time. Secondly, she was praised a hero for having the kid, not attacked for it. It was basically her only credential. She’s exploited that kid as a trophy since the day he was born. ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/27 "2010-02-03T16:12:22Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > \ > > Palin is just grandstanding. That’s what she does. That and attention whoring.\ I concur with my esteemed colleague from the south. What Palin actually meant to say was, “ME! PAY ATTENTION TO ME! YOOHOO!” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/28 "2010-02-03T16:13:00Z")
While Rahm was a bit retarded himself, since as an experienced politician he should know which words have red flags all over them, the problem is that it’s just a synonym for “stupid”. But all those words – “idiot”, “moron”, “tard”, etc. – could be taken as insults for people with mental handicaps or learning difficulties. So what are we going to say about those people – like most Republican supporters these days – who show no signs of clinical mental deficiency, but are deficient in the most basic of common sense? ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/29 "2010-02-03T16:15:29Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > If he had called an idea “fucking gay”, there’s no doubt in my mind that someone from the GLBT community would have called him on it. I know that my gay friends don’t like the phrase “that’s gay.” I don’t think that’s precisely comparable (nor would it make any sense in context), but if Emanuel were to have said that Sarah palin would not be grandstanding on facebook about it, so that cuts both way. > [@](#): > > WTF does your last sentence mean? She got a plane flight back to Alaska with a ruptured amniotic sack, thus greatly and irresponsibly endgangering the life of the baby for no reason which has ever been convincingly explained. She was either being extremely reckless, or was intentionally trying to kill the baby (a “fundy abortion”). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/30 "2010-02-03T16:15:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I have never heard a human being use that phrase in any kind of serious way. This post is really D’abled. eta: come on, work with me here! ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/31 "2010-02-03T16:20:28Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > To people with mentally handicapped children. I’m making a generalization, obviously. And a bad one at that. I’m curious how it is that you came to this conclusion. The people that I know (my parents included) that have mentally handicapped children avoid both usages of the “R-word.” > [@Marley23](#): > > Bottom line is, the guy was being candid and he said something that was rude. He shouldn’t do that, but it’s no big whoop. Next you’ll tell me football coaches and drill sergeants sometimes say rude things, too. Somehow civilization refuses to collapse despite occasional use of profanity by intense people in positions of pressure. Slippery slope much? You said it yourself, it was rude and he shouldn’t have said it. The WH Chief of Staff has nothing at all in common with a football coach or a drill sargeant. ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/32 "2010-02-03T16:24:15Z")
You’d be surprised. ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/33 "2010-02-03T16:27:11Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > You’d be surprised. I guess I would. I must confess that due to the limited sample size (1) of WH CoS’s that I’ve worked for, my point of view might be skewed. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/34 "2010-02-03T16:30:29Z")
_Argumentum ad employmentum_? ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/35 "2010-02-03T16:44:48Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I guess I would. I must confess that due to the limited sample size (1) of WH CoS’s that I’ve worked for, my point of view might be skewed. In all seriousness, Whitehouse Chiefs of Staff operate as enforcers. They’re the Presidents’ pitbulls, the hardasses who do the screaming and yelling, and stomping on balls so the President doesn’t have to. I guess profanity and politically incorrect language doesn’t _have_ to be part of the job, but it tends to be there more often than not. Behind the scenes politicking is often extremely crude and bareknuckled. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/36 "2010-02-03T16:45:59Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > While Rahm was a bit retarded himself, since as an experienced politician he should know which words have red flags all over them, the problem is that it’s just a synonym for “stupid”. But all those words – “idiot”, “moron”, “tard”, etc. – could be taken as insults for people with mental handicaps or learning difficulties. So what are we going to say about those people – like most Republican supporters these days – who show no signs of clinical mental deficiency, but are deficient in the most basic of common sense? This fracas reminds me of the South Park episode where everyone started using the word “fag” to refer to really loud bikers, and the kids didn’t even know it was a gay slur. The point being that some words just lose their original meanings after awhile. When most people call something retarded, they don’t mean to imply that it is literally mentally deficient and 99 percent of the time they don’t mean it as a slam against handicapped people. I agree that Rahm fucked up, but I also believe that Sarah saw this mainly as another excuse to play the victim card. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/37 "2010-02-03T16:49:32Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > And a bad one at that. I’m curious how it is that you came to this conclusion. Just general experience, including discussions here. > [@](#): > > The WH Chief of Staff has nothing at all in common with a football coach or a drill sargeant. I disagree. Politicians are expected to be all smiles in public but the bottom line is that many of them do act that way in private when they’re trying to get something done. And Emanuel is famous for his temper. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/38 "2010-02-03T18:20:09Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > In fact, you’ll find people who don’t like the use of the word “handicapped” to describe people, and prefer “differently abled”. I am horribly offended at this. It implies that these people are different! :mad: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/39 "2010-02-03T18:30:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Rahm is right. That _would_ have been fucking retarded. No it wouldn’t, somme of those Dems are cancers. Blanche Lincoln for example. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/40 "2010-02-03T19:31:45Z")
I hope Rahm will give a meaningless apology to whoever asks for one and continue being the chief of staff. This kind of language has no place being disseminated and used against him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503.md?page=3)