# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/61 "2010-02-04T04:02:58Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Well said. I’m the last one to call the PC Police, but the fact is that the term is offensive, as it uses mental retardation as a metric for stupidity. I might have use the term myself at some time. Ad if I did, and was called on it, I’d apologize. Aside from that though, the White House CoS really should know better. Let him apologize for it and let’s move on. > > Plus, based on the posts in this thread, Rahm would have made hios point much more strongly if he had told the group of progressives that they “were being fucking Dios if they carried out plans to run ads attacking conservative Democrats who opposed parts of the reform bill.” > > Really, **Dio**. Sheesh. Is it because you’re a short bus riding retard? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/62 "2010-02-04T04:39:30Z")
God this OP is funny as hell. I think it’s right up there with “I burning your dog,” if I may be so bold. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/63 "2010-02-04T04:58:56Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > God this OP is funny as hell. I think it’s right up there with “I burning your dog,” if I may be so bold. You may. I deeply disagree because the OP you mention was truly whacky, whereas this was merely blustery RO, but you may. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/64 "2010-02-04T05:13:28Z")
> [@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 totally agree with Palin on this one. Some of you don’t see how comparing someone or something negatively to a group of people is wrong? Which of these is acceptable? That’s retarded (so being mentally disabled is cause for disparagement?) You’re so gay (being a homosexual is comparative to an insult) [to a guy] Don’t get your panties in a bunch (because women are so irrational) That’s nigger rich (cause blacks try to impress people by nice things but have no money because of it) Don’t jew me! (Jews are stingy - like you!) ---
**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 4, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/65 "2010-02-04T05:17:56Z")
The first three are all acceptable, and it’s really retarded and gay to get your panties in a bunch about them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/66 "2010-02-04T05:56:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The first three are all acceptable, and it’s really retarded and gay to get your panties in a bunch about them. By what authority do you assert these pronouncements ? ---
**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 4, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/67 "2010-02-04T06:29:16Z")
What authority do I need? The question was “are they acceptable?” Acceptable to who? What does “acceptable” even mean? They’re acceptable to me. Others are free to accept or reject them as they wish. There isn’t any controlling authority about what is “acceptable.” Any answer is going to be an opinion. There isn’t any rulebook. There isn’t any possible “authority” that could be cited. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/68 "2010-02-04T09:55:57Z")
> [@](#): > > ut the fact is that the term is offensive, as it uses mental retardation as a metric for stupidity Well it slurs ALL MR people as a group. There ARE mentally handicapped people who despite having low IQ are relatively bright. At the same time there are mentally handicapped people who ARE retarded. For example despite having a brain, they chose not to use it. Or they misunderstand stuff up the wazoo, and it coalasalates into major stuff. (oh lord…thinking of an incident on a listserv…Some woman had misunderstood something. I think it was that she didn’t understand the point of quoting what was previously said, and thought I was being very rude. She just EXPLODED. Like she was going on and on about me being mean and ranting and raving and being upset without explaining WHY she was upset. ) ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/69 "2010-02-04T10:36:57Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I don’t think that vernacular use of the word “gay” to mean “lame” has quite achieved the separation from the literal name-calling… Wait a minute, aren’t differently abled people supposed to be offended by “lame”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/70 "2010-02-04T12:26:08Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > When he was named CoS, wasn’t Obama quoted as saying that if someone cut off Rahm’s middle finger he’d become mute? He lost part of a middle finger in an accident with a meat slicer, [leading to this joke.](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25emanuel.html) > [@](#): > > When Mr. Emanuel lost part of his middle finger while cutting meat at an Arby’s as a teenager, Mr. Obama joked, the accident “rendered him practically mute.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/71 "2010-02-04T14:38:57Z")
Incidentally, you’re also not allowed to call people idiots anymore. This is because “idiot” used to be a genuine medical diagnosis and therefore is insulting to people with mental disabilities. This was issued by fiat by my sister when I was visiting my parents in December. She suggested I use “jerk” instead. I told her that “idiot” and “jerk” don’t mean the same thing and I didn’t want to say “jerk”. (The idiots in question were Jenny McCarthy and her legions of anti-vaxxers.) ---
**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 4, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/72 "2010-02-04T14:54:43Z")
> [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](#): > > Wait a minute, aren’t differently abled people supposed to be offended by “lame”? Not as offended as they are by “differently abled.” Actually, if you ever want to get slugged by someone in a wheelchair, call them “handicapable.” ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/73 "2010-02-04T15:21:59Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The word “retarded” is morphing it’s meaning. It is coming to mean “an extremely foolish act or argument” > > . Huh? We were using “retarded” (as well as the term “spaz” derived from “spastic”) as an insult back when I was in high school, and that was forty years ago. It isn’t just recently that the term has been used as an epithet. ---
**Author:** ![Kokopilau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Kokopilau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kokopilau)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/74 "2010-02-04T15:31:41Z")
In other news, while Palin called for Emanuel to be fired for his use of the term and likened it to using the n-word, when an aide to the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, used the same description for a situation, [Palin just said it was “crude” and “disrespectful”](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/04/palin-aide-perry-advisers-remark-crude-and-disrespectful/?fbid=YdH8XFskeq2), with no comparisons to the n-word or calls for the aide to be fired. I guess there are different standards in Palin-world, depending on your political affiliation. ---
**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 4, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/75 "2010-02-04T15:34:32Z")
Yes, but I think the vernacular use of the word to mean “stupid,” has become more and more divorced from its clinical use (in the same way that words like “idiot,” and “moron” did), and from any conscious reference to people with actual developmental disabilities. To quote Michael Scott, “You don’t call retarded people retards. It’s bad taste. You call your friends retards when they are acting retarded.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/76 "2010-02-04T15:36:50Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Not as offended as they are by “differently abled.” Actually, if you ever want to get slugged by someone in a wheelchair, call them “handicapable.” And they punch _hard_. Being in a wheelchair gives you a lot of upper body strength. Whatever word or phrase you use to describe people with diminished intellectual capabilities - “idiot,” “moron,” “Mongoloid,” “retard,” “special” - that word is always going to become synonymous with stupidity, and used as a perjorative to describe people and ideas. It’s impolite but it’s inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/77 "2010-02-04T15:36:58Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > This was issued by fiat by my sister when I was visiting my parents in December. She suggested I use “jerk” instead. I told her that “idiot” and “jerk” don’t mean the same thing and I didn’t want to say “jerk”. (The idiots in question were Jenny McCarthy and her legions of anti-vaxxers.) A jerk is a pull, a pull is a yank, and a Yank is a good American, you unpatriotic fuck. (Did anyone else hear that when they were kids? I just tried Googling it but for the first time in look-up-chants-from-childhood I’m not seeing it. Anyone?) ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/78 "2010-02-04T15:59:36Z")
> [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > poor little retarded nigger baby Band Name! er, maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/79 "2010-02-04T16:00:38Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Band Name! > > er, maybe not. I think this is the first time the “band name!” joke has ever made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/80 "2010-02-04T16:22:56Z")
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