# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/141 "2010-02-05T07:12:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I liked “sped.” Do people still say “sped?” I’d suggest “shortbus” but that’s already my pet name for Robert Gibbs, so… ---
**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, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/142 "2010-02-05T11:33:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > My interaction with such people is almost always within a professional capacity where that would be inappropriate. Outside of a professional context, it would depend on the person. Sorry, I find this hard to believe. I’ll suggest that you may conceptualize such a scenario where no offense would be taken, and perhaps you even have found yourself in such a situation on a rare occasion, but I think you’re taking either a hypothetical or a rarity and stretching it to avoid conceding a simple point. And given your experience in this area, I would be VERY surprised f you didn’t agree that those who work with the mentally retarded, by and large, would find such words, used that way, offensive. Why you do not, I have no idea. I think you’re trying to make your point by avoiding an acknowledgment of an obvious, obvious point: you wouldn’t call someone a “retard” if you noticed a retarded person in the room. I think most people would not, though there are those rare pieces of shit who think nothing of insulting a retarded person to his face. And if you would not, then why not? I notice that no one else in this thread actually answered this question, and I posed it twice. And frankly, I can’t fathom someone who works with mentally retarded people–a profession that is typically not very well-paying, and filled with dedicated, caring people, in my experience–who is not aware of the outright shit mentally retarded people have to eat from bigots and jackasses every day. The words in this thread, referring specifically to the mentally retarded as 'tards, for example, is dehumanizing. It just is. The city organization that supports my brother’s community living arrangement routinely has to deal with protests and meetings where people fight a new house being opened “in their neighborhood.” Most people would not believe the crap that the mentally retarded have to deal with from people who basically treat them as subhuman. I’m not going to lose sleep over this thread, believe me, but it’s further evidence of the blind spot people have with this issue. It’s particularly fascinating on this board, which leans so liberal and “tolerant.” No matter how apt you think the comparison. it takes an entire group of people and uses them as a frame of reference for ridicule. The attitude that says this is acceptable contributes to the culture that dehumanizes the mentally retarded, that makes it acceptable for people to treat them abusively. I’m telling you, I witness such behavior. I have seen mentally retarded people struck by a stranger because somebody thought it was funny. After all, they’re just retards. If this were another group treated in such a manner, with glib epithets crafted making them the reference point for contempt, there would be some of the same people in this thread apoplectic over it, demanding bannings, etc. But people seem to have a blind spot for this one, so they hand wave it away. I think you’re one of them, frankly. And I find your assertion of “I work with the mentally retarded, and this is not a big deal” completely unconvincing. Anyway, I am not hopeful any ignorance will be fought in this thread. People seem to have a real interest in maintaining the acceptance of this type of insult, and in contributing to an abusive environment for a group of people who most need our protection. Unfortunately it’s typical, really. ---
**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, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/143 "2010-02-05T11:34:33Z")
> [@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 just noticed this. What the retarded fuck? Of COURSE it uses mental retardation as a metric for stupidity. What is a better metric for stupidity than the retardation of mental abilities? What’s the argument for not using the word ‘retarded’ when describing something you think is really, really stupid, again? Because it hurts the mentally retarded’s feelings when you remind them that they have diminished mental abilities? No matter what word is used to describe mental retardation, it will eventually be used as a metric for-- get this-- things and people perceived as stupid, no matter how pretty the word _used_ to be. I’m using small words here because it looks to me as if you might be _special_. ---
**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, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/144 "2010-02-05T14:05:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > My interaction with such people is almost always within a professional capacity where that would be inappropriate. Outside of a professional context, it would depend on the person. So you agree that in a professional setting, the use of “fucking retarded” would be inappropriate. I would have thought that the Chief of Staff, when discussing health care reform, would have fallen under this umbrella as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/145 "2010-02-05T14:08:01Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > So you agree that in a professional setting, the use of “fucking retarded” would be inappropriate. I would have thought that the Chief of Staff, when discussing health care reform, would have fallen under this umbrella as well. I’m not going to go out on this limb, but he’s talking about a context where he’s actually working with mentally disabled people. Rahm Emanuel doesn’t do that kind of work, which is something we can all be thankful for. ---
**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 5, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/146 "2010-02-05T14:14:48Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > No matter what word is used to describe mental retardation, it will eventually be used as a metric for-- get this-- things and people perceived as stupid, no matter how pretty the word _used_ to be. I’m using small words here because it looks to me as if you might be _special_. I think you might be a cocksucker. ---
**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, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/147 "2010-02-05T14:43:50Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not going to go out on this limb, but he’s talking about a context where he’s actually working with mentally disabled people. Rahm Emanuel doesn’t do that kind of work, which is something we can all be thankful for. So it’s OK to say it behind their backs? ---
**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, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/148 "2010-02-05T14:52:22Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Sorry, I find this hard to believe. I’ll suggest that you may conceptualize such a scenario where no offense would be taken, and perhaps you even have found yourself in such a situation on a rare occasion, but I think you’re taking either a hypothetical or a rarity and stretching it to avoid conceding a simple point. And given your experience in this area, I would be VERY surprised f you didn’t agree that those who work with the mentally retarded, by and large, would find such words, used that way, offensive. Why you do not, I have no idea. > > I think you’re trying to make your point by avoiding an acknowledgment of an obvious, obvious point: you wouldn’t call someone a “retard” if you noticed a retarded person in the room. The word in question is not “retard,” but the use of “retarded” to mean “stupid,” and I promise you a lot of people with an MR diagnosis can tell the difference and aren’t offended by it (and use it themslves). They are individuals too. They don’t all react the same. ---
**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, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/149 "2010-02-05T14:56:13Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > So you agree that in a professional setting, the use of “fucking retarded” would be inappropriate. I would have thought that the Chief of Staff, when discussing health care reform, would have fallen under this umbrella as well. No, it does not. Not all professional settings are the same. I work WITH people with disabilities. It’s a Whitehouse Chief of Staff’s job to tell people when they’re acting fucking retarded. ---
**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 5, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/150 "2010-02-05T14:58:06Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think an analogy might be calling a baseball umpire “blind.” It’s not an insult to the blind. It’s just an opinion that the umpire is behaving as though he has that particular disability. I… You… Wow. That’s a really, really good analogy and I have totally changed my mind on this. :eek: ---
**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, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/151 "2010-02-05T14:58:14Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > So it’s OK to say it behind their backs? It’s not ok even to say “fuck” while you’re working with them. It’s ok to say any fucking thing you want if you’re on your own time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/152 "2010-02-05T14:59:07Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > So it’s OK to say it behind their backs? You should ask **Diogenes the Cynic** about his own speaking habits - I wasn’t defending them, just pointing out that he didn’t say it was inappropriate in all professional settings. I avoid the word in general. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/153 "2010-02-05T15:26:56Z")
What I really like is that you can take the OP’s headline/title and mix the words around for a plethora of PC bad sentence combinations. ---
**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, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/154 "2010-02-05T16:18:22Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I’m just a little surprised that this bit of apology theater hasn’t been gate-d yet. Retardgate has kind of a nice ring to it. Doesn’t flow. I’d stick with plain ol’ Tardgate. > [@Stratocaster](#): > > I think you’re trying to make your point by avoiding an acknowledgment of an obvious, obvious point: you wouldn’t call someone a “retard” if you noticed a retarded person in the room. I think most people would not, though there are those rare pieces of shit who think nothing of insulting a retarded person to his face. And if you would not, then why not? I notice that no one else in this thread actually answered this question, and I posed it twice. 1.) I don’t tell dick jokes in front of my grandmother, either. Does that mean dick jokes are inherently evil and should be scrubbed from the face of the earth? “Retarded” is a perfectly valid hyperbolic way to say “stupid” or “lacking in the ability to comprehend fucking anything, god damn, were you dropped on your head as a kid or what?” That doesn’t mean it can’t be hurtful to someone if it’s used in front of them. But that doesn’t mean it’s offensive in the same way as a slur. 2.) I haven’t seen any of the “saying retard is retarded” camp responding to the point that being retarded is, objectively, a bad thing, in the sense that it’s undesirable. So, do you secretly want to be retarded? Do you think being retarded is great? If you could fix a retarded person’s brain so they weren’t retarded anymore, would you not do it, because that’s just how awesome it is? 'Course not. Even retards don’t want to be retarded. 3.) If you’ve ever called anyone deaf, blind, lame, or dumb, you’re a hypocrite. Neener-neener. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/155 "2010-02-05T16:24:14Z")
[http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/83737.html?storylink=omni\_popular](http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/83737.html?storylink=omni_popular) Time to see if Palin is being political or actually is standing on principle. Actually, we already know the answer to that, don’t we? ---
**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, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/156 "2010-02-05T16:37:22Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/83737.html?storylink=omni\_popular](http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/83737.html?storylink=omni_popular) Time to see if Palin is being political or actually is standing on principle. Actually, we already know the answer to that, don’t we? Personally, I’m breathlessly waiting to see if anyone answers the question posed in the most recent comment at the time of my viewing: “does anyone know the difference between ted nugent and a catfish?” ---
**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 5, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/157 "2010-02-05T16:46:11Z")
Fifty-six cents. ---
**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, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/158 "2010-02-05T16:49:12Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Personally, I’m breathlessly waiting to see if anyone answers the question posed in the most recent comment at the time of my viewing: “does anyone know the difference between ted nugent and a catfish?” One of them is a whiskered, bottom-feeding animal with a brain the size of a pea, and the other one is a fish? ---
**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, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/159 "2010-02-05T16:52:18Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > 2.) I haven’t seen any of the “saying retard is retarded” camp responding to the point that being retarded is, objectively, a bad thing, in the sense that it’s undesirable. So, do you secretly want to be retarded? Do you think being retarded is great? If you could fix a retarded person’s brain so they weren’t retarded anymore, would you not do it, because that’s just how awesome it is? 'Course not. Even retards don’t want to be retarded. I won’t speak for our entire camp but the reason that I haven’t responded is that I really don’t know. I love my brother for who he is and a large part of that is his mental condition. If I were to give him a pill that suddenly turned him “normal”, I don’t know what other effects it would have. It might turn him into a complete asshole. My IQ is probably at least 70 points above his, if you offered me a pill to increase mine by 70 points, I’m not at all certain that I’d take it. I also feel that the equation of physical handicaps to mental ones is inappropriate. For better or worse, our society has always maintained that mental issues are different than physical disabilities. Compare your reaction to the following statements: “I’m going to see a psychiatrist” versus “I’m going to see an optometrist.” Are they the same? Mine aren’t although ideally they would be. ---
**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, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503/160 "2010-02-05T16:53:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > One of them is a whiskered, bottom-feeding animal with a brain the size of a pea, and the other one is a fish? Only one of them has cat scratch fever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sarah-palin-rahm-emannuel-called-my-retard-baby-a-nigger/527503.md?page=9)