A lot has been said about Rahm Emanuel's use of the term "retarded", but I find it offensive not because he used the term, but who it was directed to. His comment was directed towards attack ads against Democrats opposed to healthcare reform, aka the left. If he had said his comments about Republicans or conservatives, that would have been okay. Of course speaking of retarded, Palin had to throw her hat into the debate and claim Rahm was offensive to the disabled. Huh? This attention freak should be the last person to bring attention to the term "retarded" unless she wants it directed at her for what she says.
But on the other hand, is the term "retarded" really that offensive? I mean, we use the terms "lame", "stupid", and "crazy" but we aren't offended by those terms being used. If anything, "retarded" is less offensive than those terms; "retard" just means to slow down or hinder and retard the noun describes someone who retards. We have "flame retardants", but nobody bitches when that term is used. If anything, "retard" perfectly describes the entire conservative movement.
If someone had said "mentally retarded", that would be different.
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