I can’t jump on board with this. Yeah, what Obama said was really stupid, especially for a guy who is allegedly the best speaker in our generation. And yeah, Rahm has a dirty mouth.

So what? We’ve been fighting a battle against political correctness for good reason for many years; why jump onto their side simply because we can use the same weapon to bludgeon the left? I think we’re better than that.

The word “retarded” is not a slur and yes, I know Rahm was using it as an insult in that case, but how many of us have said “that’s gay” as an insult but had no intention to rip on homosexuals? I’m sure we’ve all said it and I’m sure members of our caucus have said it to one another in the past and will do so in the future.

Retarded has entered the lexicon the same way “gay” has. I don’t think any politician or his aide should be throwing those terms around, but it is not and should not be a fireable offense, nor should our side engage in rhetoric that puts us on the side of political correctness. Rahm wasn’t talking about Trig, referring to Trig or even thinking of Trig when he said what he said. Freaking let it go.

Besides, he’s a great foil for the far left and we should want him to remain at his post as long as possible since he’s doing such a bang up job preserving the Dems majority…

Rahm insults the mentally challenged…

On the other hand if anyone not a dem had said the same thing the media would be feeding on it for weeks or months trying to destroy that person…

embaressment of having to apologize for being Rahmbo. I hate political correctness but it’s time to hold the “does as I say, not as I do” to account for their actions.

He wishes he did, because the place where Eunice Shriver resides is not a place Obama contacts very often, if at all.

Eunice Shriver, RIP
July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009

Please- remember when Bush called NYT reporter Clymer- A major league a__hole or cursed out Hezbollah at the G-8? All well deserved, I might add. While those incidents were not exactly in line with this particular outburst, they were not exactly politically correct wither- were they?

Rahm is a moron for many reasons and they all revolve around the strong-armed, undemocratic, caustic way he has tried to implement Obama’s policies. On basic substance and issues that are important to most Americans the guy is a total zero. Raising this to a front page issue just cheapens the actual gratuitous substance, IMO.

I certainly understand Palin’s perspective on this and would guess that some in similar circumstances may find it offensive. But the political correctness angle is just completely overwrought.

I missed all the front page stories at RS today on the substantial economic and budget developments. Perhaps they are buried beneath these types of stories?

I actually look at this whole episode from a different perspective, and that is from the perspective of what I will call ‘tolerated vileness’, if you will. Let’s put the ‘retarded’ issue aside for a moment. Does it not strike many of you as totally offensive that – as far as we know – foul-mouthed Rahm Emanuel speaks this way all the time about whoever is his current target of opportunity? It is only when he attacks an out-of-bounds group o person that it even rises to the level of being ‘news.’

It’s not that we haven’t had foul-mouthed Presidents or Chiefs of Staff before, but they did it behind very closed doors – usually. It is, rather, that, in some perverse way, Obama actually revels in Emanuel’s vileness and crudity, this tagging of his ‘enemies’ or any obstacles with the foul epithet of the day – unless it becomes public, of course (when he then needs to respond). I believe he feeds on it; it is one of the things that helps drive his anger, his self-righteousness, and thus, this is an indicator of something far deeper and troubling than might appear at first blush.

I refer you back to Obama’s pathetic stab at humor at the May 2009 Washington Correspondents Dinner when he said, concerning Emanuel and Mother’s Day: “This is a tough holiday for Rahm Emanuel because he’s not used to saying the word ‘day’ after ‘mother.’”

What kind of real leader who cared at all about character or the impact of his words would make such a joke about the profanity of his Chief of Staff? And, of course, there was a lot of laughter in the room because they knew how closely Obama had hit the mark.

So, there you have it – Obama is basically saying: ‘I have a guy around me who is really profane all the time. It doesn’t bother me at all because I need/want a Chief of Staff like that next to me, a street-fighter with a sort of thuggish view of everyone and everything that’s standing in our way. In fact, it doesn’t matter to me how crude he is if he gets the job done.’

That’s our President’s mentality, and that is a view of the world – and of his fellow citizens – that is *truly* mentally challenged.

At least the Special Olympians show courage and motivation. Other than Parker Griffith’s motivated desire to slap Nancy Pelosi, shw me one signle Pay-Dawg Democrat who has shown the courage and motivation of a Special Olympian.

Being the parent of a clinically diagnosed severe MR, I gotta say your understanding of the English language is woefully lacking, Just because some uneducated use the term as a slur does not mean it should make it into our vocabulary of frequent negative identifiers. What bothered me most about your intitial post was…
” I’m sure we’ve all said it and I’m sure members of our caucus have said it to one another in the past and will do so in the future.”
If you have already predicted you will use the term in the future that’s a sad comment on you and your caucus. As to Palin, I believe she may have overused Trig a bit much during the campaign, however I admire her, her political beliefs and am a supporter. (Her running mate, not so much) She was right to call out the principles in the administration on their language.
You should sleep well tonight knowing in the future when you use the term again, as you have foreseen, many of those who are MR will not be offended. In fact many don’t comprehend derrogatory terms. You might on the other hand offend their parents, teachers, siblings, grandparents, bosses, volunteers, classmates, parishoners and health workers who come in contact with these individuals.

Remember this greatest hit from Al Gore?

“On October 28, Gore claimed [Oliver] North’s support came from the “the extreme right wing, the extra-chromosome right wing.” Advocates for those with Down’s syndrome, caused by an extra chromosome, reacted with outrage, The Washington Times reported. But Vice President Gore’s remark was never reported by the networks.”