Trig is a Retarded Name

Before reading my comments, please check out this article.

Assuming you didn't read the article, basically people are up in arms, with Sarah "Non-retarded retard" Palin leading the charge, to have Rahm Emanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff, fired because, in a PRIVATE meeting he called liberal Democratic groups planning to run ads criticizing conservative Democrats who weren't supporting the healthcare overhaul, "fucking retarded." Everyone is saying that it is the most horrible thing ever that Emanuel called people "retarded" and comparing it to him dropping the ol' n-bomb.

Two things.

1) No one is taking into account the fact that it is fucking retarded that liberal Democratic groups would run ads critical of conservative Democrats who aren't supporting the healthcare bill. Democrats have enough trouble keeping their ranks together. We don't need ads making the divide even worse. Yes, it is also stupid that Democrats can't get their shit together and agree on ANYTHING. But, the simple fact of the matter that, yes, Emanuel could've picked better words to use; also, he is right.

2) I"m not black. I don't pretend to be. I like to read about black history, especially in America. I like to read the biographies and autobiographies of prominent black social and political figures. Mostly because I know very little about those topics from traditional education. But that's about as "black" as I get. Still, it is pretty fucking hard to believe that the word "retarded" and the n-bomb are anything close to being similar in terms of being offensive. It might not be very nice to call someone who is actually physically or mentally challenged retarded. Some bad stigma. They tend to not be able to defend themselves. Fine. Not cool. Calling someone who is black the n-bomb. You're lucky if you're not killed where you stand. Somehow I feel that the 200 years of slavery in this country, plus the decades of Jim Crow laws, plus the institutionalized racism and all of that other stuff that's been going on this country. I do recall a litany of people who refused to vote for Obama because of his skin color. I also remember people who would not vote for Obama for other reasons that were really just veils for their racism. So, really...I think the n-bomb still has a lot of cultural and historical baggage tied to it that "retarded" doesn't. Sorry Palin, wrong again.