Defending "Retard"

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There's been a great deal of talk these days about the "r-word". No, I don't mean "reading" or "reparations" or "revenge" or "retribution". The new word under attack by the P.C. police is the word "retard". And leading the charge of late, is former beauty queen/current political celebrity Sarah Palin.

As we all know by now, Miss Palin took issue with the use of the word "retard" when Rahm Emanuel used it:

“Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the ‘N-word’ or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities – and the people who love them – is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking,”

The N-word. No, she didn't mean "nicotine", or  "nincompoop", or "necrophilia". She means "nigger." Now let's look at this. As Americans, we all know what it means when someone uses the word "nigger". In fact, I cannot think of any other definition of the word "nigger":

nig·ger Pronunciation: \ˈni-gər\

1 : a black person
2 : a member of any dark-skinned race
3 : a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons

I mean, there is the word niggardly, which means stingy or miserly. But people would just say "stingy"; niggardly sounds too much like nigger, so hardly anyone would ever use it.

Whenever I hear someone use the word "retarded", I never think of people with cognitive developmental disorders. I think of someone that either does and/or says something mind-numbingly stupid. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as the following: slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress. That doesn't sound like someone with a cognitive developmental disorder. That sounds more like someone who was born with regular developmental skills, but chooses to believe and say stupid things, either due to lack of education, or an unwillingness to "grow up".

The people that I know that have, and continue, to use the word "retard" do so not to describe people with disabilities. However, Sarah Palin and other Conservatives have decided that the word DOES describe people with disabilities. That's a shame, isn't it? That Sarah Palin would think of her own child in those terms. Everyone knows full well that Rahm Emanuel was not calling people he had a problem with learning-disabled. He was calling them intellectually limited. Grated, name-calling can be rather ineffective. But we all do it. If you say you don't, you're a liar.

I use the word "retard". And when I do, I use it to describe Sarah Palin, Tom Tancredo, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Dale Robertson, teabaggers, Joe Wilson, and others. Why? Because they're f**king retards!

If you want to use the word nigger, knock yourself out. I'm sure you'll find a ton of excuses as to why you want to use it. And I say go ahead-- please do. If you can find a double meaning in it, great. If you cannot, even better. Who cares?! It's a free country! Say whatever you want to say-- who says you can't? This society has become so politically correct, it's getting so you can't say a simple word without offending anyone. How retarded is that?!

sat·ire Pronunciation: \ˈsa-ˌtī(-ə)r\

1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly