This Week in the Mercury
Monday, February 8, 2010
Politics / Ethics Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Exception
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 9:50 AM
When can you use the word "retard"? You can use it when you're being satirical. For instance, it's not okay for Rahm Emanuel to say that liberal activists are "fucking retarded" in a private meeting because 1. that's mean and 2. he's a Democrat. But it is okay for Rush Limbaugh to describe a meeting between Emanuel and advocates for the developmentally disabled as “a retard summit at the White House," and to use the word "retard" forty times on his show because, um... I'll let Sarah Palin explain it...
"[Limbaugh] was using satire... I didn’t hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with ‘f-ing retards’ and we did know that Rahm Emanuel has been reported, did say that. there is a big difference there."
So... it's okay to call someone a retard if you're making fun of them, if you're being satirical, but it's not okay to call someone a retard if you simply disagree with that person. Now the allowable use of "retard" could get complicated, of course, if you're using "retard" satirically to mock someone with whom you disagree. Better to play it safe and stick to leotarded.
ALSO: Rahm apologizes...
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