Slog
News & ArtsMonday, February 8, 2010
Politics Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Exception
Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 8:40 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.
UPDATE: Rahm apologizes...
2
It's absolutely despicable that some people would praise this fatso Limbaugh.
http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/02/1…
http://jta.org/news/article/2010/02/02/1…
6
"I've got so many legislators crawling my ass I need 60 votes just to take a shit."
That's gold, baby!
That's gold, baby!
8
I hope Palin being the dipshit she is on this will at least get people into the position that if they continue to use "retard" then they are in agreement with Palin.
Some people would no doubt like that, but maybe Dan can finally move onto to more adult expressions.
http://www.aamr.org/media/PDFs/April2007…
Some people would no doubt like that, but maybe Dan can finally move onto to more adult expressions.
http://www.aamr.org/media/PDFs/April2007…
10
If we all freak out over people using the word 'retarded,' then all that's going to happen is another word or phrase is going to replace it. People already refer jokingly to being 'special' or 'special needs,' it's essentially the same thing.
Honestly, I don't understand the problem. Calling someone retarded is like an extreme way of calling someone stupid. Isn't the comparison fairly accurate? Aren't people with mental deficiencies... well, you know, mentally deficient? I don't see why the comparison is so wrong.
Honestly, I don't understand the problem. Calling someone retarded is like an extreme way of calling someone stupid. Isn't the comparison fairly accurate? Aren't people with mental deficiencies... well, you know, mentally deficient? I don't see why the comparison is so wrong.
11
The context of how and why the word was used doesn't actually make a shit of difference. The right-wingers and teabaggers will ALWAYS demonize everything the liberals do and ALWAYS excuse any errors the conservatives make.
Politics as usual.
Politics as usual.
13
what got Rahm in trouble was the "fucking" more than the "retarded". it just feels so good to add that modifier.
like so: she is fucking delusional.
like so: she is fucking delusional.
14
The "r-word" thing is fucking retarded. I actually never used the word before but I think I will now just because it pisses off all the right people.
18
Your statement is offensive to those who cannot speak, and donkeys. Please do not use such crass and insulting language in the future.
Sincerely,
The great hive-mind that is the unregistered comments of Slog.
Sincerely,
The great hive-mind that is the unregistered comments of Slog.
19
Well, in my unregistered view which surely counts as nil, Slog comments have become increasingly insular and self-serving since we moved to a registered posting system. I don't like it here as much anymore.
21
Nar it's too hipstery and Strangery and capitol hilly now. I live here. I get enough of that! Let loose the wolves! It's far more interesting to see what happens when we pop this little Seattle bubble.
It's important for some people here to remember that the world exists beyond our little microcosm.
It's important for some people here to remember that the world exists beyond our little microcosm.
22
My objection from yesterday still stands. The term should NEVER be used against a child or the disabled.
Not cool IMHO. Just sayin.
Not cool IMHO. Just sayin.
23
off topic a wee.
this would be funny, if rahm wasnt referring to the progressives in Organizing For America who wanted to go against the sell out conservative Dems. rahm and the DNC decimated OFA and the grassroots machine built during the elections. with rahm's leadership, the DNC castrated all the activists from OFA and made them serve and aswer the masters of the DNC.
the result= the teabaggers and the lunatic fringe framed the debate. rahm is a douche. how can he still have a job after losing ted's seat?
fck rahm and the DNC!
this would be funny, if rahm wasnt referring to the progressives in Organizing For America who wanted to go against the sell out conservative Dems. rahm and the DNC decimated OFA and the grassroots machine built during the elections. with rahm's leadership, the DNC castrated all the activists from OFA and made them serve and aswer the masters of the DNC.
the result= the teabaggers and the lunatic fringe framed the debate. rahm is a douche. how can he still have a job after losing ted's seat?
fck rahm and the DNC!
25
As someone who's been diagnosed with mental illness, I freely use and tolerate insane and crazy as per its use in common parlance, to indicate those who lost their capacity for reason and sensibility somewhere between here and the chemist. I can see a similar colloquial use of retarded meaning out of touch with current events and contemporary sensibilities the way that stupid is a general inability to grasp the reality of a situation. These are all slang devices of linguistic shorthand which also fall into the trap of analytical sloth. Calling something retarded is meaningless until it's clear how it's retarded, or rather what retarded happens to mean in the given context.
Limbaugh is known for analytical sloth, also of clinging overmuch to a single word or phrase. Having once woken up to Limbaugh (I had been listening to Coast-To-Coast the night before), after the tenth time he said "Liberal Whackos" I figured this could become a drinking game. I lost count after around the twenty-fourth time. He was well into the fifties before I turned off the radio.
Limbaugh clearly believes processing his great white male angst off the cuff on the air counts as valid editorialism.
Limbaugh is known for analytical sloth, also of clinging overmuch to a single word or phrase. Having once woken up to Limbaugh (I had been listening to Coast-To-Coast the night before), after the tenth time he said "Liberal Whackos" I figured this could become a drinking game. I lost count after around the twenty-fourth time. He was well into the fifties before I turned off the radio.
Limbaugh clearly believes processing his great white male angst off the cuff on the air counts as valid editorialism.
26
I wish I was a bit like you, Uriel.
I would much prefer being called a cunt, whore, bitch, cuntwhorebitch any day then be called crazy or retarded. To me the former are all ways that my actions (likely unkind towards others) have earned me the perception and the latter indicate to me something not in my control (or my actions were without malice towards others). Then again, perhaps, I just need to get over myself. ;)
I hope your having a better week (and the cold virus have departed,too.)
I would much prefer being called a cunt, whore, bitch, cuntwhorebitch any day then be called crazy or retarded. To me the former are all ways that my actions (likely unkind towards others) have earned me the perception and the latter indicate to me something not in my control (or my actions were without malice towards others). Then again, perhaps, I just need to get over myself. ;)
I hope your having a better week (and the cold virus have departed,too.)
28
I prefer the term "cretin" myself, because most of the cretins who slaver over Boil-Butt don't understand it.
29
I hope Palin really runs with her title as Defender of the Retarded. It really sums up her deeply-held principles in a bumper-sticker sized phrase.
It's time America recognized her as the preeminent arbiter of All Things Retarded.
It's time America recognized her as the preeminent arbiter of All Things Retarded.
31
Whatever happened to the very useful word numbnuts? Works for me.
And, yes, that was a shockingly funny SNL sketch. Maybe I'll start watching it again. Then again, maybe I won't.
And, yes, that was a shockingly funny SNL sketch. Maybe I'll start watching it again. Then again, maybe I won't.
32
The presumption of self-determination is a significant factor, Kim. The leading edge of abnormal psychology is in the study of those traits commonly blamed on character flaws, rather than (as they, in my opinion, always are) significantly complex mental dysfunction. Disparagement, whether of the insane variety (a lunatic, a whack-job, a basket case, etc.) or of the bitch variety (whore, cunt, etc. though I like the more traditional trollop, hussy or harlot, myself) are used as generic grounds for dismissal when it would take too much effort to empathize with the one who is behaving irregularly. Someone being a couch potato, for example, is more likely suffering from fatigue or avoiding a consequence of work effort rather than (as is often presumed with terms like lazy, slacker, deadbeat) intentionally limiting their ambitions to a lifestyle of television consumerism.‡
The presumption that all dysfunctional behavior is crazy (i.e. indicative of mental illness) is the trend in contemporary psychiatry. It is, also, why we now require that the consequences of a given instance of a behavior pattern be harmful before it is regarded as dysfunctional, and qualifies for treatment.
From a spiritual perspective dysfunctional behavior falls invariably into the realm of the human condition, the fact that we are each, as witness to and participants in the events of the universe, limited by the lense defined by the biological creatures we are. We tend to regard pattern as more conspicuous than it is. Our emotional responses are often inappropriate in hue or intensity to a given circumstance. Even our thought processes are obscured by tendencies intrinsic to being hyper-social naked apes (An extensive, but not comprehensive list is here.) and there are too many to consider, and compensate for, them all.
Either way, the more we know ourselves, the better we can choose our own destinies. In my case, to site a benign example, my impulse is to be a recluse, to hide in my room and limit my interaction to the world online. I know, however, that once I get out and hang with friends (or, heck, strangers, when friends aren't available), I'll get into the face-to-face interaction and ultimately feel better about myself for the week. To sum up: get out, be with friends = have a better week. Follow my instinct and stay home, not. With time, we can learn to chain events to our own personal butterfly effect: get up on the left side of the bed = establish peace in the Middle East. Of course, by then, one is long since enlightened.
‡ In the rare instance that your otherwise completely functional kid really does like to watch TV all. the. time. You may simply have a future media editor on your hands. It's especially telling if she not only retains the content of every show, but all the technical events as well.
PS: I hope things are looking up for you from Friday, Kim. Myself, I'm overly antsy from being indoors since Wednesday, though I'm still weaker than usual and hacking up chunks of lung. I'm going to try going out to my regular duties tomorrow.
More...
The presumption that all dysfunctional behavior is crazy (i.e. indicative of mental illness) is the trend in contemporary psychiatry. It is, also, why we now require that the consequences of a given instance of a behavior pattern be harmful before it is regarded as dysfunctional, and qualifies for treatment.
From a spiritual perspective dysfunctional behavior falls invariably into the realm of the human condition, the fact that we are each, as witness to and participants in the events of the universe, limited by the lense defined by the biological creatures we are. We tend to regard pattern as more conspicuous than it is. Our emotional responses are often inappropriate in hue or intensity to a given circumstance. Even our thought processes are obscured by tendencies intrinsic to being hyper-social naked apes (An extensive, but not comprehensive list is here.) and there are too many to consider, and compensate for, them all.
Either way, the more we know ourselves, the better we can choose our own destinies. In my case, to site a benign example, my impulse is to be a recluse, to hide in my room and limit my interaction to the world online. I know, however, that once I get out and hang with friends (or, heck, strangers, when friends aren't available), I'll get into the face-to-face interaction and ultimately feel better about myself for the week. To sum up: get out, be with friends = have a better week. Follow my instinct and stay home, not. With time, we can learn to chain events to our own personal butterfly effect: get up on the left side of the bed = establish peace in the Middle East. Of course, by then, one is long since enlightened.
‡ In the rare instance that your otherwise completely functional kid really does like to watch TV all. the. time. You may simply have a future media editor on your hands. It's especially telling if she not only retains the content of every show, but all the technical events as well.
PS: I hope things are looking up for you from Friday, Kim. Myself, I'm overly antsy from being indoors since Wednesday, though I'm still weaker than usual and hacking up chunks of lung. I'm going to try going out to my regular duties tomorrow.
33
Thank you, Uriel.
I appreciate hearing your thoughts.
Good luck on getting out today. I am doing better, my plate is still very full, but the anniversary of my friends death has passed and now I don't have to face it for another year.
Take care.
Ps Sorry for the typo earlier. I intended to say you're not your. :)
I appreciate hearing your thoughts.
Good luck on getting out today. I am doing better, my plate is still very full, but the anniversary of my friends death has passed and now I don't have to face it for another year.
Take care.
Ps Sorry for the typo earlier. I intended to say you're not your. :)
34
Uriel, your eloquence and clarity make me feel the same way I do when I see something particularly beautiful in my environment. Thank you for the pleasure of those lovely interesting thoughts.
I also tend toward self seclusion and find that getting outside is inevitably good for me, so I force myself out by doing volunteer work in my community... a win-win.
I also tend toward self seclusion and find that getting outside is inevitably good for me, so I force myself out by doing volunteer work in my community... a win-win.
35
also, someone please draw up a poster picture of Limbaugh as an Analytical Sloth. That is such a perfect term for the bombastic bumper-sticker communication he uses.
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