“Fucking retarded.” – Rahm Emanuel, August 2009
The Wall Street Journal report from two weeks ago noting that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel described a proposed strategy as “Fucking retarded” has ignited a typically inane and hypocritical national conversation about politically correct language and perhaps added a profane catch phrase to the American lexicon.
What’s inane is that those attacking Emanuel are doing so by intentionally or ignorantly avoiding any context for his words. Emanuel was not referring to the disabled, he was speaking privately to a group of adults, and he was using the term as an adjective to describe what he felt was a foolish political strategy considered by liberal groups and Democratic members of Congress that centered on publicly criticizing conservative members of the party. This flap quickly led the famously curse-loving Emanuel to issue an apology.
What’s hypocritical is the response of many critics of Emanuel, none more so than former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who called in a Facebook post for Emanuel to resign. Yet, she absolved Rush Limbaugh for repeatedly using the term “retards” because he was using it “as satire”. Rush may be an entertainer, but he is not a satirist, and his take on the incident was not presented as satire.
Thankfully, we have Stephen Colbert and his brilliant team of writers, to expla
in satire. The Colbert Report has been the most consistent source of great American political satire since Tom Lehrer, and this clip from last night’s show ranks among his sharpest of an already impressive lot.
Tip Of the Hat, Mr. Colbert.
