The R Word: No, not that one.

Let me say right off the bat that I do not have a lot of expertise in the area of the learning disabled. I do not work in the field professionally, and I do not have a social connection to anyone who is developmentally impaired. (Well, I take that back. I have a few friends who happen to be attorneys and you could make a pretty good argument....never mind.) But I do know that the word retarded is offensive, and it should not be used by people who should know better.

So I was surprised to learn that O's right hand man, Rahm Emanuel, used the word when referring to some left wing groups last summer. Seems my man was pretty ticked off that they were going to fund some ads against some blue dogs, and old Rahm let it fly.

"Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Emanuel, exasperated upon learning that liberal special-interest groups were planning to run ads against conservative Democrats not supportive of health care reform, blasted the plan as "f------ retarded" over the summer.."

Shame on you Rahm, be more careful with your language next time. And apologize to all the folks who are involved with the learning disabled here in A-merry-ca, be it professionally or personally.

Now, having said that, I have to get with our girl Sarah again. Apparently she sees a political opportunity here, and she isn't wasting anytime before taking advantage of it.

"Naturally, some outrage ensued after Emanuel's words came to light, with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin taking to her Facebook page to call on President Obama to fire him for what she saw as the equivalent of a racial slur.Palin, whose son Trig is afflicted with Down syndrome, said she was informed of Emanuel's comment by a fellow parent of a special-needs child and pleaded with the president to "show decency" to the political process by "eliminating" the Chicago native from his inner circle.In a post titled "Are You Capable of Decency, Rahm Emanuel?," Palin wrote, "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," adding, "it's heartbreaking."

Sarah, stop it! You wouldn't be outraged if Rahm used the N word anymore than you were when Trent Lott longed for the days of segregation. I swear you wingnuts can use the race card when you think it benefits you. The R word as used by Emanuel was a bad word. The N word as used by___[fill in the blank], is wrong. But please, let us not compare them when you want to score cheap political points. We all know that if this had been a republican president and his chief of staff had said these things, you would have been silent. Trig would have not had mommy standing by him. Besides, it looks like Rahm reached out to some folks.

"A Politico story today reports that an administration official informed them that Emanuel had already reached out to Special Olympics chairman and CEO Tim Shriver, who recently launched a campaign to end the use of "the R word.""Rahm called Tim Shriver Wednesday to apologize and the apology was accepted," the unnamed official said."

Story over? Sarah, if Trig had a say, I am guessing that he would say, yes. [Story]