Well said, arksis.
What also caught my attention is how Dave Carney, Texas Governor Rick Perry's campaign advisor, used the word retarded more than once. At the very least, there needs to be a much greater emphasis in public schools on educating people about retardation and Special Needs people in general:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/020410dnmetpalinperry.e628ea79.htmlSarah Palin miffed at Rick Perry aide's use of 'retarded' as a slur
05:26 PM CST on Thursday, February 4, 2010
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected] AUSTIN — On the eve of a campaign appearance in Texas for Rick Perry, Sarah Palin served notice that she’s not happy the governor's top political adviser used the word “retarded” to describe campaign logistics.
Dave Carney, Perry's long-time political guru, used the word several times in a conference call about arrangements for the first gubernatorial debate last month sponsored by KERA.
During the call among campaign representatives, Carney complained that one candidates' holding room would be in a different building than the debate.
"That's just retarded,” Carney said. "That's the most retarded thing I've ever heard."
Palin's youngest son Trig has Down syndrome. The former vice presidential candidate has written on her Facebook page that using the word "retarded" is "a slur on all God's children" with developmental disabilities.
When The Wall Street Journalreported that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used the term during a closed-door meeting with liberal Democrats and others, Palin called Emanuel's choice of words "unacceptable" and said he should be fired. Emanuel has since apologized.
Palin's spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, condemned Carney's remarks but did not call for the Perry consultant to lose his job.
"Gov. Palin believes crude and demeaning name-calling at the expense of others is disrespectful," Stapleton said.
With Palin scheduled to headline a Perry campaign rally in the Houston area Sunday, the Republican governor moved today to stem the controversy.
Perry spokesman Mark Miner disassociated the governor from Carney's remarks.
"It was an unfortunate choice of words, and the governor is extremely disappointed," Miner said.
Carney could not be reached for comment.
Carney, a Republican political consultant based in New Hampshire, has advised Perry for more than a decade. He is credited with molding Perry's campaign message — an unrelenting attack on Washington and, by extension, on U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Perry's rival for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
Carney has a reputation for blunt speech. He was criticized last year for suggesting, in an interview with The Dallas Morning News, that broadening the Republican Party to include more moderate ideas — including those of Hutchison — could turn the GOP into a "whorehouse."
Sunday's re-election rally in Cypress, a Houston suburb, is expected to attract thousands of Palin supporters -- conservatives whose votes Perry is seeking in the March 2 GOP primary. Rocker Ted Nugent, a staunch advocate of gun rights, is scheduled to open the event by playing the national anthem.