Well if an African American uses the N word, they own it. You my dear are not mentally retarded and have no connection to the slur retard. I’m sure you realize that the way you used the word is a slur. What it does is dehumanize people with special needs. I might have agreed with you before I had a child with special needs. Once you have a kid who is different, who is mocked, who is treated like life not worthy of living, then you tend to understand the argument a little better. Your safety gear comment is slightly on the mocking side, right?
I’m a Democrat (or at least that’s how I’ve voted recently) and I don’t think it’s about political parties. It’s just about a group of parents who are trying to get a little dignity for their kids. And let’s face it, there are tons of Republicans who stand up for the right of the unborn, until they are born and do nothing to protect them from abuse and neglect.
It’s important to remember that mental retardation doesn’t only begin at birth. Sometimes soldiers come home from war with brain injury. Sometimes you just get in a accident and end up sitting in a chair having an aide wipe the drool from your chin and calling you a retard. There isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it. I’m sure if you asked any of them they would prefer not to be called a retard. I’d like to think that getting rid of a word that causes so much hurt isn’t such a bad thing.
Thanks for hearing me out.

I use the word retard all the time in casual conversation with friends. It was highly unprofessional of Dan Quarto to use it. Powerful leaders should not use slang ever. And I disagree that if Quarto was a democrat this wouldn’t be a big deal. If a dem said retard the churches would organize and the conservatives would be out in force, marching with assault rifles with their little retarded children on leashes, holding signs with nazi symbols and chanting “Drill baby drill!”

Dude, if it’s a word that causes someone pain, why would want to defend using it? Even in its proper context, I cringe when hearing it. Like Barb, it’s probably something I didn’t think twice about before having a child with special needs. Now? Heaven help the fool that points that slur toward my son. And when I hear it in conversation at work or elsewhere, I point out that it’s a word that only makes you look stupid for using it.

It’s not the word that hurts, it’s the context!
For instance, I have a few friends who are disabled. Our slogan is “Cripple power!”. We find it amusing and it gives us strength to wade through all the other shit that gets in our way. It’s a word. People give too much meaning to words a not enough to actions.

I’m also an immigrant in my country and I always use the slang word for my nationality, even in public and in media. It disarms people and makes them laugh. And it can never hurt me. But actions hurt more than that. For instance, when I got kicked out of a job because of that… I only learned this afterwards, because they were always polite with me. I’d rather they weren’t!

Even if you remove the word, people will still mock the child. It could be comforting, it could be a great media move to make people remember! But it will never make someone a good person.

Full disclosure, I visited your site initially from a link to the “5 points” article about dating a journalist. After reading the article and comments I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that this is a case of niche-blog/sense-of-humor gone wrong once dispersed to the general population. With this in mind, putting aside the logical discord between your experience within the professional realm of journalism and ignorance to the power of the written word, I clicked through to read some more recently penned articles.

While I realized this too is well past its “current events” prime, I could not let it go without comment:

Great pull-away quote: “If you think someone’s being an ass, just call them an ass! Don’t bring us into the discussion.”

Don’t know what’s best about that. The blatant hypocrisy (don’t call people mean names, but use this mean name!) or the fact that he’s admitting he’s a retard.

Do you genuinely not understand what he is saying? The entire point is that Dan Quatro used the word “retard” as a slur and it should not be used as such. From reading the above and linked articles, the word itself seems to be the reason you are not able to make this mental leap, so let’s try substituting the word “gay” and maybe you will grasp the overall concept. Pretend I don’t agree with you and as a means to convey this I publically call you and/or your argument “gay”. And then a Gay Rights activist states the above. Is the point clearer to you now? Calling someone “retarded” or “gay” should not equate “insert mean name here”.

I got to this blog via the “5 points” article and while I thought it was a piece of garbage, I was willing to believe that the whole thing could be understood as an attempt at humor by someone who is a bit too self-assured and not the up-in-arms outrage that some people were seeing it as. I have now read a number of your other posts and have revised my opinion. Your ideas are nothing but privileged, self-important whining. It’s clear your never had to expand your world view beyond your own experiences and try to see it from the view of someone who actually has real problems.

I’m probably the only person who LOL’ed at this article. I agree.

I am not fond of all of the retarded people’s rights we have now a days. My boss hired one, and now we have extra work because this man is incapable of following directions, and if you tell mom this, she tries to “educate” you on their “condition”. During lunch hour at a busy restaurant, I don’t need to understand your child’s condition; I need the dishes washed in a timely fashion. I fear this will only get worse, judging from the way the parents of the disabled are putting more and more pressure on the rest of us to accept their kid as “differently abled” (<– the pc term I was told to use) Rolls eyes.

My poor daughter has been beat up by a retarded girl at school who acts out by flailing and slapping (ie, "She doesn't mean it"). I was brought into the meeting after my kid had bruises AGAIN, and "educated" on this other child's "condition". Rolls eyes again. I don't give a flying flip about your kids' condition. I care that my child is coming home with bruises, and has been told to tolerate the abuse (as the other kids do) because this kid can't help it. What about my poor daughter? Oh that's right..she has no cool labels to tag on herself so she doesn't count.

Please you may think your child is "cute" when they can go to school and pretend to learn, or get a job and pretend to be productive, but the rest of us find it irritating. Bunch of retards.

Dawn Mari and Tom Chambers. Guess what? One day, you or a loved one will experience what it means to have a disability. One day, you or a loved one will experience prejudice and cruelty. This will happen to you and your family. When this happens, I hope you remember what you have written here.

Ok, Tom isn’t really being an ass by saying what he said. He may be a little insensitive, but he’s not being completely terrible. I mean, seriously. This is the exact ignorance everyone in the world has when they don’t have a disabled child.

Dawn Marie, I can see your point. The disabled child should be taught in a different school that can better suit her needs. However, there is no need for that sort of ‘prejudice’. Don’t hate on the child, hate on the person in charge of letting this child behave in such away in school and putting the other children in danger. That is downright wrong to make the other kids have to put up with such a thing, so I see why you’d be upset. The comment ‘bunch of retards’ on the other hand, is harsh.

just wanted to stop by and say that I took the time to read this post, though I’m not into politics in siding with no Democrats or Republicans.