Washington – Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, was meeting privately with the head of the Special Olympics after issuing an apology to the group last week for using the term “retarded.”
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Administration spokesman Bill Burton declined to go into details on the meeting between Emanuel and Tim Shriver, chief executive of the Special Olympics, based in Washington.
Emanuel last week apologized for using the word “retarded” to describe the tactics of political activists in pressing for passage of health-care legislation.
Burton said that Emanuel’s comments, reported by The Wall Street Journal last week, were made in August.
“Issues of derogatory comments that make fun of one group or pit one against the other don’t do anything to further our political discourse,” Burton said Wednesday at the daily White House briefing. “And, for that, Rahm apologized, and we’re looking to move forward.”
The Special Olympics organization said in a statement on its Web site that Shriver and a delegation of advocates for the disabled will talk to Emanuel “about the suffering and pain of people with intellectual disabilities that is perpetuated by the use of the terms ‘retard’ and ‘retarded.'”
Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and the Republican Party’s 2008 vice presidential candidate, used a posting on her Facebook Inc. page to call for Emanuel to be fired over the remark. Palin, now a Fox News Channel analyst, has a child with Down Syndrome.
Obama himself has apologized to Shriver for disparaging remarks. During a taping of NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” last March, the president noted how his low bowling scores had become the butt of jokes. “It was like the Special Olympics, or something.”
I see a pattern here.
for all they do to work with special children in our kehilos
Rahm is a erliche yid and we must grant him the benifit of the doubt. He made a mistake and should be forgiven. G’endikt.
I dident realise that they are so scared of the Pailin affect wasent she just suppsed to be one big joke for this guys I guess her shodow looms mightely over there concerns for 2010 can somone explain why he just aplogised now after she calld for his head and after it came to light if he was sincciere he would have aplogised immidietly but hey he is dead fish rahm and we can’t start lowering standards now can we rham
Rahm Emanuel is a proste person as is his boss; ignorant, without a bit of refinement in them. To think that these are leading our great land is scarey and pitiful!
“His forefathers, who fought for Israel, would be turning over in their graves if they were alive today.”
That was hysterical!
t his was the word always used until the political correct crazies came on the scene these are the same people that will not utter the word moslem terrorist but exremist when a plane full of people see the guy with his pants on fire from explosives worn underneath
he is just a suspect
Oh my goodness what did he say? that stupid people are acting retarded?! Come on! What should he say? they are behaving as though they are intellectually disabled?! Then these advocates would complain that he’s denigrating intellectual disability by using it as a reference to human failure.
As the saying goes Rahmy, “It takes one to know one”.
Thank you Mrs Palin for exposing a double standard. On the other hand he learned from his boss who also made some STUPID comment regarding the Special Olympics as it related to his bowling.
i saw a bus has a button saying retarder or we call things flame retardent is that insensitive it looks like these people have never made a payroll
[ from a person who had a such a grand childe]
ever since we go this change president all we have are Retarded staffers with an Arrogant Retard for a president with Retarded programs i hope they all have there down fall real soon
Let him start by giving a $1 Million bucks to the friendship circle. then let him promote the FC by donating 10 hours at various FC children, and creating awareness….