Rahm Provides Leadership That's Working!

Let's recap - White House Chief of Staff and notorious potty-mouth Rahm Emmanuel calls lib Democrats "retarded" (I am omitting his customary F-bomb), and eventually apologizes to retarded people (which is now the second Administration apology to the disabled; Special Olympic Chair Tim Shriver must be on their speed-dial by now but we are Moving On.)

Right here in Just One Household we have a thirteen year old lad who came home from school and denounced some project or other as "retarded".  A teachable moment!

I explained that that sort of talk was offensive and unacceptable in polite society and reinforced the point by adding that just today the President's Chief of Staff had gotten into trouble for using that very word.

"Cool!" said my son. "I want to be a Democrat too!"

I told him he couldn't register to vote until he was eighteen, he said "Eff that", and I dropped it.  My boy - a future chief of staff.  It's a wonderful country.

Comments

[john 2000]

great little posting. I need to borrow it (with attribution of course) !!!

[Swo]

Eveyone left. It must be the comments closings. They were really after the army who was sent there............

[clarice]

The WH claims the apology was accepted;Shriver denies that.
In any event he apologized to the group , not the Dems he disparaged, didn't he? Something Rush made much of and is sure to be misreported tomorrow.

[Cecil Turner]

I thought it was only truly offensive if you used it as a noun. Like, for example, if Emmanuel had called the liberal wing of his own party "effing Retards." (And as much as I'd have disapproved of either comment, I suspect there'd have been some head nodding mixed in as well.)

Bernie Goldberg has this one right. But Sarah Palin is absolutely correct to pull an old Alinsky number four on 'em. [Is that where we go a-ridin' into town, a-whompin' and a-whumpin' every livin' thing that moves within an inch of its life? --No, that'd be a number 6.] Rahm could've gotten away with it as comedy.

[NK]

Hey Cecil--

Excellent Blazing Saddles reference. Next line; "You spare the women?" "Nah, we .... at the number 6 dance afterwards!!" I could do Hedley Lamar - Boss Taggard lines all day.

Hey TM--

what are they teaching 13 yos at New Canaan Country Day School these days?

[Topsecretk9]

I recall many a lefty getting their panties in a bunch when Bush teased a reporter for wearing sunglasses at a presser. Bush was unaware the reporter was legally blind. He apologized though. The reporter wasn't offended and he even said he never told the President but that didn't stop Peter Daou at Huffington Post from the getting the vapors:

Bush's Banter Goes Too Far: Taunting a Blind Man

The point of this post is not that Bush intentionally taunted a blind man, but that his insistence on clowning with the press is undignified and highly inappropriate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-daou/bushs-banter-goes-too-fa_b_22983.html

[Topsecretk9]

We're still at war, right?

Daou follows up:

UPDATE 2: Bush apologizes. I'll reiterate my point: it's not this particular case - where Bush now admits he screwed up - but Bush's juvenile joshing that is so unbecoming of a U.S. president at a time of war.

[clarice]

GWB simply doesn't have it in him to be deliberately unkind.

[Danube of Thought]

Smirking about killing a fly in the middle of an interview in time of war is evidently just fine.

[Danube of Thought]

Rahm is toast before 2010 ends.

[Extraneus]

Excellent comment, Cecil. I have a retarded daughter (they politely call her "autistic"), but if anyone ever called her a "retard" ...

I also happen to have a German Shepard named after Miss Von Shtupp, and a brother who memorized that movie when he was about 10 and still remembers every word.

Btw, any beat-down that can be laid on Rahm Emmanuel, for whatever reason, is fine with me.

[BobS]

DOT: I hope not. Rham, Holder, Gibbs, et al just help republicans.

[Sir Toby Belch]

So, your son wants to be a Democrat!? Is
he a spendthrift? Is he a chronic liar?
Does he steal from others? Does he feel
superior to others? Does he read at night
from a little red book? If the answer is
"yes" to at least two of the questions,
he sounds like good liberal material.

[Extraneus]

People are wringing their hands over it, but I thought the Carly Fiorina ad was pretty good.

[Carol Herman]

Rahm's the wife! All things are now made worse because the "agenda" stayed under the radar screen! Rahm had creds! The liberals in the democratic party hated him when Nancy tasked him, in 2006, to go about finding Blue Dogs.

Even back in 2006 and 2008 Nancy showed her political strength by protecting Rahm's back. Agenda driven, to get Nancy Pelosi into the Majority Chair.

What's so freaky is the distance traveled since then. Heck, back in 1915, only the richest people could afford first class on the Titanic! They vied for space. Then, the ship had a calamity. Today, there's been a calamity with out Ship of State. The passengers feel they can reach their destination without an economy. I say, not.

[Boatbuilder]

"'Cool,' said my son. 'I want to be a Democrat too!'"

Wash that boy's mouth out with soap!

[glasater]

Oh No Ext--It's about three minutes too long:)

[Barry Dauphin]

Don't forget that the president had to apologize to Nancy Reagan too.

[narciso]

"Demonic Terminator sheep" that's not over the top at all

[Ignatz]

--I thought it was only truly offensive if you used it as a noun.--

Apparently so, since today I heard a snippet of Rush reading a DOJ job description looking for applicants who were "mentally retarded".

The jokes, obviously, write themselves.

[Sue]

"Cool!" said my son. "I want to be a Democrat too!"

I hope you washed his mouth out with soap!

[Sue]

Shoot. I should have read the comments before posting. I am not original.

[Rob Crawford]

Apparently so, since today I heard a snippet of Rush reading a DOJ job description looking for applicants who were "mentally retarded".

I thought civil service regulations prevented the party in power from hiring only its partisans.

[Ignatz]

This may have been previously linked, but here is Paul Ryan's Roadmap for America.

I'm interested in other JOMer's takes.
Personally, I think the Repubs should ride it in 2010, 2012 and beyond, until its done.

[Sblobp]

The retard's back. I thought it wasn't parole, but just some free time. The lady down the street got murdered. The other one jumped. It was the 8th, not 3rd floor.

[Ann]

OT

Oh my God. Is this true? It is not hard to believe especially since the cast of characters include Gregory Craig, Eric Holder, Reno, Clinton, Rather, CBS and Castro.

Kenneth, What Is the Frequency: How CBS and Dan Rather Set Up Elian Gonzalez

[narciso]

Yes, it's very true, Ann, this is who they regard as the real enemy, not KSM,
Abdulmutallab, etc.

[Boatbuilder]

We're just original in the same way, Sue.

[centralcal]

Ann: Interesting link.

[Jane]

Ignatz,

I've just started to get to know Mr. Ryan, but I think I'm in love.

And I bet he is the smartest guy on capital hill.

[centralcal]

Ignatz: I am a big Paul Ryan fan (so far), but my dinner is just about ready, so I haven't check out the website fully yet. Let ya know, when I do.

[laura]

Cute too, Jane

[Jane]

Very cute. He looks about 18, altho I think he is 38.

[Sue]

Boat,

Great minds...and all of that. ::grin::

[Pofarmer]

FWIW, the Global Warming Bogeyman is alive and well at EPA.

New Renewable fuels mandates.

[Rick Ballard]

Ignatz,

It will take a little time to read the entire 99 page Roadmap but it certainly appears innovative and rather comprehensive. The two tier personal tax proposal and the BCT (Business Consumption Tax) need some "tax revenue if imposed today" type data.

The adjustments to SS don't appear politically problematic but the Medicare and health care portions could use some refinement of presentation. They just aren't particularly clear.

I'd certainly recommend that JOMers read the document. It's definitely worthy of discussion and certainly provides a realistic alternative to BOzo's Marxianist fantasy.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Po-

That's a keeper for the research pile.

I just spent 57 minutes getting schooled on the facts in China. If anyone wants to follow suit, it's the best economics lesson ou will receive from one of the best private practioners, Jim Chanos, and he puts his money where his mouth is.

Video is here.

[Rick Ballard]

After you watch the Chanos video you can entertain yourself by reading Michael Pettis slap Walter Duranty Thomas Friedman silly.

I suppose that it might be argued that Pettis lacks the distance from the subject matter which enables Friedman to view China in such rose colored hues. Pettis is a mere professor (with a very extensive Wall Street background) at Peking University.

There are some rather unsightly cracks appearing in the paint on the cheap plywood facade of the Chinese Potemkin Village.

[Ann]

Ignatz:

I have heard great things about Paul Ryan. He wrote an article in the WSJ where he introduced his "Road Map For America's Future" on Jan 26, 2010. It is a basic recap: A GOP Road Map for America's Future I like it.

The magnificent bastard likes him too: Karl Rove Picks The Seven Most Powerful Conservatives

Of course, I get weak-kneed when a man has a brain and pretty eyes. :)

[Melinda Romanoff]

Rick-

The Chanos tape is just amazing, especially after the first 12 minutes, then he hits his stride.

Just jaw dropping. Pettis was part of the link I provided, by the way.

When you can sneak the time, watch it. I've got two pages of really small notes and a ton of ideas. All late, because Chanos is probably already short them.

Find the time for it, you won't be disappointed. I was expecting to be so, and am, instead, going to burn it to disc.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Long drive tomorrow, off to Oshkosh.

G'night all.

[glenda]

Be safe out there in Wisconsin, by gosh!, melinda dear...

[Ann]

Thanks, narciso.

I figured you would know if it was true. Sadly, that was back when I still trusted the MSM. I do remember feeling outraged that a mother risked her life for her son only to have him sent back to Cuba. That picture still haunts:

Amazing to think of the difference in treatment of the crotch bomber and Elian Gonzalez today.

We have come full circle with these SOBs and yet they are still in control. I despise them.

[narciso]

Yes, they turned him into a slogan spouting Young Pioneer, So many complaints abour Gitmo and Bagram, but not a word about La Cabana, or Villa Marista (a former religious order
turned into Cuban G-2's headquarters,) or
Rancho Boyeros.

[Soylent Red]

Chanos vid was EXCELLENT.

WRT to "retard"...

This is a word I made a conscious decision to eliminate from my language many years ago. I am currently making a conscious effort to eliminate f-bombs (and being in a military environment is absolutely not helping). I'm not changing my language patterns because of how others feel about the words, but because of what the use of such words say about me.

The fact that the White House Chief of Staff uses them cavalierly is yet another measure of the lack of class, gravitas, and discipline that defines this Admin.

Every time I think I have plumbed the blackest depths of disdain for these people, they help me realize that there are fathoms to go.

[daddy]

RE China:

Big new sign in the Hotel Lobby in English today in Guangzhou said that over 40 million children in China are too poor to have any access to elementary education at all, and was asking for donations from we English speaking Westerner's in order to fund schools across China.

Had not seen that before. Believe from the professional look of the sign that it must be some sort of approved campaign, else it wouldn't have been so prominently posted.

[PD]

Be safe out there in Wisconsin, by gosh!

Gee, you make it sound like we Badgers live in Little Fallujah. :-)

[Fresh Air]

So, just for the record...Sarah Palin's Facebook page is now a more potent weapon than anything the MSM wields, including the front page of the Grey Lady herself. Actually, this shouldn't be a surprise given that her circulation is wider than the Slimes.

So, yeah, I agree with Tom. Great leadership from our leader...in Wasilla.

[Jeff]

The not so funny, funny thing about Rahms comment is that he meant it as a putdown. But anyone who actually knows a retarded person knows they are that way thru no fault or action of their own doing. Its nature or Gods hand. If he were to call them ignorant, now that would be a putdown. But retarded is not used as a put down by people with down syndrome children or siblings. It is a description of their mental abilities.
What this tells me is that Rahm is too ignorant to even competently cuss at people and since that is supposed to be his major strength he should hit the bricks for simple incompetence. Plus he's a major league dipsh*t and coward with balls the size of bb's ...

[Ann]

Yes, Our new administration can't say TERRORIST, but have no problem with f**king retard, racist, tea-baggers, birthers...blah, blah, blah.

If you have to call someone a name, you have already lost the argument to me.

But if you are given titles you don't and can't live up to like the "Noble Peace Prize" winner or "Fashion Icon of the World", well then, no holds barred....:)

[bgates]

Ryan seems as confident that he can make government the engine of eternal wealth redistribution as Obama is. What are they arguing about? Ryan wants to cap federal spending at a conservative - some would say draconian - several percent of GDP higher than the height of the Great Society. That must be that new fiscal responsibility I hear is in vogue.

I don't see any point in the charts purporting to extrapolate the state of the budget in 2080. Is anybody at the CBO or even in Congress stupid enough to think themselves capable of making predictions further out than 2011 that are any better than a number pulled out of a hat? Who is this Nostradamus of Washington who stands atop the smoldering ruins of Fannie and Freddie to peer into the far-off future, and where the fuck was he five years ago?

So Ryan's plan claims three key differentiators between his plan and the progressives. The first is that his plan is based on "real numbers". I bet they built some kind of mathematical model, you can take those things to the bank (so it can join the vast multitude of worthless pieces of paper created by the government). The second is that it "restores an American character rooted in individual initiative", like John Wayne in that movie where John Wayne played a guy who received $11,000 a year in Medicare plus a fully funded Medical Savings Account and undertook federally funded job retraining through which his character was restored by the actions of the government.

The third key differentiator, which I took to be intended as some kind of selling point, is that his planned legislation will be "comprehensive". God help us.

[narciso]

Ouch bgates, like I say it's good you're on our side, Comprehensive is the kind of thing
that makes one reach for the exits. It's ironic no, when they didn't score the plan,
it was called cowardly, when it does, it's called 'violent'. Well what would you call
the collapse of an entire economy,tiddlywinks.

Yep, Fresh Air, she just slices and dices through like the old Ginzu knife, all from
the sanctuary of her home.And as part of the Tea Party movement, with the speech on
Saturday, the TPE which begins in Reid's home town, and ends up in Jane's Boston, it's going to be a fun spring

[daddy]

Instapundit links this amazingly revealing comment from Obama to the Dem Leadership today, as reported in ">http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/79663-tough-talk-comes-after-obama-exits"> The Hill.

“We’ve got to make sure that our party understands that, LIKE IT OR NOT, we have to have a financial system that is healthy and functioning, so we can’t be demonizing every bank out there,” Obama said. “We’ve got to be the party of business, small business and large business, because they produce jobs.”

LIKE IT OR NOT? Unbelievable. Yeah, there's our Messiah.

[mark l.]

"I told him he couldn't register to vote until he was eighteen..."

please. he said he wanted to be a democrat. just tell him to call himself tony romo, and use your address. age and citizenship are not barriers that will hold back a real dem.

[Rick Ballard]

Daddy,

The banksters gave BOzo a little taste of a down market and he rolled over and started whimpering. I suppose they waved a rolled up newspaper at him as well. He certainly knows how to show the cowardice of his lack of convictions.

[Pofarmer]

Geez, Daddy, he's not even competent to be a moron.

[nick]

my kids dont call things or people retarded but I raised them better than tom mcguire or Mr Mrs Emmanual.

[Fresh Air]

Daddy--

Bear in mind also that the "like it or not" phrase was almost certainly offered up by TOTUS, which means of his little puke scriveners dreamed that up and Zero regurgitated it dutifully. The White House has become like some kind of left-wing dormitory.

[glasater]

Narciso--how do you know bgates is on our side? :-)

[glasater]

Is anybody at the CBO or even in Congress stupid enough to think themselves capable of making predictions further out than 2011 that are any better than a number pulled out of a hat? Who is this Nostradamus of Washington who stands atop the smoldering ruins of Fannie and Freddie to peer into the far-off future, and where the fuck was he five years ago?

Well--we know bgates has a great brain--but does he have pretty eyes?

[glasater]

“We’ve got to make sure that our party understands that, LIKE IT OR NOT, we have to have a financial system that is healthy and functioning, so we can’t be demonizing every bank out there,”

Perhaps Volkerk's economic lessons are starting to sink into Zero's little pea brain....

[daddy]

"Narciso--how do you know bgates is on our side? :-)"

This was great today. On I think the George Monbiot story in the Guardian I saw earlier today asking for Climate-gates Scientologist Jones to step down, deep in the comments some angry Warmer seriously said that the Indian IPCC chief, Pachauri, the guy who touted the phony Himalaya Glacier data, was actually a George Bush plant, and that his secret agenda was to destroy Copenhagen by doing such stupid stuff as pushing Glacier Melting as Gospel. Hillarious, but exactly what I expect the new talking point to be by next weekend, and a wonderfully convenient meme to allow Pachauri to be tossed under the bus.

Next Inconvenient Truth we'll be hearing is that Al Gore is a George Bush plant to derail Kyoto. Hah!

[PaulL]

Is Ibama a plant to deflate liberalism?

[daddy]

And not to be rude or anything, but if they're advertising for retarded Lawyer's to work in the Justice Department, why not retarded Economists to work with Geitner and Bernanke?

And to be really non-judgemental, how about advertising for retarded pilots to fly Air Force 1? ---Now there's an idea I'm excited about!

[peter]

"I told him he couldn't register to vote until he was eighteen..."

please. he said he wanted to be a democrat. just tell him to call himself tony romo, and use your address. age and citizenship are not barriers that will hold back a real dem.

LOL!

[Janet]

We've been found out! Al, Pachauri, and I are all in cahoots with W!

[MTF]

Right now, the President is reading Tom's post and proudly thinking, "My Rahm...a future thirteen year old!"

[Ignatz]

--The third key differentiator, which I took to be intended as some kind of selling point, is that his planned legislation will be "comprehensive". God help us.--

I believe he means comprehensive in the sense that it deals with the issues that are either causing the budget to blow up or are strangling the economy.
He begins the privatization, partial or otherwise, of SS and medicare.
He provides an essentially flat tax and eliminates cap gains, dividend and estate taxes and lowers the corporate tax.
And he provides a free market method to deal with the issues in the health care industry which the Dems have been trying to use to rope us into Euro socialism for decades.
It's certainly not perfect (I'd like to see the Federal government about 1/4 the size it presently is) but there is an 80 year or longer inertia in the growth of government that will only be reversed by weaning people off of its entitlements.
You can't stop a runaway train by standing on the tracks yelling stop. You have to apply the brakes slowly until it can be safely stopped.
Then you can put it in reverse.
More importantly these proposals, being a positive, offensive strategy, get the libs out of the engine room where they're pouring on the coal, out in the open, having to explain why stopping a runaway train is a worse idea than driving it over a cliff.

[Jane]

I bet Rahm is mad that his remarks were not picked up in August when he said them. If it were August he'd have plenty of time to run for Governor or Obama's senate seat. Now he might be forced to go back to Fannie and Freddie when he steps down.

Even at MSNBC this morning they were discussion whether Rahm is good for this president. They consensus seemed to be no - with the appropriate left wing wiggle room.

[glasater]

May have missed a link in a previous comment but below is an interview of:

Ezra Klein with Rep Paul Ryan on health care and insurance.

Take that bgates:)

[Pofarmer]

I don't think the DOW likes the jobs news.

[Rick Ballard]

Ignatz,

I agree with your take. Ryan isn't peddling a 'return to conservative values'. The Muddle wouldn't buy it in sufficient numbers to effect any change if he did. The balance point of the electorate is currently still too close to "let's give unicorns and rainbows a fair chance" to consider educating them (as if that were ever possible) regarding economic matters.

The Roadmap is a decent alternative proposal to Dem profligacy at a moment when the economy itself is providing the Muddle with training concerning the real cost of unicorns and rainbows. It's the necessary adjunct to 'just say no' and should be considered and evaluated as such.

[glasater]

Po--

Europe especially Portugal and Spain are the excuses this time..

[glasater]

Sounds like our(US) debt is better than their(Europe) debt.

[Jack is Back!]

Extraneus,

Chuck DeVore's response to the "demon sheep" ad:)

[Ignatz]

Rick,
Concur with your concurrence.
BTW I left an econ question for you, Rich or anyone else who might chime in on the "General Confusion at the Times" thread.

[anduril]

My brother suggests this whole "retard" thing is an Emanuel family thing. That is, Rahm's words mirror the eugenic attitudes of his brother--health policy guru Ezekiel Emanuel.

And, yes, it's spelled with one 'm.'