PC gone amok, part 7652

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/11/27/DI2006112700875.html
From Michael Wilbon's chat yesterday:
Bethesda, Md.: Cure for the Wizards' ills:

Kevin Garnett for Antwan Jamison, a big man and draft picks?

Michael Wilbon: So, you think the Timberwolves people are simply retards?

_______________________

Baltimore: Grossman not only looked lost on the field yesterday, he looked REALLY shaky talking to the press. The guy looks like his confidence is simply shot. Do you sit him?

Michael Wilbon: I should have said, "Do you think the Timberwolves people are morons." I regret my previous word choice and apologize. Grossman is beyond shaky....

So Wilbon uses the word "retard". Stop the earth. Heaven forbid he uses a word that people use in conversation every day. He realizes the political incorrectness of it all, and apologizes in the next answer, since people will really think that the Timberwolves employ front office people with mental retardation.

But that's not enough. Later in the chat, someone realizes they caught Wilbon in a "Gotcha!!" moment.

Washington, D.C.: You used to be my favorite sports columnist, and then I just read this line:

"So, you think the Timberwolves people are simply retards?"

Wow. One of the best sports writers in the country goes to "retards." Oh well. Guess I'll stick with Wise.

Michael Wilbon: I apologized once, if you kept reading, and I'll apologize again. And you can be unforgiving if you're perfect. And I doubt it. I apologize again, because it was a stupid word choice and I know better...No excuses. It was beyond dumb.

Ya know, I wish sometimes that someone like Wilbon would just write: "Shut the F up and get over it, dude."

 

Given he'd already used the "retard" AND APOLOGIZED - TWICE! - that's the EXACT answer he should have given to the next idiot, who continued to call him out!

 

although i think this is making something over nothing, in general, i agree that PC-ness goes to far sometimes. otoh, 'retards' is not a word people should be using because it degrades people with developmental disabilities. remember something about mary? man, that was a funny scene.

 

It was insensitive and stupid and Wilbon's big enough to notice.
And the "people use it every day in conversation" excuse is even more stupid.
Get over the fact that it's somehow "brave" to stand up against the censorious forces that insist that casual slurs are not acceptable. It's a very juvenile argument.

 

It's the truth. Wilbon obviously uses it in every day conversation. It's the first thing that pops into his head when he was chatting.

Is fnord a casual slur that's acceptable? You use that one, Fenian Bastard.

 

Once, I think, in the history of this board, and that was when I didn't have the faintest idea what it meant.
Go ahead, poin, go be brave to all those families trying to raise developmentally challenged kids. Go to an autism clinic and say how retarded the parking situation is.
Get over yourself. And then explain to me why this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fnord
...is remotely analogous.

 

Silliness. I don't use the word. I don't go to autism clinics and use the word. I don't call other people names here. I just don't think that Wilbon has to or needs to keep re-apologizing for the use of the word retard.

For the record, I thought fnord meant something like an epithet of the F word.

 

Poin,
Your point is that people who use the word "retard" as a descriptive in everyday conversation should be above criticism. Is that a correct assessment of your position here?

 

Fnord is just some web-geek speak for "oh my."

Now, as to the term "retard"... I think that it can be legitimately argued that the word itself isn't derogatory to the mentally challenged. While it has been used in such a manner towards them, using the term no someone else does not necessarily degrade someone as claiming that they are mentally challenged.

The word is retard. By definition it means to slow down, to stunt. Thus, the statement "Are you retarded" could simply be "Are you stunted? Is something preventing you from thinking?"

I think there are quite a few words where people need to look for an alternative. I'm just not sure "retard" or "retarded" is one of them.

 

Yes, and "fag" means cigarettes, or that you're really tired.
And I had no idea that "fnord" had such a rich, full history of craziness behind it. I will no longer use it recklessly, but treat it with respect.

 

Fnord.

 

It doesn't bother me in the least if he uses "retard". I don't use it and I don't care if others use it. But the man apologized once. And that isn't even good enough. Someone feels they have a Gotcha! moment and have to continue with it. "You used to be my favorite writer...." Oh for pete's sake, enough of the drama.

I see what epithets are thrown around here, and nobody seems to have a problem.