Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Sarah Palin wants President Obama to fire Rahm Emanuel over R-word comment

From The Hill:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) called Feb. 1 for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's firing over remarks he allegedly made about the intellectually disabled.

Palin (pictured), the mother of a child with Down's Syndrome, called on President Barack Obama to end Emanuel's tenure as chief of staff for having allegedly called participants in a strategy session "f---ing retarded."

Palin wrote in a Facebook note that as the debate over Obama's budget begins, the president terminate the employment of one of his top advisors.

"Our president will discuss these important issues with Democrat leaders and those within his inner circle," Palin said. "I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts."

The Wall Street Journal reported last Thursday that Emanuel had used the phrase during a strategy session with some of the Obama administration's liberal supporters last August.

Palin likened the use of the phrase, which is heavily frowned upon by advocates of the intellectually disabled, to using the n-word.

"Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities – and the people who love them – is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking," Palin said. "Mr. President, you can do better, and our country deserves better.