Rumors, Lies, Innuendo, Fear, Uncertainty, and Despair

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met with disabilities advocates and apologized again for his use of the word “retarded,” according to a statement released by groups that met with him Wednesday.

Criticism of Mr. Emanuel had been building since The Wall Street Journal reported last week that he told a group of liberal activists that it was “f— retarded” for them to run ads attacking some Democrats.

Peter Wallsten
Wall Street Journal

We’ll probably never know if the liberal activists were upset because Mr Emanuel referred to them as f_ retarded or whether it was the word ‘retarded’ itself that upset them.

Had the ads attacking Democrats been run by Tea Party supporters instead, the story might well have been:

Last week a group of liberal activists applauded Mr Emanuel’s remark that it  was “f— retarded” for Tea Party supporters to run ads attacking some Democrats.