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Kash Patel ordered FBI agents to respond to X posts calling him a ‘retard’
(www.telegraph.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 12 Sep 2026
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politics
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No.
My wife used to teach adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. They learned Shakespeare.
The reason the term "mental retardation" came into being was to indicate a slowness of learning. And while it's a complicated topic, it's arguably true that many of them do learn some things more slowly.
But they absolutely learn.
They know the term "retard" and know it applies to them. They feel pain knowing that it is used.
And it's unfair. When I say they learned Shakespeare - upon more than one occasion I saw her class discussing the topic intelligently and with full understanding.
There are plenty of other words people can use that don't have the same harm.
And yes, some will say "other words used to be like that and aren't". Great! Use them! "Colored' used to be the preferred term for people who are Black, but I'd love to sit by and watch you call someone that.
Point taken, with my apologies, no offense intended to anyone but him in my post.
Patel is still an idiot.
No apologies needed - when presented with new information if you can see another point of view. I've had to do the same about many things. :)
And yes, Patel is an idiot, moron, fucking muppet. The list goes on and on and on. heh
This kind of "banning" of words is annoying and superficial. It's a word used in French. Like if you say 逃げろ well in one country it's to run away and in another country it's racist. And don't worry the self censorship only breeds creativity. Had students that would say vi-negar, or knee growth, or the latest n-wah. So realistically it solves nothing. It wouldn't surprise me that r-wah would be a thing as well.
This kind of post suddenly shouting at the top of its lungs "LET ME BE A BIGOT!!!" makes me sad.
It's okay if you missed the point, no need to make assumptions.