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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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NGL, my own autistic brother would call (and has called) Patel a retread.
As an insult it is less about denigrating actual handicapped folks and more about calling the subject of the insult a specific level of stupid. One that is very often less capable that most people who are disabled.
God knows my own brother who is on the spectrum could outperfom Patel, simply because he's an honest, capable man with integrity.
So? Is ableism by someone on the spectrum supposed to be acceptable? Do I need to find a person who is black to give me permission to use the N word? Maybe I should find a woman to give me permission to be misogynist?
That's not it at all. It's about not being so high handed to assume someone with disabilities needs you to define what they will - or will not be - offended by. I as a woman give you permission to be the biggest misogynist on the planet if it gives you a chubby, knock yourself out! Then again, I can be a total raging cunt and don't give a shit if you are.
You are not and will never be responsible for my emotions.
Perhaps you misunderstand, so let's go back to the basics.
Lemmy.World TOS prohibits the use of, among other things, ableist slurs.
If you use such slurs, expect to face consequences.
I am a Lemmy admin, and part of what I do is enforce the TOS when I see violations.
We may choose to simply remove rule-breaking comments, or hand out temp-bans or perma-bans to those that can't seem to follow the rules.
If you cannot follow the rules, I suppose you will eventually find out the consequences for yourself.
So ultimately, I don't care if you agree with the TOS or not. Only whether you follow them.
When the TOS, as stated, seems ambiguous.. it begets the immediate issue between you and I as being that as I have NOT used a slur.. as an admin, you find my plainly stated diffidence to "white knighting" (..as if those with disabilities have no agency..) for others offensive.
And that's okay by me.