Bill Maher calls Special Needs Child Retarded

[Lerodan Chinamerica]

Liberals are the ones who usually overreact about things. I'm right-wing and it was a fucking joke, get over it!

You might be less forgiving if it were your child he called a retard.

At least some of us understand.

[Farnhamia]

Liberals are the ones who usually overreact about things. I'm right-wing and it was a fucking joke, get over it!

And it's a joke we don't like. Get over it.

Ann Coulter referred to John Edwards as a faggot and when called on it, all you heard was "It's a joke, man." If there were condemnations, they were very muted.

[Ostroeuropa]

So, here's the thing. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the exact terminology, or the difference between them, but Trig has Down Syndrom, right? So, doesn't that make him..actually retarded?

As in the child has mental retardation? I mean, the joke's pretty tasteless, but have we past the point of reasonable outrage for refering to someone as "retarded" when that person is, in fact, actually mentally retarded?

I was worried about pointing that out to be honest. I'm glad someone did.

[Lerodan Chinamerica]

So, here's the thing. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the exact terminology, or the difference between them, but Trig has Down Syndrom, right? So, doesn't that make him..actually retarded?

As in the child has mental retardation? I mean, the joke's pretty tasteless, but have we past the point of reasonable outrage for refering to someone as "retarded" when that person is, in fact, actually mentally retarded?

There's a difference between a straight-faced doctor stating "your son has Down syndrome" and an ass-faced comedian saying "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1".

[Des-Bal]

So, here's the thing. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the exact terminology, or the difference between them, but Trig has Down Syndrom, right? So, doesn't that make him..actually retarded?

As in the child has mental retardation? I mean, the joke's pretty tasteless, but have we past the point of reasonable outrage for refering to someone as "retarded" when that person is, in fact, actually mentally retarded?

I believe it's now referred to as Intellectually Disabled so calling him retarded is just as offensive as the wikipedia article for down syndrome.

Down syndrome is the most common chromosome abnormality in humans.[2] It is typically associated with a delay in cognitive ability (mental retardation, or MR)...

[Neo Art]

So, here's the thing. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the exact terminology, or the difference between them, but Trig has Down Syndrom, right? So, doesn't that make him..actually retarded?

As in the child has mental retardation? I mean, the joke's pretty tasteless, but have we past the point of reasonable outrage for refering to someone as "retarded" when that person is, in fact, actually mentally retarded?

I was worried about pointing that out to be honest. I'm glad someone did.

So the article doesn't say exactly what the joke WAS, and I admit that mocking someone for being retarded isn't cool. But the article mearly says that Maher called Trig "retarded".

Well....isn't he?

I mean, it all depends on context. The phrase "Sarah Palin has a retarded child"....isn't that true? As in, as a clinical sense, actually true? I don't know the joke he made, or what context Trig's condition was utlilized in that joke, and using the fact that someone IS disable in a joke is pretty tasteless, but all that's said in the article is that Maher used the term "retarded" to describe a child that...well...isn't he retarded?

[Des-Bal]

There's a difference between a straight-faced doctor stating "your son has Down syndrome" and an ass-faced comedian saying "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1".

There's also a big diferrence between a comedian saying "your son has down syndrome" and "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1" I again point you to the fact that nobody in this thread seems to actually know what the joke was.

[Knask]

Liberals are the ones who usually overreact about things. I'm right-wing and it was a fucking joke, get over it!

You might be less forgiving if it were your child he called a retard.

Or if you were Dick Cheney, and he mocked your baby.

[Ostroeuropa]

I was worried about pointing that out to be honest. I'm glad someone did.

So the article doesn't say exactly what the joke WAS, and I admit that mocking someone for being retarded isn't cool. But the article mearly says that Maher called Trig "retarded".

Well....isn't he?

I mean, it all depends on context. The phrase "Sarah Palin has a retarded child"....isn't that true? As in, as a clinical sense, actually true? I don't know the joke he made, or what context Trig's condition was utlilized in that joke, and using the fact that someone IS disable in a joke is pretty tasteless, but all that's said in the article is that Maher used the term "retarded" to describe a child that...well...isn't he retarded?

Well, that seems to be the case.
I think it's the same problem people have with calling people tranny's though. Or it's similar.

[Farnhamia]

You might be less forgiving if it were your child he called a retard.

Or if you were Dick Cheney, and he mocked your baby.

Thank you for making my point.

[Lerodan Chinamerica]

There's a difference between a straight-faced doctor stating "your son has Down syndrome" and an ass-faced comedian saying "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1".

There's also a big diferrence between a comedian saying "your son has down syndrome" and "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1" I again point you to the fact that nobody in this thread seems to actually know what the joke was.

I don't know what the exact joke was, no. But he's a comedian performing at a show. What would you expect? Would he just mention out of the blue that the boy is disabled? And even so, why would he do that?

Basically what I'm trying to say is that no, I don't know his exact words, but at a comedy show you have to assume that he's making a joke. A member of the audience did heckle him in response, after all.

[Ostroeuropa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... e57F77ZKIs

Closest I can find. To be fair, I do find this pretty appalling. But it shows that he's at least trying to make a joke.
Also note, the woman present says "My nephew is retarded?"

Look, from this clip from a few years ago I think it's pretty clear that Bill Maher is an asshole.

[Farnhamia]

There's also a big diferrence between a comedian saying "your son has down syndrome" and "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1" I again point you to the fact that nobody in this thread seems to actually know what the joke was.

I don't know what the exact joke was, no. But he's a comedian performing at a show. What would you expect? Would he just mention out of the blue that the boy is disabled? And even so, why would he do that?

Basically what I'm trying to say is that no, I don't know his exact words, but at a comedy show you have to assume that he's making a joke. A member of the audience did heckle him in response, after all.

Wait, he had an audience? Please don't tell me people paid to listen to him.

[Khanastan]

So, here's the thing. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know the exact terminology, or the difference between them, but Trig has Down Syndrom, right? So, doesn't that make him..actually retarded?

As in the child has mental retardation? I mean, the joke's pretty tasteless, but have we past the point of reasonable outrage for refering to someone as "retarded" when that person is, in fact, actually mentally retarded?

The problem is that what Bill said breaches political correctness. We sugarcoat things so people don't get offended, even if it is true.

For example, you wouldn't call someone black just because they're black.

[Neo Art]

There's a difference between a straight-faced doctor stating "your son has Down syndrome" and an ass-faced comedian saying "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1".

There's also a big diferrence between a comedian saying "your son has down syndrome" and "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1" I again point you to the fact that nobody in this thread seems to actually know what the joke was.

Let's not forget that the person making this uproar was later removed from the very same show for repeatedly yelling "Who's the president? Who's the president?" and arguing with people around him who asked him to keep quiet.

Again, I don't think mocking the disabled is something that's in good taste, especially when it's a child, but we don't know the context here. In fact, the article never said that Maher was making a joke. This particular issue that this particular fellow had was that Maher used the word retarded to describe Trig.

Well...isn't he retarded?

[Hurdegaryp]

And it's a joke we don't like. Get over it.

Ann Coulter referred to John Edwards as a faggot and when called on it, all you heard was "It's a joke, man." If there were condemnations, they were very muted.

The only joke in that story is Ann Coulter.

[Ostroeuropa]

There's also a big diferrence between a comedian saying "your son has down syndrome" and "HAHAHA YOUR SON HAZ DOWN SYNDROME!!!!1" I again point you to the fact that nobody in this thread seems to actually know what the joke was.

Let's not forget that the person making this uproar was later removed from the very same show for repeatedly yelling "Who's the president? Who's the president?" and arguing with people around him who asked him to keep quiet.

Again, I don't think mocking the disabled is something that's in good taste, especially when it's a child, but we don't know the context here. In fact, the article never said that Maher was making a joke. This particular issue that this particular fellow had was that Maher used the word retarded to describe Trig.

Well...isn't he retarded?

The link I provided, I think, casts serious doubt on the idea that he was just using it descriptively. It's almost certainly a previous example of him using the word and talking about retarded children, but...

[Tubbsalot]

Calling a politician's son, who's never done anything to ignite public anger or opinion, retarded is not black humour. Making a joke out of Heather Mills' disability, for example, is black humour because she's a very divisive figure and is also an adult who can probably take a limited degree of mockery. Calling Trig retarded was not black humour; it was a cheap shot to hit Palin's nerves. Tell me, what has Trig ever done to ignite public opinion? Nothing. It is not jokeworthy material from any perspective.

Given that you haven't seen the joke, how exactly do you know it's not black humour?

Anyway, go look up black humour. You don't need to apply it to something controversial for it to be black humour. There's plenty of black humour about 9/11, and that was pretty uncontroversially sad.

I don't usually see 'comedians' making malicious jokes about disabled people for political reasons. Apart from when Rush Limbaugh suggested that Michael J. Fox fakes the effects of his disability, which makes him just as much of an asshole as Maher. Unlike you, I don't judge incidents like these based on partisan grounds.

If you think Limbaugh is a comedian, it's pretty obvious you don't usually see comedians.

I would take the same position regardless of the partisan alignment of the comedian. I wouldn't even know whether Maher was liberal if you hadn't told me. (Although now that you mention it, given your bizarre persecution complex, it's plausible that "liberal" actually means "somewhere to the left of Adolf Hitler.")

Oooh. Now that you've compared me to a twelve-year-old troll, I'm so sad and abashed that I won't be able to sleep tonight. Alas! Alas!

There was no good response to my post. Honestly, you should have just cut your losses. Now you're dipping into lightweight pseudo-articulate territory, which is never a good place to be.

Acting so derisively doesn't add any weight to your argument. It just makes you look more ridiculous than you do already. Over-used aggravation tactic is over-used.

Oh, sorry. You're right, I should take a leaf here. Let me try:

Typical right-winger. It's obvious you're part of the Conservative Hivemind. Get back to me when you're done swallowing the Kool-Aid, SHEEPLE.

Did that sound stupid enough? I think I should turn it up a notch, but I'm just not sure how.

[Des-Bal]

I don't know what the exact joke was, no. But he's a comedian performing at a show. What would you expect? Would he just mention out of the blue that the boy is disabled? And even so, why would he do that?

Basically what I'm trying to say is that no, I don't know his exact words, but at a comedy show you have to assume that he's making a joke. A member of the audience did heckle him in response, after all.

As part of a setup? Not everything a comedian says is a punchline.

[Neo Art]

For example, you wouldn't call someone black just because they're black.

...I'm not sure if this is meant to be serious. We call black people "black" all the time.

[Ostroeuropa]

I don't have a problem with the word Retarded.
And until I find out what the joke was, I can't have an opinion on it. But the previous example I linked has already made me dislike Maher to the point that i'm fairly sure he's not funny on this issue, and probably ableist.

[Farnhamia]

For example, you wouldn't call someone black just because they're black.

...I'm not sure if this is meant to be serious. We call black people "black" all the time.

I think black people do, too. If someone were to tell me, "I say, old girl, I do prefer 'colored' these days," why, I would change.

[Des-Bal]

Let's not forget that the person making this uproar was later removed from the very same show for repeatedly yelling "Who's the president? Who's the president?" and arguing with people around him who asked him to keep quiet.

Again, I don't think mocking the disabled is something that's in good taste, especially when it's a child, but we don't know the context here. In fact, the article never said that Maher was making a joke. This particular issue that this particular fellow had was that Maher used the word retarded to describe Trig.

Well...isn't he retarded?

I don't think Mentally Retarded is still what it's called. Much like moron, idiot, imbecile and all the other now benign terms it's use as a pejorative has had it generally fall out of vogue as a medical term. I can say however that almost all people with down syndrome are mentally retarded.

[Khanastan]

For example, you wouldn't call someone black just because they're black.

...I'm not sure if this is meant to be serious. We call black people "black" all the time.

It depends on this situation, of course.

If you're taking into account political correctness, you can't put of the blue say that someone is black, or retarded, if that isn't relevant in the conversation. Even then, words like that tend to cause offence to some people, so even it has to be brought up in conversation, more PC words have to be used to avoid offence.

One of the reasons that Maher has caused so much offence is because he has breach political correctness by saying that the kid is retarded, seemingly out of the blue. Even if it is true, some people don't like to hear it put that way.

[Des-Bal]

It depends on this situation, of course.

If you're taking into account political correctness, you can't put of the blue say that someone is black, or retarded, if that isn't relevant in the conversation. Even then, words like that tend to cause offence to some people, so even it has to be brought up in conversation, more PC words have to be used to avoid offence.

One of the reasons that Maher has caused so much offence is because he has breach political correctness by saying that the kid is retarded, seemingly out of the blue. Even if it is true, some people don't like to hear it put that way.

It seems to be out of the blue because every reference to him having made the joke appears to be based on Futrell who doesn't remember it what it actually was.