It seems that even the queen must bow to the king, in this, the latest installment of the "retards" controversy ...
Let's start with a brief recap: Last year, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used the word "retards." A few days ago, Sarah Palin caught wind of the story, clutched her pearls, screamed political gold my baby! and promptly wrote a Facebook entry, demanding that Emanuel be fired. Enter Rush Limbaugh, who in the course of mocking Emanuel, used the word repeatedly to attack liberals ("calling people who are retards, retards"). So Greg Sargent at The Plum Line asked the Palin camp for a reaction to Limbaugh's use of the word and was told:
Governor Palin believes crude and demeaning name calling at the expense of others is disrespectful."
Pretty mild, right? Especially when compared to the seven paragraph Facebook entry dedicated to Emanuel's single use of the word, where Palin was reacting:
... as an everyday American wanting my child to grow up in a country free from mindless prejudice and discrimination, free from gratuitous insults of people who are ostensibly smart enough to know better.
But apparently the mere suggestion that Palin would criticize Limbaugh for (repeatedly) using the word was enough to get the Palin camp fired up:
Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska, Republican mega-star and Fox News contributor, was quick to fire back at Washington Post blog, The Plum Line, for a report that Palin is at war with conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
... with the suggestion that it was a ploy by the Washington Post to "take the pressure off of the White House" (White House reaction: huh?). And then:
But Stapleton told POLITICO that the comment given to The Plum Line was not specifically aimed at Limbaugh.
Au contraire, says Mr. Sargent, who produced the email he sent, specifically asking about Limbaugh. Says Sargent:
I subsequently emailed her to be absolutely certain that it applied to Rush. She didn’t dispute this, answering that it applies to “anyone” who uses the term.
That’s how it happened.
Bottom line? Apparently perceived "mindless prejudice and discrimination" and "gratuitous insults" against her son only matter if Palin can make political hay out of them.
I'm not sure if all this is more of a testament to the hypocrisy of Sarah Palin or the power Rush Limbaugh holds over the Republican Party.