Setting aside politics for a second....

I want to address something that might make me have come across as not so sensitive and, in fact, possibly downright rude.

I have been rather free with the adjective "retarded" and the noun "retard" when referring to those rodentia who have infested our government. Contrary to what may appear to be the case, I am not insensitive to people with legitimate mental handicaps. Those people are in fact retarded as well.

Let me be clear.... in the case of legitimate mental handicapping, the word "retarded" is an accurate application, and NOT a slur on them as people. It is only the persistent political correctness that was forced on America as a prelude to far more sinister social engineering that made such a phrase an insult.

In the case of the aforementioned rodentia, the word "retarded" or "retard" or "retards" IS meant as an insult. It is meant to suggest that despite having the brains of human beings they are not utilizing the portions that distinctively elevate them to a point where they can be trusted to lead us.

I'm not entirely comfortable with undirected name-calling. I know that might sound strange, but I don't believe it is appropriate to just say someone is stupid. This is a child's game, or perhaps more accurately a Liberal's game. However I believe that the men and women who now run this country are no longer deserving of decent treatment or common courtesy. They move at a staggeringly breakneck pace to come up with new atrocities on a daily basis and parsing those atrocities becomes difficult. So therefore I seek to paint with a somewhat broader and cruder brush this group of miscreants than I might like.

On the issue of the legitimately mentally handicapped, I have known some such people at varying times in my life. I rode the school bus with Paul, who lived down the street from me. He was much older than me, but still sufficiently handicapped that he was very child-like. I later taught not one, but two young men of similar affliction in religious instructions classes. I figured as there was not much sense in expecting equivalent test scores back, I would simply talk to those young men as I did the rest of the class, and ask them the same questions, and not get upset or overly cheerful if they couldn't answer.

The grandmother of one of those young men came up to me one evening in tears of joy. Having a much closer relationship with him than I ever could, she would talk to him about what he learned in class (his parents were not supportive of religious education and so she was the one to encourage this in him...). He was not able to express what he had learned in class in a public setting due to his condition, but privately, and in the comfort-zone of his close grandmother, he excitedly spoke of all the things he learned in my class. She cried about this, because I had understood what no other teacher he had had did... All he needed was to be spoken to the exact same way as the rest of the class.

I'm not about to sit here and tell you I have superior knowledge and so therefore am above criticism. This whole exercise in criticism of our government is a sham if I can not be asked about myself, and if I can not support my own opinions or statements. So I'm not taking a holier-than-thou approach here... quite the contrary, I am begging your forgiveness.

I am begging for you to forgive me.

If you mistook my words to be hateful or hurtful toward the mentally handicapped you are owed an apology. Earnestly, and truthfully. My casual use of those words might be taken that way, and I regret that aspect of this blogging. However I can not say I will stop because I do not mean to impugn decent people who have had some disadvantages thrown at them.

On the other hand, if you are simply upset because it's gauche and not quite PC to say some hack politician is a retard, well, hold your breath for that apology.

Anytime anyone wants to ask me about myself (and I mean more seriously than the humorous bio I have... ) you can email me. So long as you stay civil I'll stay civil. So I want to make sure that it's understood, I am happy to be open about myself.

One last thing, I no longer teach religious education. The reasons are numerous. But make no mistake, I'm not a pushover or a saint, or someone who sees things from an ecumenical point of view. I'm an evil man espousing evil views about a corrupt government that needs to be taken down. I am a member of Le Resistance.

I am Dr. Calamity, and I approve of this message.