Rahm Emanuel, the president’s chief of staff, recently used the word "retard" in a public display of disgust with his own kind of politician — the liberal Democrats of the Senate.

The use of this word by a high-ranking Cabinet official is disgraceful. "Retard" is a slang word used in reference to the condition of certain people, who through no choice of their own, do not have normal brain functions.

This consideration is more than political correctness. Derogatory words such as "retard" or the N-word or derogatory slang for gender, ethnicity or religion all do the same thing — they try to take away the God-given human dignity accorded each person and should be struck from the vocabulary of every American.

Every disabled human being this editorial board has ever met has more compassion and common sense than Rahm Emanuel has in his little finger.