Colbert Calls Palin The "R-Word," Makes My Day

Stephen Colbert has proven, once again, that he's the closest thing we have to a national voice of reason. And that Sarah Palin is still a flaming idiot.

For the last few days, there has been a national hubbub over use of the word 'retard.' The basic chain of events, in case you missed it: Rahm Emanuel called a fellow liberal a "f*ing retard" in a meeting. It leaked, he apologized, but nobody cared. Calls for his resignation, national hand-wringing, and a weird photo-op with the guys who run the Special Olympics ensued. Rush Limbaugh started talking about a "retard summit in the White House," and a veritable war of retard-flinging began. Predictably, Sarah Palin got furious, explained to us all how it was offensive when Rahm said it but not when Rush did, and then started talking about running for president again. Shiver.

Finally, last night,  Stephen Colbert brought the shit-storm to a full and satisfying close:

• "We should all come to her defense and say, Sarah Palin is a f*ing retard."

And then, he pointed out that, on her other hand, she must have written, "retard = sometimes funny." And once again, he re-affirmed my belief that Comedy Central is home to some of the sharpest and most level-headed news analysts we have.