R-Word?

This couldn’t have anything to do with the Obama Special Olympics gaffe could it? R-word.org was launched by Special Olympics just days after his Tonight Show appearance and it encourages people to take this pledge:

I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

We’re all about encouraging sensitivity, but aren’t there more important things to worry about, like raising awareness, ensuring proper medical care, and preventative research? As Gawker points out, in a few years “retarded” will likely be the term of choice. It’s like obsessing over the juvenile use of the word gay (see thinkb4youspeak.com) instead of trying to overturn gay marriage bans. These campaigns just strike us as being, uh, r-word, g-word, and utterly missing the big picture.