Sarah Palin and 'Family Guy' Engage in Intellectual Battle Over Mental Handicaps

So, I suppose we all knew, deep down in our hearts that it would come to this. But we tried to pretend otherwise, didn't we? Oh, we tried our best. We used all our powers of self-delusion to make ourselves believe that we would never be reading about, writing about or talking about this terrible, terrible thing. But here we are now, and we're just going to have to face up to reality.

Sarah Palin and Family Guy are in the middle of a media brawl.

This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do on this blog, but please let me explain.

A few weeks ago, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called a bunch of Democrats "fucking retarded." Unfortunately, Sarah Palin — who, in case you missed it the first million times she mentioned it, has a mentally-disabled child that she did not abort — heard about Emanuel's comment and demanded! that he be fired.

Then Rush Limbaugh used the word "retarded" about 873 times in two minutes on his show, and Sarah Palin demanded! that that was okay, because when Rush did it, it was "satire."

Now, the Fox cartoon Family Guy went made a joke about Sarah Palin's Down Syndrome baby Trig, except that they forgot the first rule of "retard jokes" (not to mention the first rule of "jokes"), and forgot to make it funny…

In the episode, a main character, Chris, dates a mentally disabled girl. While never mentioning Palin by name, the girl drew a clear comparison to her son, Trig, when she told Chris, "My dad's an accountant, and my mom's the former governor of Alaska."

Obviously, Sarah Palin — who apparently has amnesia about her "satire" rule — was quick to claim her share of the daily headlines and respond via Facebook (because that's how serious politicians communicate with the world)…

People are asking me to comment on yesterday's Fox show that felt like another kick in the gut. Bristol was one who asked what I thought of the show that mocked her baby brother, Trig (and/or others with special needs), in an episode yesterday. Instead of answering, I asked her what she thought. Here is her conscientious reply, which is a much more restrained and gracious statement than I want to make about an issue that begs the question, "when is enough, enough?":

"When you're the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent. People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront, and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you'll ever meet. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, so why would anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them? As a culture, shouldn’t we be more compassionate to innocent people — especially those who are less fortunate? Shouldn't we be willing to say that some things just are not funny? Are there any limits to what some people will do or say in regards to my little brother or others in the special needs community? If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they're heartless jerks. – Bristol Palin"

I think that Sarah Palin summed it up best when she asked "when is enough, enough?" seconds before dragging another one of her children into the controversy.

I wish I could answer that question. I truly wish I could.

Tags: Bristol Palin, Family Guy, Rahm Emanuel, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Trig Palin