Family Guy actress has Down's syndrome, herself.

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Yea, no offense, put I think she's paroting someone.

The only parrots I hear are those repeating the incessant media attacks on Palin. The woman has been ridiculed and insulted at every turn, and for what? For not being perfect, for being a Republican, or for defending her family? She actually was a pretty savvy governor for Alaska, and to be thrown into a national media spotlight overnight virtually unprepared, anybody's liable to stumble and make themselves look foolish. But the drive in the national media, from so-called news, to late night comedians has been merciless - those are the taunting Frenchmen, farting in her general direction. Politics aside, give the woman a break fer Chrissakes, she's just a human being fumbling her way through life like the rest of us. How would you like to wake up every morning with the entire US media machine flinging crap at you before you've even had your coffee? As far as I know, there's no record so far of Sarah Palin intentionally hurting anyone. Why don't you save your shark attacks for someone who's actually doing genuine harm?

Are you actually trying to say Seth MacFarlane and Family Guy don't perpetuate ruthless, ugly stereotypes and callously brutalize the defenseless for cheap laughs? Enjoy the show if you like, but don't pretend it's humor is anything less than vicious and juvenile on a regular basis.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I haven't seen the actual episode, only snippets on the news, so I'm reluctant to comment on the show itself -
(i.e. how offensive it was or wasn't - but, to my opinion, Family Guy is always over-the-top and I like it that way)

BUT

If Sarah Palin is angry at Family Guy for going over the line, I should think that she has a reason to be suspicious of people. After all the offensive things that gross, slimy man Mr. Letterman said about her and her daughter (btw, when did it become okay to make 'slut' jokes about someone who hasn't officially brought themselves into the public eye? Sure, her mom is, but using the same logic, can we make 'slut' jokes about Sasha and Malia Obama? Not that I ever would) and all the other quite personal attacks that have been leveled at her, well, 'You aren't paranoid if they're really out to get you'.

But honestly, hasn't attacking Sarah Palin kind of been done to death? All last year, 'Sarah Palin's a dumb barbie', 'Sarah Palin's an ignorant hick', 'eww Sarah Palin kept her Down's Syndrome baby' (some people were seriously grossed out/disturbed by that). It doesn't feel very original, just coming now to the 'Attack Sarah Palin' joke scene. Unless they've been doing it this whole time, in which case see the above paragraph.

I'm not a fan of Family Guy. I find its humor more often repetative and boring than funny. That said, I think Seth MacFarlane & co have every right to mock any public figure they want in any way they want, because freedom of speech is important, and so is satire, even if that means some less-than-great satire ends up slipping through the cracks. Sarah Palin has made the choice to be in the public eye, and this makes her open for mockery. She's just going to have to deal with it. And I'm not just saying this because I don't like Sarah Palin. As previously mentioned, I'm not a fan of Family Guy either, but I'd defend the writers of that show if they so chose to make fun of someone I have great respect for, because freedom of speech, and the right to satire, is more important. I obviously wouldn't go "Yeah! Right on! Mock this person I respect!", but I wouldn't try to make the point that they shouldn't have the right to do it. I'd just mock them.

Making fun of politicians is a long-standing tradition. As is criticizing them. Hopefully, anyone who enters into politics is aware of this well beforehand.

Typically, the better-known the politician, and the more of an impact they have had on the public, the more people make fun of them. In effect, it's a compliment - implying that Palin is influential.

Fighting back at the criticism is part of the political game.

I'd be surprised if no one poked fun at her when she was governor. Do people poke fun at your governor? If not, they've probably never done anything to incite controversy. And you have to incite controversy to be an effective leader. You have to acknowledge that you can't please everyone and be unafraid to make controversial decisions; otherwise, you're not really doing your job (see thread on recent Obama conference).

I'm not revealing my own political position here. Just stating the obvious about politics in general for the sake of providing context.

Speaking of making fun of the politicians, Tim_Tex, you left out my favorite quote in the sequence in your sig.

I mean the part after the 1960 Presidential election, when Nixon lost to Kennedy, and tearfully told the media, "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more!"

i didn't know the actress herself had down syndrome. that makes that episode even better.

i love seth macfarlane. the whole episode was palin-bait. very tasty palin-bait. yes, the character had down syndrome. no, they didn't make fun of her for it.
the joke wasn't "oh look at the down syndrome girl! laugh at her for having down syndrome!" that would have gotten them a few cheap laughs.
the joke was "and my mother is the former governor of alaska." and it was funny because the instant she dropped that line everyone knew palin, having firmly embedded herself as the person most associated with the word "ret*d," would jump at the chance to attack Family Guy for being so offensive on the topic.

i'm sure all the not-so-subtle attacks by Family Guy on palin haven't gone unnoticed by her. after putting herself in a corner she can't wink her way out of with all this R-word foolishness, there's no way she would let this pass her by.

this is even better than her double standard on who is and is not allowed to use the word "ret*d" as an insult.



i think you are definitely correct, Merle.

though i'm sure andrea fay friedman's career will get a boost out of this and hopefully that will do more good for the down syndrome image than sarah palin's obsession with the word "ret*d." a word that is used to marginalize and reduce to caricature people who think differently.

I hate Family Guy.

Sarah Palin gets attacked for the simple fact that she put herself in the public eye by running for Vice President. Everyone in the public eye gets made fun of. Palin seems to give them a rather large amount of fodder as well but she would be made fun for something regardless.

However, I do not believe this to be an incident where she was being "attacked" and nor was her son. The down syndrome character was not made fun of. She quipped that her mother was the governer of Alaska which, at most, can be interpreted as an indirect reference that Sarah's son has Down's Syndrome.


.... but he DOES have Down's Syndrome. So I fail to see how that is an insult rather than a statment of fact.

I will also add that before Sarah started the "defense" of her family in this instance, I had no idea her son had Down's Syndrome. I just thought it was Family Guy being random as they often do.
So imo no one brings more negative media attention to Sarah Palin than Sarah herself.