"Family Guy" & Palin: David Loftus

Lemme see if I have this straight. When Rahm Emanuel refers to someone as “retarded” (in a private meeting, behind closed doors), it’s despicable and he should be fired. When Rush Limbaugh refers to someone as “retarded” (in public, on a nationally-broadcast radio show) it’s “satire.” And when a humorous cartoon depicts a girl who has Down syndrome, shows her living a normal life, doesn’t make any particular fun of her but has her state that her mother is “the former Governor of Alaska” (in public, on a nationally-broadcast television show), it’s not satire but a “kick in the gut”???

Maybe someone can explain the fine distinctions here, because I’m not seeing them. Emanuel probably spoke in anger and intended to disparage -- but outside the hearing of either his targets or the public at large. Limbaugh probably spoke disparagingly, too, knowing he would be heard by his targets but that they probably wouldn’t take it too hard, if at all. While I probably would have laughed if I’d seen the “Family Guy” episode (I don’t watch the show and -- here it comes again -- have never in fact seen an episode, ever), I’m not sure what could be construed as disparaging about it, or even what makes it funny. That Bristol Palin might actually date someone, now that she’s a single mom? That she would need a date? That the show slipped up and said it’s the daughter who has Down syndrome, not a son? (It’s my understanding that no one on the show says she is Bristol Palin, or that her mom is Sarah Palin; it could be some other governor of Alaska, or a fictitious one, technically speaking.)

Sarah Palin seemed to love the fact that Tina Fey made fun of her, repeatedly, on a nationally-broadcast television show. But her daughter or son is out of bounds? That Sarah Palin chose to rear a child with Down syndrome ought to be regarded by all as an admirable thing. One would surely think the Palins would say so. And yet they’re acting as if they have something to be ashamed of. (As an aside, though, I’m curious to know how much time Sarah Palin actually spends with Trig, and who is actually doing most of the childcare while she’s out hawking her book and drawing a $100,000 speaking fee at a Teabaggers convention.)

I just don’t get it.