I’ll simply have to disagree with my liberal cohorts here. I think the subject and presentation were in poor taste and even in the spirit of pushing the edge to bring out controversial topics in a humorous way, the potential to offend and be perceived by many to be insensitive is just too great.

I’ve never watched an episode of Family Guy, or The Simpsons for that matter, but from what I’ve read there’s plenty of reason to believe this never would have happened had Sarah Palin been a liberal Democrat.

Part of the liberal creed is sensitivity to and empathy for an array of afflicted souls, whom we can all say “there but for the grace of God go I”; risking deep hurt of even a minority of those who struggle 24/7 to find meaning in life isn’t worth a few cheap laughs, IMHO.

Bill Maher is a fucking retard.
Seth McFarlane is fucking retard.
Colby Hall is fucking retard.
The Mediaite staff is a bunch of fucking retards.
All the leftists who post on this site are retards.

See, it really is all about having a sense of humor.

Palin had my sympathies on this issue until she gave Rush Limbaugh a pass for doing the same damn thing.

Exactly Tricletown!!

Trickletown: I think you hit upon something here. Palin can be a sympathetic figure. She just doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that sometimes it’s much better to just keep the old trap shut. Doesn’t grasp it, or can’t keep from shooting herself in the foot or both.

“McFarlane and Maher laughed off the criticism and cited the actress who played the “retarded” character” I find this statement by Mr. Hall totally dishonest. The character and actress who played her was refered to not as “retarded” by as having Down’s Syndrome. McFarlane even stated that it is not appropriate to call metally challenged people retarded.

Shame on you Dan Abrams for allowing such dishonesty on your site.

Bill Maher offering an opinion on what’s proper or moral is like if Jeffrey Dahmer had offered his opinions on fine dining.

“In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”

Actress Andrea Fay Friedman, who was born with Down syndrome and performed her own voice on Family Guy.

Fanned!

I just don’t get, why or to what end, lefties/progressives/
(whatever they want to be called these days)
expect to get from/with this type of appalling behavior.
One can see it in their Blogs, personal pages,popular public
forums… The level of discourse from their end,is atrocious.
They are making complete & utter a-h-les of themselves.
THEY KNOW Independents decide elections, they know Independents HATE
this type of pond scum behavior yet they continue to shoot themselves
in various places on same foot,over, &over & over….
The contradictions to their so called liberal creed ,is off the charts
THEY HAVE REDUCED THEMSELVES TO A JOKE>!

Thanks for that quote, Roxsteady. I loved that imagery. And, the comment better informs us about Down Syndrome than the volumes of self-serving pronouncements by the Drop Out Governor. What a heart-warming statement, a testament to overcoming whatever limitations any of us might have (as well all do).

writer:
“Bill Maher offering an opinion on what’s proper or moral is like if Jeffrey Dahmer had offered his opinions on fine dining.”

Outstanding! And I admit I’m envious. I wish I had thought of that!

Okay, I understand that the Left prefers insults and ridicule over reasoned discourse, but this mockery of a Down syndrome child in the name of humor is ugly and disgraceful no matter how you try to spin it. This is one of the low moments in the history of network television.

Right, Felix W, and they should all be talking about the climate change hoax anyway. Right?

The very notion of vitriol being the province of the left is too ridiculous to consider seriously. Never has such revisionist history been so rresponsibly spewed.

Republicans and the right have refined and perfected ad hominem as their primary policy MO, from demonizing (even considering a corporate coup) of FDR, through McCarthy, Nixon, Atwater, Rove and the all too typical right wing Republican rabid smear and fear mongers, have attacked Clinton and Obama as fanatically as they defended Bush.

These salacious right wing attacks against everything Obama aren’t racial at all, the right has repeatedly demonstrated their disdain for the voter’s preferences by relentlessly undermining Democratic Administrations the last hundred years, while Republicans can always count on misguided conservative and opportunistic Democrats for all kinds of support.

While Ike, Nixon, Reagan, and both Bushes had substantial Democratic support Clinton got 1,052 Republican Congressional investigations and oral sex impeachment.

Then Iran Contra and Watergate felons are pardoned with Bush II lying us into war, torture, trampling the Constitution by spying on American citizens, to say nothing of murdering 100 “unlawful combatants” in our custody and torturing hundreds more, gets not a second look by sycophant right wing hypocrites.

The fact that the left has started punching back after having the radio waves turned into a Republican hate commercial against Democrats and Liberals 24/7 the last two decades, by no means implies that the tsunami of vitriol from the right is diminished in the least.

writer says:
February 20, 2010 at 11:40 am

“Bill Maher offering an opinion on what’s proper or moral is like if Jeffrey Dahmer had offered his opinions on fine dining.”

I think it would be funny if Maher was actually doing either of those things, but he wasn’t .

Both sides do it. There. And this was much shorter.

Anyway, McFarlane still hasn’t addressed the issue that the joke wasn’t even funny.

NewsBusters: ‘Family Guy’ Creator Calls George W. Bush Retarded
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/02/20/family-guy-creator-seth-macfarlane-calls-george-w-bush-retarded

Since when do I look to Bill Maher and Seth Mcfarlane for what’s proper or moral. Not! I looked at the character as a real person with a real personality. As a mother of children with special needs. I would feel good about my daughter being cast, working and living her life. Acceptance and self esteem entail Acceptance. I didn’t see anything offensive about the clip, show. Maybe Seth Mcfarlane didn’t realize a Palin would automatically think that girl actress would be offensive to her. Then again, maybe he did.

While I think the joke was in bad taste and wasn’t particularly funny (compared to most Family Guy gags which I find hilarious), I think this is a backlash toward Sarah Palin for using her mentally-ill son as a pawn to gain political sympathy. She goes for sympathy in any way she can.

I try to look for things about her that I like, and I can certainly find a few things. But the way she troops her children around is appalling to me. And her complete hypocrisy toward not calling out Limbaugh for his use of the word “retard” causes me to lose more respect of her.

There have been many gags that might have offended me had I not been familiar with the show’s schtick. But I laugh at all the short people jokes hysterically even though I’m particularly short myself. Seth MacFarlane is a satirist, but I don’t think it excuses him for making jokes that truly are over the line.

The actress that voiced the character in the clip has said that Sarah Palin doesn’t have a sense of humor. How could she not, if you look at the name for her child, Trig?

Its Maher who is really retarded.

You know what the difference is between Sarah Palin’s mouth and her vagina?

Not everything that comes out of her vagina is retarded!

@writer…allow me to make the following obvservation. Last week you compared the despicable Olbermann to John Wayne Gacy. Now you equate Bill Maher with Jeffrey Dahmer. Wow, the pathologies involved here are many and quite twisted. Hey, at least you don’t jump to “Hitler” comparisons.

I’ll leave the Hitler comparisons to the far left. You’re so good at them. And by the way, I was being sarcastic. You don’t seem to mind when Seth MacFarlane does it.

LOL@writer..Far left, eh? for your information, I’m far-middle. I mean it when I call Olbermann despicable. I know, not being an entrenched ideologue ‘does not compute’.

You don’t seem to mind when Seth MacFarlane does it.

Seth is funny. You are not.

That saddens me that you think so. However, humor is subjective. I shall try to carry on.

And Trickle, my mistake. You usually seem to side with the left. You must be hiding your moderateness pretty well. And I wasn’t equating Maher with Dahmer. Merely making an analogy. A guy who frequents hookers, uses drugs, and says “we’re the cowards” immediately after 9/11 may not be the best judge of what is and isn’t improper.