Sarah Palin has many faults, from not being able to name a single newspaper that she’d read during her vice-presidential bid for the Republicans in 2008, to using cheat notes written on her hand at a public appearance attacking Barack Obama in recent weeks. She is also a crude, right-wing populist who appears to be attempting to use her particular kind of all-American, yummy-mummy wholesome “simplicity” (to quote my colleague Jon Bernstein) to seduce America into adopting her as the stupidest US president of all time.
Oh, and to make matters worse, she’s a presenter on Fox News.
However, credit where credit is due. Palin has boldly hit out at the (Fox) cartoon Family Guy, which featured a girl with Down’s syndrome saying: “My dad’s an accountant and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.” Palin, who recently stepped down as Alaskan governor, presumably to focus on a presidential bid, has a son with Down’s syndrome.
On a Facebook page titled “Fox Hollywood — what a disappointment”, she said the move was “another kick in the gut”. She handed over to her daughter, 19-year-old Bristol Palin, who added succinctly:
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. If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks.
Now, you can call me a politically correct, humourless party-spoiler, but I am not a follower of Family Guy. Recently I was forced to watch one episode after being told — misleadingly, as it turned out — that it is along the lines of the (brilliant) Simpsons. In fact, it is one of those wacky and sick cult affairs of the sort I am too slow and untrendy to understand, the tyranny of which seems to be spreading everywhere, particularly in increasingly baffling cinema adverts.
Palin is right to attack it. Now, she should (but of course won’t) consider her position at the iniquitous Fox.
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