"Bristol" takes to Facebook to condemn Family Guy's portrayal of a Down syndrome character on their show. Cue the shocked outrage.

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”

- Sarah Palin

Okay look I certainly cannot defend Family Guy in all good conscience. The show is famous for going way over the line with its comedy. However with that being said, I also have to admit that I am a fan. Sure it makes me cringe sometimes, and there have been a few episodes where I actually had to turn the station (I have the same response to South Park). But there have also been several absolutely hysterical episodes that I have watched more than a few times.

I watched this episode on Hulu just now and I think "Bristol" has no idea what the hell she is talking about. Besides one pretty funny one liner referencing a "governor of Alaska" there is NO similarity between the Down Syndrome character on the show and Trig Palin. For one thing the character is a girl, so unless Sarah has even been lying about Trig's gender I think we can safely assume it is not supposed to represent him.

In fact the point seems to be that people often expect those with special needs to be sweet and innocent when in fact they can be just like everybody else, and that includes being selfish and insensitive. This is the Family Guy, so of course that message is delivered in a cringe inducing humorous manner.

Once again Sarah has taken this opportunity to play the victim, and perhaps even more egregious, is hiding behind her teenage daughter and using her as a more sympathetic figure to "defend" the family honor. Of course this will result in even more media attention for poor pitiful Sarah, but it will also get the Family Guy episode more attention. So I guess in the end everybody wins. Sarah gets to play the victim, the Fox writers get to irritate Sarah again, and Seth McFarlane gets some more attention for his show.

Did anybody else notice how similar "Bristol's" Facebook post was to "Sarah's" Facebook posts? Well we know they share clothes and babies, do they also share ghostwriters? Hmm could be.

By the way if you are at all curious and want to see the Family Guy episode that started all of the fuss, I have embedded it below. (And no this does not mean that I in any way endorse it. I just don't like people jumping to conclusions without all of the information.)