# More victimhood from Sarah Palin - this time involving "Family Guy."

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [February 16, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200 "2010-02-16T15:29:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/1 "2010-02-16T15:29:17Z")

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Here’s the story.

> **[Sarah Palin & Bristol Respond To Family Guy: 'Another Kick In The Gut'...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sarah-palin-bristol-respo_n_463604)**
>
> Sarah Palin & Bristol Respond To Family Guy: 'Another Kick In The Gut' (VIDEO)

I love this quote from her daughter Bristol:

> [@](#):
>
> When you’re the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin.

Well, apparently they’ve done a piss poor job of that.

I wonder if Sarah ever stops to think about all the interest she’s drumming up for the objects of her outrage (Family Guy, Letterman, the Couric interview).

Anyway do you think she’ll (_snicker_) boycott the Fox corporation over this.

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**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/2 "2010-02-16T15:37:21Z")

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It was a 15 year old girl who said her parent was (or used to be) Governor of Alaska. So clearly it couldn’t have been Sarah Palin they were making fun of and I have absolutely no idea what would give Palin that idea.

Maybe Frank Murkowski or Anthony Carroll Knowles or even Wally Hickel should be the ones upset by this spurious attack. But I guess we’ll never know who her parents really were or why they decided to move across the US to settle into Quahog.

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**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/3 "2010-02-16T15:38:23Z")

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Behind the scenes she’s probably trying to light up the Fox executives about it, but they’re too busy counting their money.

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**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/4 "2010-02-16T15:53:45Z")

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If everybody who ever got made fun of on _The Family Guy_ spent their time whining about it on the internet, we’d need another internet to hold it all.

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**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/5 "2010-02-16T16:13:03Z")

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I thought Democrats were the whiners.

:ducks and runs:

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**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/6 "2010-02-16T16:13:28Z")

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Slam Palin as much as you want, but it’s skeevy to bring kids into it. Making fun of Chelsea Clinton as ugly was out of bounds too. When the kids are adults that go out _on their own_ to push political ideas it is another matter.

Can you imagine what it would be like to have someone make fun of your child for being retarded, bi-polar, ugly, disabled, gay (I know it is not like other items in list), short, nerdy, or acned?

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**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/7 "2010-02-16T16:13:40Z")

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Any day now she’ll start complaining that people won’t call her “governor” anymore. I find it very strange that just about everybody on Fox still does.

ETA: it’s still a stupid and tasteless “joke”. But then, I don’t think family guy is funny anyway.  
ETA2: on the other hand, Palin is the one who keeps bringing the subject up.

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/8 "2010-02-16T16:21:39Z")

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How come anytime someone brings up retards[sup]\*[/sup] or pigs, she assumes they’re talking about her?

I don’t even get how this joke was supposed to be insulting to her. The worst it says is that she has a child with Downs Syndrome. Why does she think that’s so horribly insulting?

The episode itself isn’t even insulting to people with Downs Syndrome, and makes more of an effort to humanize them as individuals than most people do.

I think Stephen Colbert’s quote is very appropos here, “Sarah Palin is a fucking retard.”[sup]**[/sup]  
[sup]\*[/sup]It’s ok to say this. It’s satire.  
[sup]**[/sup]See the first endnote.

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/9 "2010-02-16T16:23:45Z")

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> [@DanBlather](#):
>
> Slam Palin as much as you want, but it’s skeevy to bring kids into it. Making fun of Chelsea Clinton as ugly was out of bounds too. When the kids are adults that go out _on their own_ to push political ideas it is another matter.
> 
> Can you imagine what it would be like to have someone make fun of your child for being retarded, bi-polar, ugly, disabled, gay (I know it is not like other items in list), short, nerdy, or acned?

Nobody made fun of her kid. The episode didn’t even mention her kid (the character in the episode with DS was clearly not modeled on any of Palin’s children). The episode didn’t even mention HER.

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/10 "2010-02-16T16:30:03Z")

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> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#):
>
> Any day now she’ll start complaining that people won’t call her “governor” anymore. I find it very strange that just about everybody on Fox still does.

When Palin made an appearance here at Mall of America pimping her book a month or two ago, the mall leaked some kind of rider listing all of Palin’s demands. One of them was that everybody had to call her “Governor” (along with stuff like no cameras or cell phones, or recording devices being allowed in her presence, and no foreigners allowed at her press conference…not kidding on the last one. That was really one of her demands). she’s got a thing about it. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she had it in her contract with Fox that she had to be referred to as “Governor.”

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**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/11 "2010-02-16T16:31:12Z")

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> [@control-z](#):
>
> I thought Democrats were the whiners.
> 
> :ducks and runs:

You misspelled winner. 🙂

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**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/12 "2010-02-16T16:37:05Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> Nobody made fun of her kid. The episode didn’t even mention her kid (the character in the episode with DS was clearly not modeled on any of Palin’s children). The episode didn’t even mention HER.

When you are the center of the known universe, EVERYTHING is about you. If this woman were the POTUS, she would probably nuke the US first.

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**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/13 "2010-02-16T16:38:17Z")

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Well, it is pretty clear that it was a jokey reference to Sarah Palin even if the particulars don’t fit. Just as if she’d said her dad was a _Washington Post_ columnist it would be a clear reference to George Will even though his child with Downs Syndrome is male and almost 40 years old rather than a girl and in high school.

So yes, rude and intrusive. But so is pretty much everything _Family Guy_ does.

That said, I don’t think the actual portrayal was an insult. Sure, the girl shown was not a good person, but that was kind of the point. Even people with Downs Syndrome are _people_, not simply angelic snow-pure angels in human form. Not the noble savages that Chris had idealized her as even without having known her.

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/14 "2010-02-16T16:40:48Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> When Palin made an appearance here at Mall of America pimping her book a month or two ago, the mall leaked some kind of rider listing all of Palin’s demands.
> 
> \<snip\>
> 
> …no foreigners allowed at her press conference…not kidding on the last one. That was really one of her demands). "

Well, it does say _Mall of America_…

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**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/15 "2010-02-16T16:47:30Z")

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> [@DanBlather](#):
>
> Slam Palin as much as you want, but it’s skeevy to bring kids into it. Making fun of Chelsea Clinton as ugly was out of bounds too. When the kids are adults that go out _on their own_ to push political ideas it is another matter.
> 
> Can you imagine what it would be like to have someone make fun of your child for being retarded, bi-polar, ugly, disabled, gay (I know it is not like other items in list), short, nerdy, or acned?

I’m not necessarily defending the joke. I thought it was in bad taste. But then again bad taste is pretty much Seth MacFarlane’s stock in trade. I don’t know if you ever watch the show, but it’s never been shy about attacking sacred cows.  
And all Palin is doing is just drawing more attention to it.

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/16 "2010-02-16T16:53:16Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> When Palin made an appearance here at Mall of America pimping her book a month or two ago, … no foreigners allowed at her press conference.

I hope they had people checking on the passports or original birth certificates of everyone attending, just to make sure no foreigners got in.

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/17 "2010-02-16T16:58:52Z")

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I’m not sure the joke was in bad taste because I don’t think it really made sense. It doesn’t really map to Palin in a way that makes sense, or says anything about her other than (at most) that she has a child with Downs Syndrome. The character and the episode as whole clearly had nothing to do with her.

I wonder if the joke was inserted into the episode late purely to wind her up.

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/18 "2010-02-16T17:00:03Z")

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> [@joebuck20](#):
>
> I wonder if Sarah ever stops to think about all the interest she’s drumming up for the objects of her outrage

You misspelled “poutrage”.

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/19 "2010-02-16T17:03:59Z")

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> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#):
>
> How come anytime someone brings up retards[sup]\*[/sup] or pigs, she assumes they’re talking about her?

I am reminded of an old Soviet-era joke about the defendant at a Stalinist show trial trying to argue that the writings that had gotten him in trouble were a satire of Western Imperialists and were not at all directed at the Motherland.

The punchline: “Silence! Your libels clearly refer to ‘murderers’, ‘tyrants’, and ‘oppressors’! This Court knows exactly to whom you are referring!”

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-victimhood-from-sarah-palin-this-time-involving-family-guy/529200/20 "2010-02-16T17:05:04Z")

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> [@joebuck20](#):
>
> I’m not necessarily defending the joke. I thought it was in bad taste. But then again bad taste is pretty much Seth MacFarlane’s stock in trade. I don’t know if you ever watch the show, but it’s never been shy about attacking sacred cows.

And evidently profane cows as well, if that really _was_ a swipe at Sarah Palin. 🙂

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