Sarah Palin angry at Family Guy

[Hazir]

Don't know if any of you saw the last episode of Family Guy, but there was this actually witty story line of Chris dating a real bitchy down's syndrome girl at his school. As Family Guy goes this was actually a quite respectful treatment of the group at hand, with Chris coming off as the underdog even here.

But as we all know, a certain previous governor of Alaska has a 'special' child, which means that nobody in the United States of America is allowed to say anything about a downs syndrome person without getting previous approval by her.

I started off liking her, actually, but she's running out of credit real fast.

source

[littlelolligagged]

I think she's insane for drawing more attention to the episode than it would have gotten otherwise. I mean, I've seen the occasional episode of Family Guy, and its amusing enough, but not exactly the sort of thing with broad appeal.

She's now given it international attention, and I'm sure millions of people who otherwise would have never known are now watching the episode on Hulu or whatever. Great way to increase the exposure.

[Nessus]

_

[Ziggy Stardust]

She also went after the word Retard as verbal abuse because of her son. and people reporting on it suddenly started calling it "The R Word". Sarah Palin forgets that when you place people with Downs off-limit for making jokes, that's the moment you are alienating them. When you treat them just like every other person you don't.

[Nessus]

I think she's insane for drawing more attention to the episode than it would have gotten otherwise. I mean, I've seen the occasional episode of Family Guy, and its amusing enough, but not exactly the sort of thing with broad appeal.

She's now given it international attention, and I'm sure millions of people who otherwise would have never known are now watching the episode on Hulu or whatever. Great way to increase the exposure.

She has no reason to care about international attention. She markets herself to a crowd that think foreigners are barely human. But the same crowd would also hear about this episode, which made a direct reference to her, and they would expect her to act strong and defiant (in their eyes) because that's the crying eagle American Way. So she had no choice. Well, a choice between this and losing money, and why would she want to lose money?

[littlelolligagged]

To be perfectly fair, I have complete understanding of a parent becoming upset over the perceived "mistreatment" of her child. I just think she dealt with it poorly.


Oh, I don't like the use of retard, either - because, well, most of the time when it is used its in reference to people so terrible that it is a horrible insult to mentally handicapped people everywhere.

[Illusions]

Oh, I don't like the use of retard, either - because, well, most of the time when it is used its in reference to people so terrible that it is a horrible insult to mentally handicapped people everywhere.

Well here's the problem: I'm not quite sure of what the exact term for it is, but the basic idea is that when medical or official terminology is adopted as an insult, it will eventually get to a point where the medical or official terminology will be changed, and then eventually the new term will be adopted as an insult as well.

[littlelolligagged]

I'm not trying to claim the term shouldn't be used, I'm just pointing out that I dislike it.

aka

Saying Timmeh is a retard is an insult to all retarded people.

[Loki]

You guys are assuming she's not just trying to keep her name in the spotlight in order to continue getting the ridiculous speaking fees.

And the bigger problem from that situation was that the second Limbaugh used the same word, Palin defended him and said it made her laugh.

[littlelolligagged]

No, I'm not.

She wants to be the next POTUS, after all.

[Loki]

No, I'm not.

She wants to be the next POTUS, after all.

I honestly don't think so. If power was what she was after, she wouldn't resign her governorship and use it as an opportunity to boost her presidential campaign. She also knows that a president gets paid fairly little and she wouldn't be able to get all her speaking fees and gifts. Simply staying in the spotlight is the best option for her if she's just trying to get as much money as possible until her 15 minutes (or months) of fame are up.

[Nessus]

You guys are assuming she's not just trying to keep her name in the spotlight in order to continue getting the ridiculous speaking fees.

That's more or less what I said with a different seasoning

Though I guess you were addressing males

I guess!

[Lor]

You guys are assuming she's not just trying to keep her name in the spotlight in order to continue getting the ridiculous speaking fees.

We'd have to pay her to hear her speak? There was me thinking she had to pay us for such torture.

[Lewkowski]

But as we all know, a certain previous governor of Alaska has a 'special' child, which means that nobody in the United States of America is allowed to say anything about a downs syndrome person without getting previous approval by her.

Well the character in the episode said that her mother was the governor of Alaska so it was pretty much directed specifically at Trig.

[Ziggy Stardust]

Well the character in the episode said that her mother was the governor of Alaska so it was pretty much directed specifically at Trig.

How old is Trig?

[Aimless]

hmmm can we justify unkindness by saying that everything will be great once we treat everyone equally unkind?? that the problems disappear if we wilfully ignore the differences that make life very very challenging for some people as well as for their families and loved ones??

ehh, i dunno

i dunno about this particular case either, but i think i can get behind someone using her fame/notoriety/influence to encourage others to think twice before being dicks



ps. there was an episode of glee featuring a girl with down's syndrome which was very very good

[Veldan Rath]

...ps. there was an episode of glee featuring a girl with down's syndrome which was very very good

Yes it was...and that the coach's older sister had down's syndrome as well...very good episode.

[Timbuk2]

Well it's out of line if it was directly targeted at Palin's child.

[LittleFuzzy]

Well it's out of line if it was directly targeted at Palin's child.

Yes and no. If you're a public figure, you're a legitimate object for general satire. But yeah, by clearly making the identification with Palin, they left her with pretty much no choice but to respond, given what she's doing right now.

[Timbuk2]

General satire of any subject matter, yes.
Direct satire of a public figure, yes.
Direct satire of a non-public figure on a (inter) national TV programme, no.

[EyeKhan]

Don't know if any of you saw the last episode of Family Guy, but there was this actually witty story line of Chris dating a real bitchy down's syndrome girl at his school. As Family Guy goes this was actually a quite respectful treatment of the group at hand, with Chris coming off as the underdog even here.

But as we all know, a certain previous governor of Alaska has a 'special' child, which means that nobody in the United States of America is allowed to say anything about a downs syndrome person without getting previous approval by her.

I started off liking her, actually, but she's running out of credit real fast.

source

IIRC they actually had the downs character say her mother is the ex-governor of Alaska. That was probably taking it too far.

When did you like Sarah Palin?

She also went after the word Retard as verbal abuse because of her son. and people reporting on it suddenly started calling it "The R Word". Sarah Palin forgets that when you place people with Downs off-limit for making jokes, that's the moment you are alienating them. When you treat them just like every other person you don't.

Retard has been increasingly out of bounds for a while. It pre-dates Palin by half a decade. Handi-capped was the first PC attempt I think. Then mentally challenged. And I think that one's on the outs too. Special's no good either. I'm not exactly sure what is appropriate these days....

[Timbuk2]

IIRC they actually had the downs character say her mother is the ex-governor of Alaska. That was probably taking it too far.

RTFTBPD.*




* Read The Fucking Thread Before Posting Dude

[Nessus]

RTFTBPD.*




* Read The Fucking Thread Before Posting Dude

It's Chambalaya, he only reads things that suit him

[littlelolligagged]

Let's derail the thread to discuss Chacha, yet again. We all know how much he would enjoy that, and it's been a day or two since I made a man (using the term loosely, of course) happy.

[Nessus]

Sorry!

[Illusions]

It's Chambalaya, he only reads things that suit him

1 - Make an observation (in this case that Africa is wonderful both in its sights and cultures)
2 - Seek out an audience with which to discuss the observation made in 1
3 - Discuss said observation.
4 - Respond to replies:

A - If in agreement with reply, continue discussing observation with the person making this reply.
B - If neutral/less than complete agreement, see how their replies can be made agreeable.
C - Ignore dissenting opinions and replies until agreeable.

5 - Goto 3, Repeat until bored or no agreeable replies.

Relevant to the sub-topic at hand...

Let's derail the thread to discuss Chacha, yet again. We all know how much he would enjoy that, and it's been a day or two since I made a man (using the term loosely, of course) happy.

Damn it!

[EyeKhan]

I honestly don't think so. If power was what she was after, she wouldn't resign her governorship and use it as an opportunity to boost her presidential campaign. She also knows that a president gets paid fairly little and she wouldn't be able to get all her speaking fees and gifts. Simply staying in the spotlight is the best option for her if she's just trying to get as much money as possible until her 15 minutes (or months) of fame are up.

A. You over-estimate her.

B. The speaking fees after a presidency, should she win, would dwarf what she gets now.

C. Staying in the spotlight furthers every goal, whether she intends to run, wants to lead some conservative movement outside of making piles of money, wants to keep pushing her book sales, or whatever. All she's got centers around being in the public eye one way or another.

Yes and no. If you're a public figure, you're a legitimate object for general satire. But yeah, by clearly making the identification with Palin, they left her with pretty much no choice but to respond, given what she's doing right now.

Public figure or not, it was in poor taste. But that show's known for that sort of thing on occasion. Its how they pay the bills too and poking Palin's family with a stick has gotten them a lot of notice. Its a bit of commentary on our culture all around I think.

RTFTBPD.*




* Read The Fucking Thread Before Posting Dude

It's Chambalaya, he only reads things that suit him

Let's derail the thread to discuss Chacha, yet again. We all know how much he would enjoy that, and it's been a day or two since I made a man (using the term loosely, of course) happy.

I'm so very sorry for causing so much difficulty. I'll do better next time. And I'm fine if we stop discussing it now. The last thing I want to do is make this thread about me.

[littlelolligagged]

No, no. By all means, continue.

On a semi-related note;

CHICAGO - In the autism world, people with Asperger's syndrome are sometimes seen as the elites, the ones who are socially awkward, yet academically gifted and who embrace their quirkiness.

Now, many so-called "Aspies" are upset over a proposal they see as an attack on their identity. Under proposed changes to the most widely used diagnostic manual of mental illness, Asperger's syndrome would no longer be a separate diagnosis.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35348917...mental_health/

Read the rest of the article, which also irritated me (only because of the question of if the school will continue to deal with it as a separate problem with individualized plans)...

But the relevant part here is that I find the term "aspies" to be remarkably idiotic.

[EyeKhan]

On a semi-related note;



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35348917...mental_health/

Read the rest of the article, which also irritated me (only because of the question of if the school will continue to deal with it as a separate problem with individualized plans)...

But the relevant part here is that I find the term "aspies" to be remarkably idiotic.

Asp anything reminds me of poisonous snakes.

Regarding the revision to the psych manual, there was a discussion about this on the Diane Rhem show a few days back. Interesting stuff - sounds like a lot of people may end up getting screwed out of special ed programs and treatment help because its all keyed based on their diagnosis...

[Illusions]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35348917...mental_health/

Link is broken.