It seems today, that all you see, is hypocritical half-term governors on Facebook and T.V. But where are those good old fashion values... On which she claims to rely?! Guess she's just a News Corp gadfly! Guess she's just a gal who, just can't live up to, all the things she should do, but please, don't you cry! She's just a News Corp gadfly!

Not long ago I wrote about Fox News contributor and half-term former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's politically motivated selective-victimhood, noting the hypocritical disconnect between her call for White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's resignation over his use of the term “retarded” and her defense of radio host Rush Limbaugh's repeated use of the same word as “satire.”

Well, she's at it again.

Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Family Guy crossed the line this weekend with an episode taking aim at Sarah Palin and her family, specifically on the subject of Down syndrome children. The Associated Press reports:

Sarah Palin is lashing out at the portrayal of a character with Down syndrome on the Fox animated comedy “Family Guy.” In a Facebook posting headlined “Fox Hollywood - What a Disappointment,” the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and current Fox News contributor said Sunday night's episode felt like “another kick in the gut.” Palin's youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome.

The episode features the character Chris falling for a girl with Down syndrome. On a date, he asks what her parents do.

She replies: “My dad's an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.”

Palin resigned as Alaska governor last summer.

Palin's oldest daughter, Bristol, also was quoted on her mother's Facebook page, calling the show's writers “heartless jerks.”

Palin and her family are right. The episode was “heartless,” even cruel - just like much of the humor and satire found on other episodes of the highly rated Fox cartoon.

I don't for a minute believe radio host Rush Limbaugh was using “satire” when he said liberals who complained about health care reform “are retards.” Nor do I think he was using “satire” when discussing flu prevention efforts he appeared to mock those concerned with the use of such language, saying, "[a]nything you can do to stop it or to arrest it or to retard -- sorry -- to 'Special Olympic' its duration, then it -- you should do it."

But Sarah Palin does and she gave and still gives him a pass. (Oh, and she still hasn't criticized her Fox News colleague Glenn Beck for his use of the term.)

Ultimately, Palin has a choice. She can let Family Guy off the hook for its humor just like she did with Limbaugh or she can condemn them both. Failure to do either will only further expose her as a hypocritical political opportunist.

As someone whose mother has in the past volunteered countless hours with the Special Olympics in southern California, I can tell you that people with Down syndrome and their families could use more advocates with the star power and media pull of people like Palin. What they don't need are fair-weather friends who pull their punches and are more concerned about offending political allies who step over the same “kick in the gut” line than they are with being a consistent ally.

A Reality Check for Newsbusters

Weighing in on the Family Guy controversy, Newsbusters's Kyle Drennen has a post up taking MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan to task for observing, “If Palin really wanted to make a statement, she would reject her paycheck from Fox and remove herself from the network, wouldn't she?”

Drennen attempts to refute Ratigan's thought with this delusional claim:

Of course, Fox News has no connection to the Fox broadcast channel or any of its entertainment programming.

Of course?

Well, yeah, he's right if you refuse to acknowledge Fox Broadcasting Co. and Fox News Channel are both owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Oh, he's also right if you conveniently forget that Palin gave her first free-pass to Limbaugh for his use of “satire” during an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, which is heavily promoted each week by Fox News Channel and is broadcast by, drum roll please... Fox Broadcasting Co. And! And, his statement makes a lot of sense if you suspend intelligence and work for a media-hating website which regularly misleads its readers.