Try To Follow Me Here

Item One: Fox's Family Guy does an episode in which they mock folks with Down's Syndrome.

Item Two: Governor Palin, who knows something about that topic, takes exception.

Item Three: It turns out that the voice actress who played the character in question herself actually has Down's Syndrome, and kind-of-sort-of took exception to Mrs. Palin having taken exception, wondering if the Governor has a sense of humor: "In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humor and to live a normal life." This the actress sent via email to the New York Times, which dutifully turned it into a story and interview.

Item Four: These events are greeted by the unhinged wing of the blogosphere as one might expect -- "Good Gaia! Did you see what that idiot Palin has done now?!!!" See, e.g., HERE and HERE.

We trust, dear readers, that you recognize the pattern. If I -- afflicted with European parents -- concoct a Minstrel show, complete with the de rigueur buck-and-wing, and peppered with the N-Bomb, then it's a hate crime. If Chris Rock does it, it's transcendent social commentary, and hilarious to boot. Most important: if you don't understand why, then you're an ignorant racist.