Those of us who followed the 2008 presidential election will no doubt remember Sarah Palin and the attacks directed against her by certain left-wing commentators and comedians. Not that there weren’t reasons to make fun of Sarah Palin. But when you start attacking a politician’s children you cross a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
One of the most memorable attacks on Palin was comedian Louis C.K. saying Trig, her fifth child who has Down Syndrome, had just fallen out of her “retard-making…” well, I’m not going to repeat the word he used. You don’t need me to.
And no, that didn’t make him unfit for polite company. Louis C.K. was just picked to host the 68th Annual Radio & Television Congressional Correspondents Dinner in June, a very fancy event typically attended by the President, top Congressional leaders and the usual Washington media crowd.
So I’m not holding my breath waiting for prominent left-wing commentators Alan Colmes and Eugene Robinson to be ostracized for their attacks on GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum over the way his family dealt with the death of their baby in 1996.
Gabriel Santorum wasn’t expected to live more than a few hours outside the womb and indeed died two short hours after his premature birth. His parents had him baptized, and spent time with his little body, mourning his death. Then they let their other children meet and hold Gabriel – even though he was dead – so they could say goodbye to their baby brother. The American Pregnancy Association recommends this to help families come to terms with their loss. Is it what I would do if I lost a newborn? I don’t know – I hope I never have to find out. But would I call it crazy and weird like Alan Colmes and Eugene Robinson did? Nope.
Dennis Miller once explained that he considered “everyone and everything to be comedic fair game, except for the helpless.” You’d think Down Syndrome kids and dead babies would count as helpless. But no – some people simply have no shame.
