Another Mockery of Sarah Palin’s Offspring Incites Her Ire

Recently former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin had a widely publicized disagreement with David Letterman for making a joke about one of her daughters. The joke suggested that her daughter had been impregnated by Alex Rodriguez when she accompanied her mother on a trip to New York City. Which would have been amusing, had it been 18-year old Bristol. But the daughter who accompanied Palin was 14-year old Willow, so the governor’s anger about Letterman’s joke was justified. Letterman should have researched the trip better before joking about it, and he showed poor judgment and bad taste in making such a joke, although those two qualities are sometimes what make Letterman’s jokes funny.

However, many people criticized Palin’s objection to Letterman’s joke, saying that her outrage was a bit extreme. She accused Letterman of purposely promoting a social culture where talking about statutory rape is funny, and that talking about an underage minor having sex with an older man is not the least bit funny. When Letterman apologized and explained that he thought it had been Bristol he was joking about, Palin accepted his apology but said that his explanation was a convenient excuse for making a bad joke. She added that she hopes that men who make jokes about the sexual exploitation of young girls will evolve. Some conservative commentators were quick to call for Letterman’s firing, but the flap died down quickly due to Letterman’s prompt apology for his coarse joke.

Now another Palin child is at the center of a controversy. Palin is responding with renewed outrage to a picture of her son Trig, who suffers from Down Syndrome. Blogger Linda Kellen Biegel took a photograph of Palin holding Trig in her arms, and edited the photo to superimpose a picture of the head of conservative radio host Eddie Burke on top of Trig’s head. Her point in doctoring the picture and posting it on her blog was to comment on how close the Alaskan governor is to Burke. Biegel writes her blog using the name "Celtic Diva," and posts articles in support of the Democratic Party in Alaska.

Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapelton issued a statement to CNN saying that Palin’s office had learned of a "malicious desecration" of the photo, and said that the doctored image "has become an iconic representation of a mother’s love for her special needs child." The statement added that the idea of doctoring a photograph of a special needs child is appalling, and said that President Obama should issue a statement reprimanding liberal activists for participating in such behavior.

"Babies and children are off limits," Stapelton said. "It is past time to restore decency in politics and real tolerance for all Americans. The Obama Administration sets the moral compass for its party. We ask that special needs children be loved, respected and accepted and that this type of degeneracy be condemned."

Biegel responded to the blasting from Palin’s office by saying that she had no intention of making fun of baby Trig, only of Burke. The photo was titled "Baby Burke" because she intended it to represent a fantasy he might have about being so close to eh governor. "So, connecting the dots for you," Biegel said, "We’re making fun of Eddie Burke!"

Biegel filed an ethics complaint against the governor earlier this year after she publicly wore a jacket sold by a company who sponsors Palin’s husband, who races snowmobiles. The incident was investigated and when it was determined that Palin had not acted inappropriately, the governor’s office called Biegel’s complaint "asinine political grandstanding."