More Like Trig, Fewer Like This Guy

Did you hear something over the weekend about a Huffington Post column cracking wise about Sarah Palin's resignation from the Alaska governorship, and particularly her complaints about people picking on her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome? If you got the link after the column in question was taken down, and are wondering what all the fuss was about (and are feeling strong of heart and ready for outrage), keep reading.

As quoted in Disability News, Palin wished that "folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig — I know he needs me, but I need him even more… what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT – that time is precious… the world needs more 'Trigs', not fewer." That apparently struck Erik Sean Nelson, described on his Huffington Post page as a "fiction author and comedy writer," as hilarious, and he responded with a post titled, “Palin Will Run in '12 on More Retardation Platform,” which began:

In Sarah Palin’s resignation announcement she complained about the treatment of her son Trig who always teaches her life lessons. She said that the 'world needs more Trigs, not fewer.' That’s a presidential campaign promise we can all get behind. She will be the first politician to actually try to increase the population of retarded people. To me, it’s kinda like saying the world needs more cancer patients because they teach us such personal lessons.

and continued with "witty" observations like "Her first act as President: To introduce a Pre-K lunch buffet that includes lead paint chips." and "Her policies will increase jobs because Wal-Mart is building new stores each day and someone has to be the greeter." The post was soon pulled, but if you have the stomach for it, Disability News has the full text and a screen shot. On that Huffington Post page now is this "apology" from Nelson:

I wrote a piece making fun of the fact that a Trig Palin joke was given as the reason that Sarah Palin left office. I wrote jokes that were offensive but my intent was for them to be ironic and therefore not offensive. I was wrong. Within ten minutes of my post I received some emails from the loved ones of the retarded and I saw that my piece was hurtful. Therefore, I removed the post right after receiving the first 2 emails.

I removed it immediately because I saw that it did not come across as I intended. I apologize to all of those who were offended.

Once again, it's the "I meant for that incredibly offensive thing to be funny, not offensive" defense, and, well, I'm not any more convinced by it here than I was when Ben Stiller was making it about the movie Tropic Thunder. It's hard for me to imagine how Nelson's column could be taken any other way but as mean and demeaning, and how Huffington Post editors could have let it get up there in the first place. And ... "loved ones of the retarded"? Really? Still not coming across so great, there, guy.

If nothing else, I suppose Nelson offered up a pretty good illustration of why folks who think they're smart and funny and all kinds of superior to those they've labeled as disabled are not necessarily the human beings you most want to have anything to do with. Given the alleged humor we've heard in the past year from the likes of Stiller, Michael Savage, and Denis Leary, I think it's safe to say that what the world does not need more of is smart alecks who feel it's okay to be mean as long as you follow it up by saying, "Hey, it's just a joke!"

If you haven't yet added your name to the R-Word Campaign, this might be a good time to do so.