ISO: A Little Decency

Having begun my work in politics doing opposition research, I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to campaigns. After all, in the famous formulation, politics ain't beanbag. Or, to use another well-worn cliche, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Politics is no place for whiners.

But there are limits. And it would seem obvious that a "comedy" piece like the kind that appeared on "Saturday Night Live," joking about Todd Palin having incestuous relationships with his daughters -- particularly in light of little Trig's Down syndrome -- is beyond tasteless. It's ugly, and cruel, and completely lacking in basic human decency.

It will be interesting to see whether and which MSM organization will see fit to denounce the skit. There's no doubt in my mind that plenty of organizations would trumpet self-righteous wrath were the "joke" not on Sarah Palin, her family and Alaska . . . but rather on those nearer and dearer to their hearts. (And yes, certainly, a skit joking about an incestuous relationship between Barack Obama and his daughters would be equally disgusting.)

As I note in my Townhall column, all of us have our own sets of biases and preconceptions (which, obviously, we are duty bound to try to transcend, in order to judge people fairly, on their own individual merit). But even so, surely everyone in a civilized society should be able to agree that the gratuitous cruelty and coarseness of the type apparent in the "SNL" skit is simply unacceptable.