*Rim Shot*

I have always thought of Michael Barone as the Gallagher of punditry -- should something happen to Fred Barnes or Chuckles Krauthammer. But now we find out he is the Michael Barone of stand up comedy, please bring your own plastic sheet and sledgehammer.

“The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby," Barone said, according to accounts by attendees. "They wanted her to kill that child. ... I'm talking about my media colleagues with whom I've worked for 35 years.”...

Barone was speaking at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, to the 121st annual meeting of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges...About 500 people were in the room, and some walked out.

Barone did not dispute the accounts of his remarks. Asked about the comments, Barone said in an e-mail that he "was attempting to be humorous and, as many in public do, went over the line."

So really, the fault rests with society, not Michael Barone - "Damn you Toastmasters!". Self-proclaimed comedy expert Richard Cohen would surely agree.


[cross-posted at Firedoglake]