Bristol Palin Makes Lesbian Joke at Margaret Cho's Expense

Margaret Cho last week posted on her website that her Dancing with the Stars co-star Bristol Palin only appeared on the show at the insistence of her mother, Sarah Palin; in return, Palin made a not so veiled lesbian joke at Cho's expense.

The whole thing started when Cho claimed to know somebody in the know who told her that Sarah Palin "harshly and openly" blames Bristol for costing her the 2008 election, when she was Senator John McCain's running mate.

Shortly after McCain's selection of Palin as his Vice Presidential candidate, the Palins announced that Bristol was pregnant by then boyfriend (and self described 'redneck) Levi Johnston. Apparently, this is the reason why Cho believes that Sarah Palin blames her daughter for the loss.

Cho asserted on her blog that Sarah Palin believed that her daughter owed her and that by going on the show, she would make America "fall in love" with her "all over again". In the same post, she called Palin a 'friend'.

In reaction to Cho's post, Bristol Palin made a not so veiled reference to Cho's sexual preference (Cho is openly bisexual). In it, Palin wrote, in part, "You say you "don't agree with the family's politics at all" but I say, if you understood that commonsense conservative values supports the right of individuals like you, like all of us, to live our lives with less government interference and more independence, you would embrace us faster than KD Lang at an Indigo Girls concert." KD Lang is a lesbian and the Indigo Girls are a lesbian band.

So is this yet another instance of a Palin saying something completely uncalled for and hard to figure? While it would be both tempting and easy to say it is, the reality in this particular case may be far different.

Regardless of whether or not Bristol Palin's mother is fit to be president, and regardless of whether not most agree with her politics, Bristol Palin comes off as a bit of a sympathetic figure here. It seems a bit of an overreach to call out somebody one considers a 'friend' on the basis of a highly personal situation regarding her mother and her political aspirations.

If what Cho is saying is not true, then it's unfair to Bristol Palin to say it. If it is true, on some level, it is even more unfair to say it. This is particularly true if Cho truly does consider the young Palin a friend.

As far as Palin's dig at Cho regarding KD Lang and an Indigo Girls concert, really, it's a joke, but said within the context of responding to a much nastier remark by Cho. Cho is, after all, a grownup and a comedienne who must derive at least some of her popularity from the lesbian population.

To make a joke (albeit one that is not particularly funny) about it is probably a high road reaction to Cho's opening remarks, all things considered).

This time, a Palin is seemingly getting a pass from the public and the media as Bristol Palin's lesbian joke about Margaret Cho seems to be taken with context and with restraint.

Sources:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=174852705875956
http://www.margaretcho.com/content/2010/11/29/pistol_whipped/