Did 'SNL' go too far with its Gov David Paterson skit?

[RiverStone]

Poll question: Did 'SNL' go too far with its Gov David Paterson skit?

Gov. David Paterson didn’t think the "Saturday Night Live" skit poking fun at his blindness and admitted drug use was very funny at all.

The skit had "SNL" cast member Fred Armisen doing a scarily spot-on impression of the governor during the show's "Weekend Update" segment. Seth Meyers had to help him turn his chair to face the cameras. Armisen’s Paterson later returned to wander in front of the camera during Amy Poehler’s farewell.

"I can take a joke," Paterson told the Daily News on Sunday. "But only 37% of disabled people are working, and I'm afraid that that kind of third-grade humor certainly adds to this atmosphere."

In the skit about the governor's choice of a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Armisen's Paterson pointed out that he became governor after Gov. Eliot Spitzer's prostitution scandal.

"Whoever is appointed senator must -- like me -- be caught totally off guard and be comically unprepared to take office," he said. "Come on, I'm a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie."

A spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind also slammed the "SNL" skit.

"The biggest problem faced by blind people is not blindness itself, but the stereotypes held by the general public," spokesman Chris Danielsen said. "The idea that blind people are incapable of the simplest tasks and are perpetually disoriented and befuddled is absolutely wrong."

Paterson's spokesman Errol Cockfield Jr. said "the governor is sure that 'Saturday Night Live,' with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive."

NBC declined to comment on the show and the skit. Natch.

What do you think? Did "SNL" go too far in making fun of a blind politician? Or is everyone fair game?

link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/12/gov-paterson-di.html

Do you think SNL went too far and/or did you find the skit offensive?

p.s. IMO, it was kinda funny, particularly when Fred Armisen (in character) was wandering in front of Amy's goodbye speech. :) And yet, I thought making fun of someone's physical disability was in poor taste. I work in a school with a number of physically disabled students, and we teach other kids NOT to make fun of their disability. I believe the same rule should apply to adults.


ON EDIT: added IMO