The blind are mad.

PATERSON IN A BLIND RAGE OVER 'SNL' SKIT

Gov. Paterson didn't see the humor in a "Saturday Night Live" bit that mocked his blindness.

Really, he didn't see it? So already this news story is jokey. Obviously they aren't taking the "outrage" seriously.

During the "Weekend Update" segment of NBC's irreverent comedy show, actor Fred Armisen played Paterson, imitating his wandering eye, gravelly voice and blunt, self-effacing demeanor.
But Paterson and advocates for the visually impaired didn't appreciate stock blind jokes that had Armisen pretending to be disoriented and wandering aimlessly.

Fred Armisen did a damn good job to. The impression was spot on and it was funny. God forbid SNL be funny once in a while. Besides, almost all of the jokes about him being blind were visual jokes. Who told these blind people they should be upset?

"I can take a joke," Paterson told reporters.

Then shut up.

But he called the SNL spoof a "third-grade depiction of people and the way they look" that could lead others to believe that "disability goes hand-in-hand with an inability to run a government or business."

No, it's a joke that leads to laughter. Your latest plan to raise taxes on hospitals, insurance, and food might lead people to believe that though.

The story sort of goes on and on with out saying a whole lot and later...

"When you have a perception problem like we have, you take these things a little more seriously," said Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind.

What complaints like this do is call into question the ability of the blind to be overly sensitive and potentially a human recourses problem. 

"We have 70 percent unemployment - and it's not because we can't work. Obviously, the governor of New York is blind, and he's doing the job. Whenever you have a portrayal that calls the basic capacity of [blind people] into question, that's a potential problem."

As far as the unemployment goes, a lot of jobs, being able to see is important. Police officer, Fireman, truck driver, assembly line worker, mailman, movie critic, proof reader, basketball player, and the list goes on and on.

Danielsen claims "SNL" has a long history of mocking the blind - going back to Eddie Murphy's Stevie Wonder impression and, more recently, a "Weekend Update" one-liner that hybrid cars are dangerous to blind people because they can't hear the engine.

Stevie Wonder is blind! The Governor of New York is blind! If you're going to do impressions of these public personalities, they're going to be portrayed as blind and the blindness will be a part of the joke. If you can't take the joke, you're telling us that you're too sensitive to be in a position like governor that would leave you open to potential mockery.

Paterson's spokesman, Errol Cockfield, said, "The governor is sure that 'Saturday Night Live,' with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being offensive," Cockfield said.
"Knowing the governor, he might even have some suggestions himself."

Really, have you been paying attention to SNL over the past 10 years? They haven't been to good with non-offensive funny. How about you stick to ruining your state and let them worry about what they should put on their show? The viewers, you know those of us who see the show, are the ones who decide whether or not something is funny.