Oh the irony

Richard Herring's programme on Radio 4 tonight Richard Herring's Objective Episode 2: 'The Wheelchair' was not something I was particularly looking forward to, obviously right-on humour being somewhat anathema to me. But I was driving home and so gave it a go. Poor, weak humour and then this... Guest comedian Francesca Martinez, who has cerebral palsy, was given space to perform. She told us that some comedians whose careers were slacking used words like 'mong' and 'retard' for cheap laughs. She went on to say that she didn't like the term cerebral palsy preferring the word 'wobbly'. Ms Martinez went on to provide some other better alternatives for conditions, I can't remember them all, here's a few 'claustrophobic' - 'loves the outdoors', and then the punchline 'mentally retared' - 'Sarah Palin'. The audience reacted as I would have expected from a Richard Herring/Radio 4 audience, they laughed in a Pavlovian type response at the very words 'Sarah Palin'; the BBC and other left-wing media have done their job well in destroying that particular right-of-centre politician.

I wonder did Francesca Martinez spot the irony in her act?