"Family Guy" voice actress, who has Down syndrome, responds to Palin

Well played, "Family Guy." Well played.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has continually criticized "Family Guy," after the Fox animated sitcom made a vague reference to her on Sunday night's show.

The problem: The joke came from a teenage girl with Down's syndrome, who told the show's teenage boy, Chris, that her mother was "the former governor of Alaska."

The line, of course, referred to the fact that the real-life former governor of Alaska, Palin, has a child with Down syndrome (her infant son Trig).

Palin called "Family Guy" the work of "cruel, cold-hearted people,” while her daughter Bristol called the show's staff "heartless jerks.”

The New York Times tracked down the actress who played the character with Down syndrome -- and turns out Andrea Fay Friedman has Down syndrome as well.

"I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor," Friedman e-mailed the paper. "I thought the line 'I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska' was very funny. I think the word is 'sarcasm.'"

Read the whole dispatch here.