This is bizarre: The conservative pundit Michael Barone, a Fox News Channel habitue as well as the editor of the Almanac of American Politics, told attendees of a higher-education convention yesterday, and we quote:

“The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby… They wanted her to kill that child. … I’m talking about my media colleagues with whom I’ve worked for 35 years.”

Politico reports that the remarks were roundly jeered by the audience, and that Barone claimed in a subsequent email that he “was attempting to be humorous and, as many in public do, went over the line.”