They fear Palin and they’re preferred weapon against her for now is pretending that making fun of her is all that is required to exclude her from future public life.
Once they realize that their lame and off-target jokes won’t work, they will get deadly serious. They will do whatever they can to prevent a Palin ‘12.
But they are working. A very high percentage of Americans now see Palin as the airheaded dolt in the comedians' caricatures. She's been successfully Quayle-ized, and it will be a long road back for her.
When you control the media, you can make reality.