Sarah Palin hits back at 'annoying little mosquito' Bill Maher

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) hit back at Bill Maher on her Facebook page Thursday, likening the TV host to "an annoying little mosquito" and vowing not to get distracted by "vulgar personal shots."   

The note from Palin came after Maher's much-criticized remark on his HBO show, in which he called Palin a "dumb twat."     

Palin didn't mention Maher by name and pledged not to waste time "responding to personal, vulgar, sexist venom spewed my way." 

"Upon my return from an outstanding and productive trip to India and Israel, I've been inundated with requests to respond to petty comments made in the media the past few days, including one little fella's comment which decent people would find degrading," Palin wrote on her Facebook page Thursday night. 

"I won't bother responding to it though, because it was made by he who reminds me of an annoying little mosquito found zipped up in your tent; he can't do any harm, but buzzes around annoyingly until it's time to give him the proverbial slap," she continued.   

Maher became the subject of conservative ire after his show this past Friday, where he said: "Did you hear this — Sarah Palin finally heard what happened in Japan and she’s demanding that we invade 'Tsunami.' I mean, she said, 'These "Tsunamians" will not get away with this.' Oh, speaking of dumb twats ... "

Even the National Organization for Women defended Palin. But in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Palin rejected the response from NOW, telling Greta Van Susteren, "I don't want them to defend me." 

On her Facebook page Thursday, Palin employed the same language she was criticized for by some earlier in the year, titling the post, "Lamestream Media: Reload or White Flag?"

The former Alaska governor took the occasion to criticize the press, encouraging her supporters not to back down and to "stay focused" in the face of "blatant media bias."

"I was raised to believe that you don’t retreat when you’re on solid ground; so even though it often seems like I’m armed with just a few stones and a sling against a media giant, I’ll use those small resources to do what I can to set the record straight," Palin wrote. "I'll keep correcting false reporting, and I'll defend others to the hilt, but I won't spend any more precious, limited time responding to personal, vulgar, sexist venom spewed my way."