Letterman Apologizes For Palin Joke

[sadaist]

Dave Letterman made a joke about Sarah Palin being at the recent Yankee game with her daughter and made some jokes about her daughter getting knocked up by A-Rod or sex with Elliot Spitzer. Tonight he gave what he considers an apology, but it's just backtracking and lying.


“We were, as we often do, making jokes about people in the news and we made some jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughter [Bristol]... and now they’re upset with me…” Letterman says on tonight's show. "These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl.... Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes. Did I suggest that it was okay for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No." Saying he hopes he's "cleared part of this up," Letterman extended an invitation to Palin to come on the show as a guest.

Uh Dave, it was the 14 year old that was with her at the Yankee game. So saying you would "never, never" make jokes about a 14 year old is a flat out lie. The part the I find really funny is that after the Governor released a statement condemning the comments, the libs are accusing her of using her daughter for political gain. Dave brought her up, not the governor.

Letterman has really become a cranky, dirty old man recently and his politics and hatred of Conservatives has really overshadowed the show.

David Letterman responds to flap over Sarah Palin jokes | TV, movie and music news | News, Politics, Television | EW.com (http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/david-letterman-responds-to-flap-over-sarah-palin-jokes.html)

Last week he told Lauren Conrad he would love to see the alleged sex tape of her. Dave! She's 40+ years younger than you. Gross. You could tell she was embarrassed having this relic of a man ogling her like that. I felt embarrassed for her & Dave. Come on Dave, please get back to being funny again. I miss the old, not desperate Letterman.

[jhale667]

Yeah, well he nailed her on the "slutty stewardess look" thing...:hee:

[GAR]

Letterman's sucked for the whole last decade, hasn't been hip for at least 15 and was never relevant.

[FORD]

GAyR's sucked for the whole last decade, hasn't been hip for at least 15 and was never relevant.

Finally, some honesty.

[GAR]

You think you're funny like Letterman's funny.

You are funny like that.

[sadaist]

Normally I don't care about shit like this, but apparently Letterman realized he went over the line. He spent an entire segment explaining himself & admitted the joke was in poor taste. But he still tried to act as if no apology was really necessary since he meant the daughter who just turned 18, not the 14 year old. Even Craig Ferguson spoofed Letterman's apology for half a segment.

[LoungeMachine]

:yawn:

[Igosplut]

I never worried about looking to David Letterman to being a measure of morality.

That being said she added a whole lot more credibility to it by having a public hissy fit over it..

[Seshmeister]

If it's one of Palin's then she's fucked already genetically and by upbringing.

The one thing to remember though is that Letterman doesn't sit there and think 'what will I say today'. This gag will have come from the writers and then been approved by half a dozen people in the organisation, then tested for time and content etc etc.

TV like Letterman is a product not some sort of artistic endeavor so for that reason maybe needs to be protected less than a stand up making a gag.

[Nickdfresh]

One of the few late night bits I've caught recently, this article completely takes his comments out of context and makes them sound far more lecherous than they were. When Letterman gave his reluctant, sarcastic apology, he also replayed the bit and compared it to the critical op-ed and his point was that the writer was taking things way out of context in order to protect his sacred cow, Sarah Palin...

Letterman also frequently has conservatives on his show. Including Bill O'Reilly, whom Dave perennially owns by confronting Bill with his own stupidity away from his tightly controlled, and edited, Fox show --in which Bill's debates are tightly contrived, controlled with a line of strict questioning, and the comments of his guest are even edited if they managed to own Bill...

[Mr Walker]

Conan went to commercial so I tuned over and caught this whole segment.
I think this was just Dave's way to keep his name in the press now that his ratings are starting to improve.

[Seshmeister]

<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b1tkf0zth0c&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b1tkf0zth0c&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>

Notice he coughs at 30 seconds when he mentions the daughter - lie?

Anyhoo story about nothing and Palin going on about rape is pathetic but then we knew that already.

[Nickdfresh]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Story, BTW, what was Palin talking about with her 14 year old daughter? Bristol was at the event and is 18.

[FORD]

Moosealini is trying to milk this whole thing for sympathy. It reminds me of when Darth Cheney and his wife feigned outrage at John Edwards in the 2004 campaign for mentioning the fact that their daughter was a Lesbian, acting as though Edwards was the one who "outed" their daughter, though she had been living openly with her partner for years, and had worked for the right wing Coors corporation, specifically to patch up that company's well deserved bad reputation with the LGBT community (due to Coors sponsorship of an anti-gay ballot measure in Colorado).

[Igosplut]

Plus I bet BOTH daughters would bone A-rod if the opportunity presented itself anyway....

[Guitar Shark]

Has Palin apologized for any of the lies she told on the campaign trail?

I'm sure Obama would appreciate an apology for being accused of "palling around with terrorists," for one.

[ZahZoo]

Story, BTW, what was Palin talking about with her 14 year old daughter? Bristol was at the event and is 18.

Palin's 14 yr old, Willow was with her mother in New York at the baseball game.

The 18 yr old Bristol was not there...

I think Letterman and staff should have had open season about the governor and stayed away from the kids. Her children don't deserve the notoriety their mother brought on them...

[sadaist]

Has Palin apologized for any of the lies she told on the campaign trail?

I'm sure Obama would appreciate an apology for being accused of "palling around with terrorists," for one.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/02/19/PH2008021900931.jpg

[jhale667]

I think Letterman and staff should have had open season about the governor and stayed away from the kids. Her children don't deserve the notoriety their mother brought on them...

Pretty much agree with you there, but since Bristol's legal and has been running her mouth in the press (preaching abstinence when she obviously couldn't keep her own legs closed), open season on her, too...

[sadaist]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Story, BTW, what was Palin talking about with her 14 year old daughter? Bristol was at the event and is 18.


Once again Nick you are dead wrong. Even MSNBC clearly states that it was 14 year old Willow at the game with the governor...NOT 18 year old Bristol. Please watch the clip you posted again. It shows a clip from 18 year old Bristol from a month previous. Can't just change facts mid stream to better fit the side you support.

[Kristy]

I think Letterman and staff should have had open season about the governor and stayed away from the kids. Her children don't deserve the notoriety their mother brought on them...


Well said. Badger Palin's politics and annoying peel-paint-from-concrete voice all you want but the kids should be left alone.

[Nickdfresh]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/02/19/PH2008021900931.jpg

Where is Obama paling around with him?

[Guitar Shark]

Well said. Badger Palin's politics and annoying peel-paint-from-concrete voice all you want but the kids should be left alone.

Maybe, but that goes both ways. If the kids want to be left alone, then they need to stop making public appearances on talk shows.

[Guitar Shark]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/02/19/PH2008021900931.jpg

I don't think anyone can reasonably dispute that Ayers was (and maybe still is) a domestic terrorist. The "palling around with" is the statement I have a problem with.

[sadaist]

In the end, this is probably good for both sides as far as publicity goes. Yesterday morning these people were the furthest things from my mind, so I guess win for all of them. How many extra viewers did Letterman pull last night? How many extra supporters will Palin gain? Just sucks for the kids involved. Can you imagine at that age having to face your friends after David Letterman cracked jokes about you? Hell, I missed school when I had a pimple that looked to bad to avoid the ridicule.


What is kinda funny here is how so far everyone's sentiment is "yeah, jokes about raping or sex with a 14 year old girl is bad...he should have joked about the 18 year old girl...that's ok." Pretty important 4 year span there it seems.

[sadaist]

Where is Obama paling around with him?

Classmates.com?

[Nickdfresh]

Once again Nick you are dead wrong. Even MSNBC clearly states that it was 14 year old Willow at the game with the governor...NOT 18 year old Bristol. Please watch the clip you posted again. It shows a clip from 18 year old Bristol from a month previous. Can't just change facts mid stream to better fit the side you support.

Sorry, I misheard the quote and was working on something else as it played.

Second, who gives a fuck? The "fact" is that hardly anyone even is aware of Willow and the joke was clearly directed towards Bristol, A-Rod, and Spitzer.

As far as "poor Bristol," spare me! She's a public person going on the "keep your baby" lecture circuit and has been caught making silly, questionable comments off mic. about premarital sex being okay or something to that effect. She thusly made herself a public person and I assume is making a pretty good living for an 18 year old as no one (in the Palin) seems to mind coverage of her in the tabloids. She's no more immune to jokes than Miley Cyrus IMO..

If Letterman had shown footage of Willow, or mentioned her by name, you might have had a point. But he didn't...

[Nickdfresh]

Classmates.com?


Dude, if you have a link -provide it. And stop being a dick...

Secondly, I fail to see your thread condemning various things said by pundit assholes regarding Chelsea Clinton or even Obama's daughters...

[Seshmeister]

In the end, this is probably good for both sides as far as publicity goes. Yesterday morning these people were the furthest things from my mind, so I guess win for all of them. How many extra viewers did Letterman pull last night? How many extra supporters will Palin gain? Just sucks for the kids involved. Can you imagine at that age having to face your friends after David Letterman cracked jokes about you? Hell, I missed school when I had a pimple that looked to bad to avoid the ridicule.


Imagine the ridicule and humiliation of having a dumb fuck like that for a mother making a complete fool of herself on TV all the time.

[Nickdfresh]

I don't think anyone can reasonably dispute that Ayers was (and maybe still is) a domestic terrorist. The "palling around with" is the statement I have a problem with.


He was a domestic terrorist, albeit I think he was a fail at terrorism and was acquitted of most of the charges. He is no longer. He is in fact a distinguished academic that reformed himself and has written extensively on education reform. He has had some of his comments about his past taken out of context during various interviews and while he is not remorseful regarding his radical activities (when Obama was 8), I think he has expressed regret at the violent extremism and condemned the 9/11 terror attacks.

If you read about the 1960s (1965-1975 actually), you'll find that calling the early "Weatherman Underground" terrorists is like calling the Keystone Cops an elite SWAT unit. They were completely misguided, had no clue as most of them had avoided any sort of military training, and were no more guilty than many of that era, including the Chicago Police Dept. whose detectives outright assassinated a Black Panther like an El Salvadoran Death Squad and whose police "rioted" and attacked relatively peaceful demonstrators...

As far as Palin' around with terrorists, there is little evidence of anything more than cursory contact between Obama and Ayers, and what contact they did involved discussing reforming education in the Chicago school system as Obama probably wasn't even aware of his past...

[sadaist]

Dude, if you have a link -provide it. And stop being a dick...

Secondly, I fail to see your thread condemning various things said by pundit assholes regarding Chelsea Clinton or even Obama's daughters...

If & when jokes about Obamas' daughters ever do surface, then maybe we can condemn them if they are inappropriate.

And I'm not going to post thousands of links here that show evidence of Obama and his past friendships with shady characters. Been through all of that.



And stop being a dick...


http://www.myspaceantics.com/images/myspace-graphics/funny-pictures/being-a-dick.gif

[sadaist]

Imagine the ridicule and humiliation of having a dumb fuck like that for a mother making a complete fool of herself on TV all the time.

There's definitely that too.

[bueno bob]

The Palin's can't have it both ways.

"Here, look at my pregnant fucking daughter! It's a photo op! I'm a hockey mom!" vs. "How dare you use our children for media fodder? This is disgusting behavior!"

Depending on whichever position floats their boat and serves their needs at the time. I'm glad that Republicans threw up a nausea inducing piece of shit that actually rivals Bush for idiocy.

I have no fear of her. I welcome her. Her and her hick-ified, no morality family are a laughing stock and a source for endless ridicule and derision. It'll be a sad, sad day when they finally vanish into the backwoods obscurity they so richly belong in.

[FORD]

Revenge of the Ghetto Hockey Mom
by Henry Rollins
June 15, 2009, 9:45 AM

http://mtblog.vanityfair.com/online/politics/illos/henry_rollins.gif
I have been hearing so much from governor Sarah Palin ever since her visit to New York City a few days ago. I am sure that by now you’ve heard the jokes that talk shot host David Letterman made about her daughter. It wasn’t nearly Letterman’s best material, and he admitted as much as he apologized on his show. You would have thought that would have been the end of it, but it seems that Palin and her husband, the first dude of Alaska, feel the need to keep this ball up in the air.

I used to feel sorry for Palin, a not-very-smart person thrust into the spotlight who didn’t realize her 15 minutes were up and kept on talkin’. She’s at it again and, golly, she reminds me of my sister when she was in 10th grade. I never had a sister, but you know what I mean. Ms. Palin, you took your pregnant daughter out on stages all over America and at no point acknowledged the overwhelming hypocrisy of your words and actions. You’re now a grandmother and your daughter has never been married. How ghetto! All of Mr. and Ms. Palin’s dingbat yammering in the last few days over Letterman’s throwaway remarks, featherweight in comparison to the molotovs that men like Limbaugh and Beck hurl with dismal predictability, are showing this pair to be small town hickoids who can’t get over the fact that David Letterman mentioned them on his show. Someone give these two Alaskans a free dinner coupon for Red Lobster and stop picking up the phone when they call.

Several months ago, when I was obligated to take governor Palin somewhat seriously, I was amazed at just how ill-equipped she was not only for the job of vice president but for governor, mayor, and guardian of her daughter’s virginity, and by how the only people who didn’t seem to see it were Sarah Palin and this one woman I met in a parking lot in St. Louis last year. You right-wingers are a strange bunch. Has president Obama come for your guns yet? No? What are you going to do with all those extra bullets? Got any tea bags left? When's the next party?

O.K., I am laughing too much now, gotta go.

Revenge of the Ghetto Hockey Mom : Henry Rollins | Vanity Fair (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2009/06/revenge-of-the-ghetto-hockey-mom.html)

[Kristy]

Now the moron Hannity is trying to conjure up a "fire Letterman" campaign. Oh, it never ends.

[FORD]

I think the Repukes are still mad about the way Dave owned McCain when the old geezer cancelled his appearance on the show, supposedly because he was "flying back to DC to fix the economy", and in fact he was in the same CBS studio, filming an interview with Katie Couric.

It's not like McCain's campaign wasn't dead long before then, but FAUX would love to have you believe that "librul talk show hosts" were to blame :biggrin:

[Nitro Express]

Now the moron Hannity is trying to conjure up a "fire Letterman" campaign. Oh, it never ends.

Imagine Oreily, Hannity, Limbaugh, and Beck all stranded on a tiny island together. Oreily would get bitchy and start a fight with the smug Sean Hannity. while these two assholes are punching each other Rush would start shaking on the ground due to Oxycondin withdrawls and Glen Beck would start going megga insane because his Prozac went down with the ship. Then at night Glenn Beck would bludgen everybody to death with a big stick and cook and eat their body parts and babble to himself about the Apocalipse.

[Igosplut]

are showing this pair to be small town hickoids who can’t get over the fact that David Letterman mentioned them on his show. Someone give these two Alaskans a free dinner coupon for Red Lobster and stop picking up the phone when they call.


Best quote in the whole article.....

[sadaist]

Last night, one week after he made the initial joke, Letterman apologized again and attempted to explain his joke. This time he admitted he didn't realize the 14 year old was at the game with the Governor so it was his mistake. Apparently he has been taking a lot of heat on this.

This whole thing was just a really dumb mistake by the writers for not checking which daughter was at the game with Palin and just assuming it was the 18 year old. Although blame ultimately falls on Dave, he just reads what the writers put on the cards. He does seem to have a bit of a vendetta against Governor Palin. He told twice as many jokes about her in the last few months than Leno, Ferguson, O'Brien, Colbert & Stewart combined. I'm sure some of this stems from how McCain treated him in skipping his show.

Best not to piss off a person with a national television show.

But Letterman always works this way. Tons of jokes about Oprah, Madonna, Hillary, etc... until they finally become a guest on his show and then they market it as the big showdown and everyone watches.

[sadaist]

Revenge of the Ghetto Hockey Mom
by Henry Rollins
June 15, 2009, 9:45 AM

.... guardian of her daughter’s virginity

Very few parents are successful in this category.

[Mr Walker]

I lost a little respect for Letterman over this incident...

The only thing he needed to say was "Fuck You if you can't take a joke".

[hideyoursheep]

Now the moron Hannity is trying to conjure up a "fire Letterman" campaign. Oh, it never ends.


Censorship.


Hannazi is probably still stinging from the "bloated turd" blast against his hero Limbaugh that Stern let go on Letterman a few days before.

[Mr Walker]

Censorship.


Hannazi is probably still stinging from the "bloated turd" blast against his hero Limbaugh that Stern let go on Letterman a few days before.

It's funny, but when Hannity was on the Stern show a while back... it sounded like he was genuinely enjoying himself... maybe he realized none of his sheep had Sirius so he could misbehave a bit.

[hideyoursheep]

It's funny, but when Hannity was on the Stern show a while back... it sounded like he was genuinely enjoying himself.

Not to derail the thread, but I never knew he was ever on the show!

I bet he was a different man.

[sadaist]

Now the moron Hannity is trying to conjure up a "fire Letterman" campaign. Oh, it never ends.

It worked with Imus. Did Imus come out and apologize for his remarks? Haven't heard anything about "firing Letterman" except from Dick Morris...at least what I could make out through his lisp.

[sadaist]

Sarah Palin accepts David Letterman's apology
Sarah Palin accepts David Letterman's apology - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_letterman_palin_17)



By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer David Bauder, Ap Television Writer – 55 mins ago

NEW YORK – Sarah Palin says she accepts David Letterman's apology for the joke he made about her daughter. The Alaska governor, in a statement issued Tuesday, said the apology was accepted "on behalf of all young women, like my daughters, who hope men who `joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."

On his CBS' "Late Show" on Monday night, Letterman said his joke about one of Palin's daughters being "knocked up" by Alex Rodriguez can't be defended.

He said the joke referred to 18-year-old Bristol Palin, not her 14-year-old sister Willow. But Letterman said it's his responsibility that people believed that he intended to target Willow, who had attended a New York Yankees game with her mother.

"I'm sorry about it, and I'll try to do better in the future," he said.

Letterman last week tried to make light of the joke after the first indications that it had fallen flat. Palin had called the comments "sexually perverted," and her husband, Todd, said that "any jokes about raping my 14-year-old are despicable."

Palin said Tuesday that Letterman has the right to joke about whatever he wants to, and "thankfully we have the right to express our reaction."

"This is all thanks to our U.S. military men and women putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's right to free speech," she said. "In this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."

Not everyone was willing to turn the page.

A "Fire David Letterman" protest still was planned Tuesday for outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, where he tapes the show.

"A belated apology is not sufficient accountability," said one organizer, Michael Leahy, comparing the situation to Don Imus' firing for comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Brent Bozell, president of the conservative watchdog Media Research Center, called the apology "slippery and Clintonian."

Although Bristol, an unwed mother, was the target of his joke, Letterman didn't name her when it was originally made on June 8.

It was "a coarse joke," "a bad joke," Letterman told viewers. "But I never thought it was (about) anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure, in fact, that she is of legal age, 18."

"The joke, really, in and of itself, can't be defended," he declared.

If there's a misconception that he was making the joke about a 14-year-old, Letterman said he understands why people are upset. "I would be upset myself," he said.

"I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault that it was misunderstood."

Letterman made several references to the issue during his monologue, introducing himself as "Dave Letterman, good will ambassador." He said he got a call from his mother earlier in the day telling him she was siding with Palin.

When he began a joke about Bernard Madoff, whom he called "the most hated man in America," he then amended that to a list of two.

"Me, Bernie Madoff," he said. "He was way out in front until a couple of days ago."

[Kristy]

It's not like McCain's campaign wasn't dead long before then, but FAUX would love to have you believe that "librul talk show hosts" were to blame :biggrin:

It's moreover of Viacom (who owns Letterman's show) if anything. Even on the days when I could stand to watch Letterman - because now he seems tired, burnt out and stupid - he had a uncontested anti-Bush agenda on his show clearly demonstrating Bush's incoherent speech fuck ups as comedy which they pretty much more or less were.

But the anti-Bush rhetoric wasn't just limited to his show. There was also Stewart/Colbert (also run by Viacom) who also berated Bush's retarded tendencies and showcased them in a more indiscreet way. You know this had to get under the skin of neo-cons whose only retort was to call out Letterman and Stewart as "punks" or "unpatriotic." And so the circle of media child-like name calling partisanship was born. I am growing so sick of it.

Speaking of Stewart, I cannot stand his show anymore. The Daily Show used to be a delight when thy took pot shots at pop culture or fads which was really what the whole genesis of the show was for but for the past few years it's nothing more than a burst of tiresome 8 to 9 minute political agenda delivered with Stewart's unfunny as fuck antics which, lately, he seems to be the only one laughing at them.

And that is what the suits at Viacom did - let Stewart or Letterman or whomever say pretty much what the wanted about the right, or, particularly Bush, uncontested. That Palin joke I didn't find all that offensive (or funny) but got me is who it was more or less who it was aimed at. Every now and then Letterman parades his spoiled brat on stage and you know if the Right criticized his kid there would be attorneys involved; the suits at Viacom should have known better to allow a "joke" such as that to be aired but then again, since it was anti-Right wing it's no wonder it slipped thorough the cracks.

As for Hannity, eh, more shameless self-promotion for him and his abysmal show. Hannity to me is another lost media whore looking for any angle to gain more publicity mainly because he doesn't care about Palin's kid or even his party but what it will take to augment his bank account; he's a good puller of the wool for America's increasing stupidity. I'm betting just like his waterboarding bullshit, this too will go nowhere.

[BITEYOASS]

Letterman shouldn't have to apologize for Jack-shit! As for Palin, FUCK THAT BITCH! She needs to send her fertile cunt back to Alaska!

[Nickdfresh]

Letterman's sucked for the whole last decade, hasn't been hip for at least 15 and was never relevant.

Aren't you the douchebag that thought Jesterstar was funny?

[Nickdfresh]

Very few parents are successful in this category.

Great! Maybe they can stop being such moralist, pandering fuckwits that only backpedal with their judgmental --holier-than-now moralist babble of vanity-rhetoric-- when their kids get preggers or they get caught fucking around on each other. And of course they "spin" it with the, "well, at least she kept it!" or some bullshit whilst ignoring the fact that the kid and its teen mother will receive substantial financial support that others that are forced to "not keep it" never would have.

[Nickdfresh]

I lost a little respect for Letterman over this incident...

The only thing he needed to say was "Fuck You if you can't take a joke".

He should have apologized to the daughters with the sincerest of genuflection, almost tearfully. Then he should have turned around, bent over, dropped his pants and said, "this is for you Sarah, you shit-mother MILF-bot cunt."

[GAR]

I lost a little respect for Letterman over this incident...

The only thing he needed to say was "Fuck You if you can't take a joke".

I think his writers knew which daughter was in town, or they would have said knocked up "again."

Letterman's fairly astute though, he had to know. The first time he apologised saying "some jokes dont always work" now he's saying he didn't know which daughter was gonna be there. I don't believe him.

[Nickdfresh]

I think his writers knew which daughter was in town, or they would have said knocked up "again."

Letterman's fairly astute though, he had to know. The first time he apologised saying "some jokes dont always work" now he's saying he didn't know which daughter was gonna be there. I don't believe him.

When you going to apologize for taunting the mother of a US Marine regarding the potential for death in Iraq? Fuckwit...

[GAR]

Go tease your goatpubes, I only tease mothers of California National Guardsmen who serve for 4 months as MP's guarding and watching the transport pool in Afghanistan, if they have red hair, and enjoy the tease because I'm familliar with them at least 5 or ten years.

I don't have a clue about any Marine mothers being taunted, let alone strangers but I have a clue you are very jealous of me so deal with it, fruitcake.

[binnie]

Well, this is a storm in a tea-cup (Or maybe A Cup, if the girl is only 14 :D)

It's pretty indefensible, he shouldn't have made the joke, even if it was the 18 year old daughter he had in mind. And lets be honest, Palin provides comedians with enough material for there to be no need to bring her daughters into it.

[GAR]

It would have been more Letterman's classic style if he were to say Palin herself was knocked up by A-Knob.

[Nickdfresh]

Go tease your goatpubes, I only tease mothers of California National Guardsmen who serve for 4 months as MP's guarding and watching the transport pool in Afghanistan, if they have red hair, and enjoy the tease because I'm familliar with them at least 5 or ten years.

Who are? And it was a Marine, you fuckwit. We all read the thread...


I don't have a clue about any Marine mothers being taunted, let alone strangers but I have a clue you are very jealous of me so deal with it, fruitcake.

Lying coward...

[GAR]

National GUARD=MP, her words.

Why don't you get her in on this, so you can STFU and eat your own feck.

[Nickdfresh]

National GUARD=MP, her words.

Why don't you get her in on this, so you can STFU and eat your own feck.

Show the thread! Oh, BTW, I think there were two actually...

And National Guard MP or Marine, you're still a classless douche hose...

[GAR]

I accept your backhanded apology for being incorrect.

[Nickdfresh]

I accept your backhanded apology for being incorrect.

You're right. I'm sorry your a classless douche tube who taunts mothers regarding the potential death of their National Guard MP sons in Iraq and was banned for it at another website and who hates America and is an Islamofascist sympathizer.

[GAR]

You're right.

It's not like you to admit so much fault in a single day.

[Nickdfresh]

Sure Rainman...

What do you do for a living again?

[BITEYOASS]

I guess little GAR is offended because we dissed his Alaskan fuck fantasy. How about you lay off the Meth for a while!

[Mr Walker]

It's pretty indefensible, he shouldn't have made the joke, even if it was the 18 year old daughter he had in mind.

I think the joke was more aimed at Alex Rodriguez, who would fuck anything he could get his hands on.

[binnie]

I think the joke was more aimed at Alex Rodriguez, who would fuck anything he could get his hands on.

Oh, absolutely. I just don't think that any public figure should makes jokes about young girls.

That being said, this really is a storm in a tea cup. Letterman fucked up, let it go.......there's really nothing more to it than that

[letsrock]

I lost a little respect for Letterman over this incident...

The only thing he needed to say was "Fuck You if you can't take a joke".


totally agree.

[FORD]

I think the joke was more aimed at Alex Rodriguez, who would fuck anything he could get his hands on.

And yet you don't hear PayRod complaining about it. Hell, he's probably happy to have any mention in the media that doesn't include the words "steroids" or "Madonna".

[Nickdfresh]

I guess little GAR is offended because we dissed his Alaskan fuck fantasy....

What does Todd Palin have to do with all this?

[letsrock]

Arod, will shatter more baseball records this year.
Palin will still sound like a Moose.

Hey is her daughter out fucking again yet?

[BITEYOASS]

Arod, will shatter more baseball records this year.
Palin will still sound like a Moose.

Hey is her daughter out fucking again yet?

And after all the bullshit and nothing, that day came when the two started fucking! :D

[letsrock]

Maybe Palin will apologize for being stupid?

[Nickdfresh]

Dirty Jokes
What kidding around about sexual predators and innocent teens says about us. And them.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Wednesday, June 17, 2009, at 7:50 PM ET

Anyone who's been scoring Letterman v. Palin knows that it has been a ratings boon to both sides: Last week, David Letterman told a tasteless joke. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin flipped out. Letterman apologized. Palin went berserk. Letterman apologized again. Palin accepted his apology on behalf of "young women" everywhere. Letterman's ratings skyrocketed. And Palin is back in the headlines. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

The pertinent facts: During his monologue on June 8, Letterman called Palin a "slutty flight attendant" and joked about Palin's daughter being propositioned by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and "knocked up" by Alex Rodriguez during a Yankees game. Letterman later insisted the joke was about 18-year-old teen mom Bristol, but the young Palin in attendance at Yankee Stadium that night was 14-year-old Willow, allowing her mom to rage that the late-night talk-show host was contributing to a culture "that says it's OK to talk about statutory rape" and offer up a counterjoke that "it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."

So what's more offensive, the joke about impregnating teenage girls or the joke about sexually predatory old comedians? Answer: neither.

That's the problem with jokes. They are funny only if you accept the premise, in this case, that Palin is the slutty mother of sluts or that Letterman is a dirty old man with designs on 'tween girls. If you don't accept that premise, the jokes become cancerous hate speech. There's no middle ground here. That's why the umbrage wars invariably escalate when jokes are involved. Jokes—or more correctly, the enemies' jokes—seem to open a window on the other team's id. One side's throwaway one-liner is the other side's heart of darkness.

It's easy to view this whole Palin/Letterman dust-up through the lens of political opportunism: As Kevin Drum remarks, Palin "was just looking for some free publicity, and getting her supporters worked up over a supposed insult from a dissolute member of the East Coast liberal elite played directly into her standard class resentment schtick." Columnist Mike Littwin calls it "a faux-culture-war story that falls somewhere between sublime and ridiculous, which is exactly where we need a headline-grabbing, culture-war story to land." But while I agree that Letterman's comments were stupid and Palin's were probably stupider, I don't believe the umbrage on either side was phony. I suspect each side believes it caught out the enemy in a moment of profound moral truth.

That's why the real point of this newest umbrage war is not whether Letterman joked about the 14-year-old or the 18-year-old daughter (NOW finds both outrageous), whether the "slutty flight attendant" line was sexist (Michelle Malkin is beside herself), or whether Palin is a hypocrite for smiling last fall as SNL offered up far more offensive jokes about her children. The point of the umbrage wars is that both sides insist that the other side is getting away with something. Both sides think that there is a double standard at work here that makes its jokes funny while the enemy spews toxic, dangerous hate.

It's not a joke, says Palin, if it contributes to a culture that treats young girls as sex objects. It's not a joke, say her critics, that Palin is accusing Letterman of the imaginary rape of her teenage child.

Palin herself has long argued that her jokes are benign, whereas her enemies' jokes are threats to her family. In her June 12 interview with Matt Lauer, Palin (while, er, calling Letterman a pedophile) complained that the Obama children are cosseted while hers are trashed and violated:

It's the double standard that's been applied here. ... Remember in the campaign, Barack Obama said "Family's off limits. You don't talk about my family," and "the candidate who must be obeyed" [Obama] ... everybody adhered to that, and they did leave his family alone, and they haven't done that on the other side of the ticket, and it has continued to this day. So that's a political double standard.

To which Margaret Carlson replies that "if you want a 'zone of privacy' around your daughter, do you have her appear on stage with her then-fiancé hinting at prospects of a White House wedding waving to the crowd like Charles and Diana of the Klondike?"

Both sides also suspect that there is a double standard for comedians—that one side is allowed to speak freely while the other is muzzled by politically correct hecklers. Here, for instance, is columnist Pam Meister explaining why Letterman got a pass on Palin while Don Imus was canned for calling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."

The reason, of course, is that an old white guy making any kind of slur against a protected minority group is verboten. But an old liberal white guy making crude sexual jokes about the young daughter of a conservative politician is fine, because who the hell cares what those knuckle-dragging conservatives think? Considering the relative paucity of criticism from like thinkers on the left, who would have been up in arms had a similar joke been made about Obama's children (heaven forbid, I might add), is telling.

Liberals, on the other hand, contend that they are the ones held to a higher standard than the Bill O'Reillys and Glenn Becks, who spew hate like the fountain at Caesar's Palace but who are never called on to apologize, as Letterman just did twice.

Maybe the real problem here is not the double standard, or the perceived double standard, or even the fact that two double standards should ultimately net out into a single unitary standard. Perhaps the hard question we cannot quite answer is whether we want our jokes, slips, and gaffes to be considered mere jokes, or to reveal something deep about character.

Sigmund Freud certainly believed the latter. In his 1905 book Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious,* he speculated that jokes, like dreams, are like letters from the subconscious and that, like dreams, they express unspoken wishes and desires. He theorized that often—in the case of what he terms "tendentious jokes"—jokes allow us to bypass cultural repression and scratch some deep psychological itch. Freud speculates that dirty jokes are a form of safe sexual aggression—a kind of safe threesome—and that "hostile jokes" are those that "allow us to exploit something ridiculous in our enemy which we could not, on account of obstacles in the way, bring forward openly or consciously." Hostile jokes, according to Freud, also bring the listeners who enjoy our joke to our team. If Freud were alive today, he'd give both Letterman and Palin perfect scores in each of these categories for their most recent efforts.

I would be remiss if I didn't add that Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious teems with the kind of sexist humor that makes Letterman's foray into dirty jokes about sex with Alaskan teens seem tame by comparison. But the enduring point Freud would argue is that one guy's "just a joke" is a sucker punch to someone else's id. We can't ever resolve the question of when "just kidding" becomes bilious psychopathology, because jokes will never fit neatly into just one category or the other. Freud also has a lot to say about the differences between the intent of the jokester and the perception of the listener, something Letterman learned the hard way this week. But in the end, we may be forever doomed to read more into jokes than we do into other types of declarations precisely because jokes originate from—and are directed to—that part of us with no real sense of humor.

Were Freud alive today, he would also tell you that it's no accident the Letterman-Palin fracas ultimately bogged down in mutual self-righteous claims that jokes about sex with so-and-so are simply never funny. But, then, Freud would also be the first to insist that's why these are the funniest jokes of all.

Correction, June 18, 2009: This article originally gave the wrong title for Freud's book. (Return to the corrected sentence.)
Dahlia Lithwick is a Slate senior editor.

Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2220710/)

Copyright 2008 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC

[ODShowtime]

Uh Dave, it was the 14 year old that was with her at the Yankee game. So saying you would "never, never" make jokes about a 14 year old is a flat out lie. The part the I find really funny is that after the Governor released a statement condemning the comments, the libs are accusing her of using her daughter for political gain. Dave brought her up, not the governor.


The part that I find really funny is that morons like you fall for this horseshit. Whoever wrote that joke for Letterman obviously heard that palin and her daughter were at the game and didn't know it wasn't the one WHO WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT IT IS TO GET KNOCKED UP IN YOUR TEENS AND NOT GET AN ABORTION. They didn't know it was actually her 14 year old daughter in tow. There's now way Dave would make a joke like that about an obvious minor. Professionals know better than that. It's just common sense dude.

[sadaist]

The part that I find really funny is that morons like you fall for this horseshit. Whoever wrote that joke for Letterman obviously heard that palin and her daughter were at the game and didn't know it wasn't the one WHO WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT IT IS TO GET KNOCKED UP IN YOUR TEENS AND NOT GET AN ABORTION. They didn't know it was actually her 14 year old daughter in tow. There's now way Dave would make a joke like that about an obvious minor. Professionals know better than that. It's just common sense dude.


Um, you mean like exactly what I said in post #39?





This whole thing was just a really dumb mistake by the writers for not checking which daughter was at the game with Palin and just assuming it was the 18 year old. Although blame ultimately falls on Dave, he just reads what the writers put on the cards.



Now, kindly go fuck yourself and before you call me a moron again at least have your facts straight.

[ODShowtime]

Um, you mean like exactly what I said in post #39?

Now, kindly go fuck yourself and before you call me a moron again at least have your facts straight.


No, I'm referring to what you said first about 20 posts before the rest of Frontline straightened you out. I reacted to your nonsense before reading the rest of the thread. I don't need to watch you catch up with the rest of us before commenting.



Uh Dave, it was the 14 year old that was with her at the Yankee game. So saying you would "never, never" make jokes about a 14 year old is a flat out lie. The part the I find really funny is that after the Governor released a statement condemning the comments, the libs are accusing her of using her daughter for political gain. Dave brought her up, not the governor.

What you posted first is what you actually thought and what I responded to. Dave would never make a joke about a 14 year old, and it was palin that brought her 18yo slut daughter into the national spotlight to be ridiculed.

Like I said, you have no common sense. It's alright, you can't change that now.

[sadaist]

I reacted to your nonsense before reading the rest of the thread.

That's like commenting on a book after the first page.

And my "nonsense" has been consistent throughout. I still have the same feelings on this whole Letterman thing since it first happened. Dave fucked up, Dave tried to cover his ass with a fake apology, Dave tried to redeem himself with a real apology. My mind or position never changed, but my posts are different pieces of my view.

That's usually how a thread works around here...post thoughts, subject swirls around a bit, post thoughts, flame Gar, post thoughts, decipher Thome, post thoughts, etc.....

Shouldn't hate on me just because you were tardy to the party and too lazy of a fuck to catch up.



To simplify........."FUCK YOU"

[ODShowtime]

And my "nonsense" has been consistent throughout.

Whatever asshole, you obviously missed the whole point. This never should have been a news article, it never should have been a thread, it never should have been an issue for you to parrot talking points over.

When something actually important happens in the news, will we even be able to tell over the cacophony of idiots? Why do I even try anymore?

[Big Train]

Dirty Jokes
What kidding around about sexual predators and innocent teens says about us. And them.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Wednesday, June 17, 2009, at 7:50 PM ET


Maybe the real problem here is not the double standard, or the perceived double standard, or even the fact that two double standards should ultimately net out into a single unitary standard.

Dahlia Lithwick is a Slate senior editor.

Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2220710/)

Copyright 2008 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC


That's my take on this. There is a unified standard that says "don't talk about kids. There are people on both sides of the aisle who test that at every turn. Dave crossed that line for a lot of people and than gave a feeble apology to boot. That's who he is, he only apologized for business. I'm ok with that, if he is being honest. It is who he is.

However, a lot of people changed their opinion of him after this incident. That's ok too, this is America, they are allowed.

The attacks on Palin have been warranted, if about political subjects, in the arena of ideas. I don't buy into this "she asked for by putting them on stage with her". I've never understood that logic. It's a weak justification for having the opportunity to attack cheaply. As is the "hypocrite" angle. "well she preached about family values, but look at her family". Who has not rebelled or rejected elements of their parent's thinking? Is that your paren'ts fault that YOU made that choice?

[Nickdfresh]

That's my take on this. There is a unified standard that says "don't talk about kids. There are people on both sides of the aisle who test that at every turn. Dave crossed that line for a lot of people and than gave a feeble apology to boot. That's who he is, he only apologized for business. I'm ok with that, if he is being honest. It is who he is.

However, a lot of people changed their opinion of him after this incident. That's ok too, this is America, they are allowed.

The attacks on Palin have been warranted, if about political subjects, in the arena of ideas. I don't buy into this "she asked for by putting them on stage with her". I've never understood that logic. It's a weak justification for having the opportunity to attack cheaply. As is the "hypocrite" angle. "well she preached about family values, but look at her family". Who has not rebelled or rejected elements of their parent's thinking? Is that your paren'ts fault that YOU made that choice?

I agree with you here.

But part of the criticism of Palin as for the "hypocrite" angle isn't just the "look at her family" thing, but also the fact that SNL made worse jokes in regard to her daughters and she had no problem appearing on the show (twice?) when it furthered her candidacy...

[Big Train]

I'll agree with you there. I don't understand the SNL bit myself and she needs to answer it. It just doesn't wash though that "she did this, therefore I have the RIGHT to cross this generally accepted societal principle". Everyone is trying to justify instead of just simply saying "Fair enough".