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Sanctimonious Liar Sarah Palin Should Apologize to David Letterman

June 11th, 2009 · Comments

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David Letterman’s jokes about Sarah and Bristol Palin aren’t far different from what a lot of comedians have been doing.  When you parade your pregnant daughter and former fiancee around and then send her out on an abstinence tour, she is fair game. What is different is the misleading, slanderous reaction by Palin, her husband, and her subordinates.

The Palin reaction?  From her Facebook page:

“Any ‘jokes’ about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too.”

- Todd Palin

“Concerning Letterman’s comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he’d ever dare make such comments about anyone else’s daughter): ‘Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands – that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone’s daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.’”

- Governor Sarah Palin

To suggest David Letterman was making jokes about rape and pedophilia–that is the real outrage here.  He has been on television for nearly 30 years and has never even come close to making a joke on that level.  It is simply misleading, dishonest, and opportunistic to paint him in that light.  It is perhaps the worst thing that can be said about a man.

To top it off, Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton said this morning, “The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman.”

The suggestion that Letterman is some kind of danger to Willow Palin is so scurrilous it defies all explanation.

First of all, Willow Palin wasn’t even dragged into this until somebody from Palin’s side decided to throw her name out there.  You think Willow would have ever heard her name mentioned had the Palin’s not decided to float this phony, opportunistic idea that Letterman was talking about her?  This would have blown over.  They are the ones responsible for putting her out there.  They could have had a little bit of sympathy and gotten on with it.  But instead they’ve decided to milk the outrage for all it’s worth, thus amplifying any potential damage that would supposedly have been done to Willow and Bristol.

It’s obvious Palin doesn’t really care about the joke:  she cares about generating outrage and publicity.

The Palins owe Letterman an apology.  He should fight like hell against this witchhunt.  I doubt he really can, but I wish he would.

UPDATE: Palin’s lunacy continues, droning on about it all day on TV. Here is the right-wing take from Michelle Malkin, ignoring the fact that a) the jokes were funny as hell and b) every woman I know laughs harder at these jokes than the men.  Palin represents the kind of beauty-queen feminism of pervy Conservatives that have elevated the likes of Coulter, Ingraham, and Malkin as their female public faces, while they lob their Chelsea Clinton, Janet Reno and Janet Napolitano jokes without a second thought. I guess it’s okay to make fun of less attractive women who are merely competent.

UPDATE 2: Will the right demand Rush Limbaugh issue a retro-apology for his treatment of Chelsea Clinton who, unlike Bristol Palin, was NOT thrust into the public eye?  Limbaugh referred to Chelsea, who was 13 at the time, as the “White House dog.” This is far worse than what Letterman did, but no GOP outrage.  Only when dear Sarah is involved to Republicans give half a rat’s ass about  feminism.

UPDATE 3: Unfortunately, Letterman has issued a full-throated apology, even taking responsibility for the Palin’s laughably false interpretation of it.  Best to get it out of the why, I guess, but I’m still disappointed she got away with this preening crap.  Oh well.

UPDATE 4: A commenter below laments the “hate” she sees from left-wingers like me. I’ll admit I get a little bit rude sometimes, but nothing compared to some of the venom at the “Fire Dave” rally. Here’s a nice clip. Feel the right-wing love.

UPDATE 5: If Letterman must be fired, then so should Conan O’Brien. Here is a joke Conan made during the campaign:

Saturday night, Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers’ hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter’s penalty box.

Well, Bristol wasn’t even at this game. It was Willow and 7-year-old Piper, who Palin took out onto the ice. Was Conan knowingly joking about hockey players gang-raping a 7-year-old girl? By Palin’s logic, he was.

So should Conan be fired? Leno made this joke:

Gov. Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. And you thought John Edwards was in trouble before! Now he has really done it.

Should they all be fired?

Here is Letterman’s response on June 10th:

Tags: Politics

  • Joy Graham
    Dave, you've got TALENT.
    Within just a few moments, you have INSULTED: The Palin family and American families in general; A-Rod and baseball players. everywhere;
    women, that is 1/2 population of the U.S.; and flight attendents. You
    are not a "good humor" entertainer, You are a sick pervert!
    Joy-less in Texas
  • petera63
    Joy, let's keep it short: letterman (no cap l) is an asshole.
  • petera63
    A Simple Rule of Decency (SRD) for Lettermans, Stewards, O'Brians, Lenos, etc.:

    DO NOT SAY IN PUBLIC ANYTHING THAT YOU CANNOT SAY IN PRIVATE TO YOUR OWN CHILD.

    (PS I'm afraid that if they follow this SRD, they'd be out of business in a couple of days...)
  • Joe
    Willow was at the baseball game with her mom. Bristol was in Alaska. The joke was about Sara Palin's "daughter getting knocked up during the seventh inning" of the baseball game. Letterman now claims he was talking about the daughter in Alaska. Explain to me why anyone should assume the joke was about the daughter in Alaska and not the one at the game.

    Further, this wasn't some off-the-cuff comment. It was in the monologue, which means the joke was written in a room full of writers. No one knew which daughter was at the game? B.S. His "apology" just makes him a liar.
  • Jason
    Nobody knew what daughter was at the game. Nobody knew _any_ daughter was at the game.

    The joke was a basic Palin joke, combined with an Alex Rodriguez joke. Any moron with half a stupid brain knew what the joke was, and it wasn't dirty until Palin started getting worked up about it.

    If Palin doesn't want Bristol getting some jokes, she shouldn't have paraded her and Levi around like prom king and queen before sending Bristol on a bogus abstinence tour sponsored by a company (Candies) that makes young girls look like whores.

    That's the scandal. Letterman never should have apologized. But I have to hand it to Palin nation: you guys are persistent, and nuts.
  • Mike Hicks
    Um, I am an admitted newby here, and I may not be "hip" or too understanding as to the ways that this board operates. But just having noticed what you typed up in your response left me quite perplexed. I think you are somewhat confused when you stated that "nobody knew any daughter was at the game." Really?? This coming from Mr Letterman himself:

    "One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

    In that text, I see "seventh inning," and "her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez." Now, as I stated earlier, I am far from an being an english scholar. Yet there was clearly an error in your statement. He knew, or one of his writers knew, that Gov Palin and ONE of the daughters was attending the game that day. And it really doesn't matter which knew or didn't know. He is obviously the head of everything that goes on with the show, so, in essence, he should have to answer for the questionable joke.
  • JDFrancis
    I don't think the joke requires the daughter to actually be at the game to be told. I think it was more of an excuse to make an Alex Rodriguez joke.

    Jokes like these are made all of the time. Conan O'Brien made this joke:

    Saturday night, Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers' hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter's penalty box.

    Willow and 7-year-old Piper were at that game. Bristol wasn't even there, and Bristol was 17 (thus underage) at the time. Was Conan knowingly talking about hockey players raping Piper? Of course not.

    Sometimes, comedians embellish a little bit to make a joke better. To hold each joke to some kind of rigorous fact-checking is absurd.

    If you do want to demonize Letterman, then you need to go after Conan too.
  • Mike Hicks
    Doesn't matter who did the joke (or jokes), in my opinion it was in poor taste. Such a public figure such as Mr Letterman should always, always exercise better judgement. As a father, I could care less who did the joke, as I would be equally upset. Why is there such a need to go after the daughters?? They are not the persons running for office, or holding any type of office. President Obama's two daughters do not hold any office, and they should definately not be in any discussions when it comes to how an individual feels about the President or his policies.

    If Mr Letterman, or any comedian, has resorted to reaching down this far down into the barrel for jokes, then perhaps it is time for those individuals to retire from show business. Politicians provide enough material so that their children do not need to placed into the fire.
  • JDFrancis
    By your standard, every late night comedian would have to retire, and Rush Limbaugh would have to quit for calling a then 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton the "White House dog."

    Admittedly, a lot of the Bristol Palin jokes have to do with the Republican party's long standing opposition to birth control, as well as the propensity for many Republicans to be sanctimonious about family values (see John Ensign's behavior during the Lewinsky scandal).

    I respect your belief that we should not make fun of Bristol Palin, but comedians have been doing this ever since Palin hit the national stage. If the Palins wanted this battle, it should have happened a long time ago, which makes this recent Letterman argument seem manufactured and arbitrary.

    But we saw this before with the "lipstick on a pig" fiasco. Obama--like Letterman--wasn't talking about what Palin said he was talking about, but she used it as an excuse to play the victim card and get sympathy. Palin complains a lot, which doesn't strike me as very presidential.
  • Mike Hicks
    Yes, it should be standard. Why do we feel the need to have to resort to using a politicians child for jokes?? In my opinion, the politicians themselves provide enough fodder for late night humor.

    Limbaugh was wrong for bringing Chelsea into the fray. She, like the Palin children or the Obama children, did not ask to be placed into the spotlight.

    The point I am making is that Gov Palin, on her own merit, should provide all of the jokes that Letterman would ever need.

    How has it gotten to the point where the children of public figures have become free game? Correct me if I am wrong, but I haven't found any information on reporters, comedians, and the like, ever making fun of JFK's children when he was president. Nothing on Roosevelt's children; even Nixon's children. Why? I fully believe that it would never have been tolerated during those time periods, unlike today. Is it any wonder why the country is in the shape it is in?

    There has been a line of respect that has been destroyed, and it has been instigated by both sides of the isle, democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives. Is it any wonder why more and more americans have today, more than ever, registered themselves as independents?
  • JDFrancis
    I reject the idea that these comedians have made fun of "the Palin children." None of these comedians have purposefully gone after anyone other than Bristol. Bristol is old enough to vote and serve in the military, and hasn't exactly shied from the spotlight.

    I believe the real outrage here is the fake opportunism in pretending Letterman was talking about Willow, and the subsequent "pedophile" and "pervert" jibes. Obviously, Conan's similar joke where 7-year-old Piper was involved was even worse, but we heard nothing.

    I respect the debate about making jokes at the expense of innocent family members, but in this case, it was opportunistic fake outrage that was the driving force behind the argument, with Letterman being the whipping boy when so many others on all sides could be substituted for him.
  • Mike Hicks
    Unfortunately, in her mother's eye (as well as mine, as I have children), Bristol is still a child. I will agree with you in that situation definately does not afford her the luxury of making too many mistakes, nor preaching to the others the virtues of morality. It is one she has placed herself in. But going back to the Letterman joke. There is no denial that his intent was to go after Bristol. Unfortunately, he got it wrong, and Willow was the child at the game. Perhaps he should hire a private investigator along with his numerous writers so that he would know and understand which child to go after next time.
  • JDFrancis
    I don't think Mr. Letterman should change anything.

    I think that we NEED people making jokes about our leaders. When Sarah Palin made the choice to run for Vice President, she asked us to accept her on the highest level.

    If we are forced by various factions to censor ourselves regarding those who wish to rule us, then we are lost.

    Sarah Palin asked us to trust her with the Presidency. She followed up by putting her pregnant, young daughter squarely in the public eye.

    If we have to pull back to respect a figure that aims for our complete trust, then we have turned into the biggest douchebag republic on the face of the earth.

    And, worst of all, we've made humor dirty. Humor reveals things that slip by in our daily lives. That's why we _laugh_ at humor. Laughter is necessary.

    And there would not be any Sarah/Bristol Palin jokes if PEOPLE DIDN'T WANT THEM.

    Do you think these late night entertainers tell Palin jokes just to amuse themselves?

    We want to hear these jokes! We love it when the powerful are ridiculed! If the people didn't want to hear these jokes, they would never be told! Do you love your Hillary and Bill Clinton jokes? Well, then understand why the person who wanted to be a heartbeat away from our country gets razzed every now and then.

    Sarah Palin never should have run for Vice President if she can't deal with the heat. She obviously can't handle any criticism... god forbid any criticism comes from one of our enemies.
  • NonSonoStrana
    Just discovered your site - your spin is unbelievable. I've been reading across the net lately, left and right. Am so disappointed to find so much vitriol and hatred on the left and so much less on the right than I had believed. I'm probably not the only truthseeker out there - you guys are making a really bad impression, I'm afraid
  • JDFrancis
    I can't vouch for the rest of the left-wing, but I'll admit I get a little worked up (and sometimes a bit rude) when I see something I believe to be unjust.

    Also, if you want to see some hate, watch the above video at the "Fire Dave" rally. One woman called Dave's son a "bastard" and his wife a "slut." Another said Dave wants to "rape children with his mouth."

    Give me a break.
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