Could someone please tape this man's mouth shut? I thought his joke about Palin was tacky and lame. But more than that... it was harmful to Progressives, albeit minor. Giving Palin and Conservative Republicans any kind of opening like this is just insane.
I also thought his apology was lame...because it seemed disingenuous. Why? Because in the apology he suggests that he had no idea how the joke would be received... that he didn't know he was offending the 14 year old Palin daughter. He thought he was talking about the older 18 year old Palin daughter (as if any of that would have made any difference whatsoever). Letterman was insulting my intelligence with the sham that he didn't know how bad the joke was when he put together his list... rehearsed it... and later told it on the air. I find it hard to believe that a TV veteran with his kind of experience (decades in the Television business) doesn't know what's appropriate and what's not appropriate.
I think Letterman knew exactly what he was doing. As part of his ratings war with another program on a different network, he made a calculated decision to add more of an edge to his Show. Consequences be damned.
This is why at least some national entertainers should steer clear of politics.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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2 comments:
I generally think a politicians' family should be off limits to jokes, ridicule, and heavy criticism. The only exception to that rule would be if said politician is using his/her family as a standard for dictating to other people THEIR value system; only to find their family is just as bad (i.e. Bristol Palin and the abstinence nonsense). But even when the Palins DID bring Bristol to the forefront, it still seemed wrong that comedians (not just Letterman, by the way) feasted on young Ms. Palin.
What's worse - as you pointed out - this story allows people to sympathize more with Palin. And you know how dumb an electorate can get. They don't vote with their minds. They vote with their hearts. I can see Palin riding this wave of sympathy all the way to another run in 2012. I don't think the Letterman incident alone is enough to give her the sympathy vote. But for each time Maher calls her a "bimbo", for each time Letterman takes swipes at the fam, or for each time she is attacked on a blog, the more sympathy she stands to garner.
It's hard to let a person fade off in the sunset if she keeps being put in the spotlight.
This was not the first, the worst, or the last joke that a celebrity has put onto Sarah Palin. If anything, her people know that she has to keep a certain level of controversy to stay relevant. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing was a stunt of sorts. Sell out your daughter for a little attention? I don't see why she wouldn't
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