Letterman vs. Palin

[Dis]

Sarah is annoying, but I'd still have a three way with her and Bristol. Now that is offensive.

[Dinner]

no but defending palin when she calls letterman a pedofile and a rapeist. also if american politicas didnt want there family beeing made fun of maybe they shouldnt use them in there campaigns. they cant expect all reactions to be, awwwww.

And that, my friends, is the real bottom line.

[Dinner]

The knocked up daughter wasn't at the event he was refering to. The 14 year old was.

He mentioned several things during the set up for the joke (that Palin was going to speaking events but not allowed to speak, that she went to baseball game with one of her daughters) but right before the punchline he spoke about the 18 year old daughter. Palin is twisting and spinning facts to try to pretend that the knocked up joke was not about her daughter who was knocked up but some other daughter. It's pathetic.

[a.kitman]

bill maher is an ******* dont put me toghter whit him

[Thoth]

The real question is: Why does anyone give a rats ass about what Sarah Pallin says anyway?

She's just another dumb right-wing bimbo.

[Elok]

The knocked up daughter wasn't at the event he was refering to. The 14 year old was.

It's not clear to me that he had Willow in mind (or whichever goofy name they inflicted on the 14yo), and in fact that would have made the joke considerably feebler, but whatever. Since neither of Obama's kids has ever been preggers, the joke would more or less fall flat if made about them.

I propose that Palin do what all has-been media darlings do in our culture: reinvent herself or do reality TV. She's a bit old for the first choice, so I look forward to the premiere of "Eating Live Roaches for Family Values." I bet all the outed gay preacher/televangelist types get voted off before she does!

[DaShi]

The real question is: Why does anyone give a rats ass about what Sarah Pallin says anyway?

She's just another dumb right-wing bimbo.

But that's all the Republican party has going for it these days.

[Thoth]

But that's all the Republican party has going for it these days.

I almost feel sorry for them.

[MrFun]

I don't expect much sense from Coulter.

Smartest comment in this thread? Yes?

[SlowwHand]

Letterman is ahead of some of you. Can you catch up is the question.

Letterman apologizes to audience for ‘bad’ joke

NEW YORK - David Letterman says his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he's sorry.

But the late-night host insists that what's got people outraged is the misunderstanding over which Palin daughter the joke was about.

On Monday's edition of "Late Show," Letterman explains that the risque joke thought by some to have targeted Palin's underage daughter, Willow, was actually intended for 18-year-old daughter Bristol. The name of the daughter wasn't mentioned in the joke, which was part of Letterman's monologue on last Monday's show.

"I told a bad joke. ... It's not your fault that it was misunderstood," he tells his audience. "It's my fault. ... So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much."

The joke referred to Palin and one of her daughters attending a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Letterman told the audience that he had checked to see that the daughter he was talking about, Bristol, was of legal age, not realizing that people would assume he was talking about the younger girl, Willow.

“I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the governor and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani,” Letterman said, “And I really should have made the joke about Rudy."

Letterman said he began to realize how the joke had been misinterpreted while watching commentator Mark Shields on PBS's "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."

"(Shields) was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl,” Letterman said, “And I thought, 'Oh, boy, now I'm beginning to understand what the problem is here. It's the perception rather than the intent.' It doesn't make any difference what my intent was, it's the perception. And, as they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it's not a very good joke.

Earlier, the Alaska governor's husband, Todd Palin had issued a statement that said “any ’jokes’ about raping my 14-year-old are despicable.”

And Sarah Palin charged Letterman with “sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity.”

After the joke blew up, Letterman had invited Sarah Palin to appear on the show, but her spokeswoman declined.

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

Ok, that last was a shot, but still...

[DaShi]

@DD

[Asher]

The knocked up daughter wasn't at the event he was refering to. The 14 year old was.

How many times do you need to repeat this before you realize no one cares and this isn't relevant?

It was clear from the context he was referring to Bristol, who we all know is a slut thanks to her media-slut mother.

Yes, this makes Letterman's JOKE on LATE NIGHT TV factually incorrect but, and I am sure this is news to you considering your humour on here -- jokes are not meant to be factually accurate statements of events! Get over it.

She prolly didn't think her 14 year old child would be the but of sex jokes by a man in his 60s. Though I don't see where adding 4 years to the target makes the joke OK or less creepy though.

Let's face facts. Her 14 year old daughter can legally be having sex and getting knocked up in Wasilla, just like her sister. Let's not pretend she's a "child" where it's convenient. She's a teenager that comes from a family that likes to put out, and put out early. Save the previous virgin drama for someone more naive.

[rah]

Letterman didn't write the joke, he just read it.
Some writer screwed up and didn't realize the younger daughter was at the game.
More of a joke against Alex than the kid.
Joke comes off in bad taste, not unlike many of his other jokes.
Palin figures since Letterman hates repugs figures to take advantage of his error and get some extra coverage.
Letterman, who's known for insulting people really doesn't care.
Untill everyone gangs up on him.
Letterman apologizes and tries to sound sincere. (actually better than his normal apologies)
Inviting Palin shows he's sincere because after his bad joke he'd have to act nice to her.
(Here's the only surprise to me) Palin knowing he'd have to be nice doesn't go on the show to get additional free publicity and a chance to make him grovel a bit more.

This shouldn't have been a big deal, but even being a repug that has given up on Palin, she's smart enough to know she could milk some positive press out of this, so why not. Letterman could have diffused it right away, if he had clarified he was talking about the older daughter(which he did) and did the apology bit right away. (His stalling is what let this grow to a media event) But if you go with the ole any publicity is good publicity mantra, I'm sure he scored some points with a lot of people anyway.

[Lorizael]

Holy ****ing Christ on a stick, this is such a stupid issue. A washed up old model in Alaska is angry because a washed up old comedian in New York told a bad joke. Why exactly are we supposed to care about this?

[Asher]

Letterman didn't write the joke, he just read it.
Some writer screwed up and didn't realize the younger daughter was at the game.
More of a joke against Alex than the kid.
Joke comes off in bad taste, not unlike many of his other jokes.
Palin figures since Letterman hates repugs figures to take advantage of his error and get some extra coverage.
Letterman, who's known for insulting people really doesn't care.
Untill everyone gangs up on him.
Letterman apologizes and tries to sound sincere. (actually better than his normal apologies)
Inviting Palin shows he's sincere because after his bad joke he'd have to act nice to her.
(Here's the only surprise to me) Palin knowing he'd have to be nice doesn't go on the show to get additional free publicity and a chance to make him grovel a bit more.

This shouldn't have been a big deal, but even being a repug that has given up on Palin, she's smart enough to know she could milk some positive press out of this, so why not. Letterman could have diffused it right away, if he had clarified he was talking about the older daughter(which he did) and did the apology bit right away. (His stalling is what let this grow to a media event) But if you go with the ole any publicity is good publicity mantra, I'm sure he scored some points with a lot of people anyway.

Positive press? Being portrayed as a petty ***** that stretches the truth to create drama (eg, the "rape joke" allegations) does not make her look positive.

Best thing she could do is find a large rock and live under it for the next 80 years.