Letterman Apologizes to Palin
[Guest post by DRJ]
I think.
The apology will air on tonight’s show. Big Hollywood has the full text, including this faintly familiar part:
“And then I was watching the Jim Lehrer ‘Newshour’ – this commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl, 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. And I’m certainly – ” (audience applause) “– thank you. Well, my responsibility – I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. That it was misunderstood.” (audience applauds)
“Thank you. 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.” (audience applause)
— DRJ
Forgive the stupid fool, for he didn’t intend to attack a 14 year old girl. It was an 18 year old girl that he insinuated would have sex with a baseball player she doesn’t know and would be a prostitute for another liberal, Spitzer.
But it’s okay to attack this 18 year old. She made a mistake and her mother’s a pro life conservative.
Only an idiot would issue an apology which is an attempted justification for an unjustifiable attack.
Terry Gain (6b2a64) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:12 pmYou think Letterman was bad, Matthew Yglesias is even worse…
Matthew Yglesias does some fun role playing!
Joe (17aeff) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:13 pmPalin will ride this pony hard for as long as it carries her.
Larry Reilly (45e7a4) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:13 pmPerhaps someone will drag out an old Wasilla budget she approved as mayor, in fact signed with this cutesy flourish: “Sincerely, Sarah Palin.”
She was a notorious penny pincher who checked the budget closely. That would include, during her tenure, a line item for charging women for rape kits used at the hospital emergency room as evidence to back rape charges. That’s right. Get raped and pay as you go when you report it to the Wasilla PD.
Gosh, it’s so much fun to watch Palin wrap herself in the flag of feminism as she worries so much about the psyches of females.
Cheney/Palin in 2012. You know it’s right.
Larry, that line about the rape kits is a lie that was debunked last fall. Why are you repeating lies?
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:15 pmIt’s becoming a regular bit.
Tonight’s show:
papertiger (c89e0a) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:16 pmStupid pet tricks
Tossing things off of buildings
Veiwer mail
Dave apologises to Palin
and of course the Top Ten Reasons Dave’s a weenie
Mawy Reilly drop his typical pile of cow dung.
This apology is certainly pretty close to an apology, and absolutely proves that DSCSA was either lying or profoundly stoooopid in claiming that Letterman had done so previously.
I am still surprised that he thinks that it was alright to make a joke like that about her 18 year old daughter, not to mention the slutty stewardess and the comparing a daughter to one of Spitzer’s whores.
But, this is the best anyone can expect to see.
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:16 pmThat would include, during her tenure, a line item for charging women for rape kits used at the hospital emergency room as evidence to back rape charges. That’s right. Get raped and pay as you go when you report it to the Wasilla PD.
—
I read somewhere that this was just another leftist lie, which was debunked. And no, I’m not searching for proof that this bald assertion is just another a lie.
Terry Gain (6b2a64) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:19 pmTranslation: Fun’s fun, and nobody serious is going to go near the Palin kids again.
(Sullivan isn’t “serious.”)
Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:25 pmYou have to understand what it is first. Rape kits are provided by the State of Alaska funded under public health, rather then law enforcement which is funded locally.
Trust me no news source is going to try to run that by Palin, because they would get the facts thrown back in their face.
She’s been down that road before.
That doesn’t mean some faceless internet sniper won’t troll it on conservative message boards.
Larry is probably the rage at Democratic Underground.
papertiger (c89e0a) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:26 pmThe “rape kit” thing was that the police department billed Medicaid for the rape kits, when applicable. NO WOMAN WAS EVER BILLED.
Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:27 pmSPQR……No, it was not debunked….but the so-called debunking got debunked.
Larry Reilly (45e7a4) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:29 pmSo then, why do you repeat lies?
But it’s okay to attack this 18 year old.
Bristol is fair game for degrading insults, isn’t “innocent,” says David Letterman.
That’s not an apology. That’s a further attack.
And what does Willow have to look forward to? Letterman isn’t going to call her a slut until she turns 17? That’s not an apology.
“I’m sorry I called you a slut before I intended to call you a slut. I was really trying to call your sister a slut because she’s the daughter of a politician I don’t like–which is the same reason I’m going to start calling you a slut in a three years. My Bad! Sincerely, David Letterman.”
Daryl Herbert (a32d30) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:30 pmAbsolutely 100% not enough. Letterman must be fired, and if we give up after 3 days we’ve shown how dead our movement really is.
LCB (b6e675) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:32 pmNo, it was not debunked….but the so-called debunking got debunked.
So then, why do you repeat lies?
Comment by Larry Reilly
Larry, I think your pants are on fire.
Yglesias is about your speed.
Ahmadinejad is in most ways a classic right-winger, a demagogic nationalist and cultural conservative. In a manner somewhat reminiscent of a Sarah Palin, however, he clothes this right-wing politics in a language of class resentment, painting his more pragmatic and reformist opponents as decadent elites out of touch with ordinary people. Unlike the populists of the American right, however, he merges this rhetoric with something resembling an actual populist economic agenda.
You left wing tools have your stories straight. Those seminars must be well attended by women’s studies majors who can’t find a job. What was your degree in, Larry ?
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:34 pmComment by Larry Reilly — 6/15/2009 @ 7:29 pm
No, I’m not a faceless troll. I’m not. I’m really not. Palin rapes babies with her checkbook.
papertiger (c89e0a) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:35 pmHey, Larry? If you are shown by reputable newsources that what you wrote, specifically, is untrue—will you cease posting on Patterico’s?
I mean, since you are so sure and everything?
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:37 pmYglesias graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, Mike K.
Are you claiming to have done better than that?
poon (093c46) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:41 pmMike K,
Let’s see you deal with this quote in the local newspaper for Wasilla from the guy whom Palin made police chief, an utterance from which he never backed away, and which he made in response to the Alaska legislature’s enactment of a law against charging women for rape kits:
“”In the past, we’ve charged the cost of the exams to the victim’s insurance company when possible.”
Uh, if the charge was sent to the woman’s insurance company guess who would be responsible for the debt if the insurance company balked. Capiche?
BTW, which degree? And do you have one? And, if so, is that what makes you think you can…..uh…..think critically? Peesa-paper make you feel all smart and stuff?
Larry Reilly (45e7a4) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:43 pmLarry, so you have no excuse for why you are repeating lies?
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:44 pmIronic. Tomorrow begins a massive protest outside of CBS studios by 200 people who believe he should be fired…on top of a petition with 3,000 signatures requesting the same.
Heh.
Dana (aedf1d) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:46 pmHey, Larry? Go right ahead and compare degrees with Michael Kennedy, MD. You can find out all about him from his link to his own website.
What about you? What “peesa-paper” do you have?
Again, if you are shown that this statement of yours…
…is untrue, will you stop posting here?
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:47 pmTroll scum like Larry demonstrate the irrational hatred that fills the Left.
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:49 pmGet resigned to it, guys, we are going to have five pieces of crap attacking Sarah Palin, at any one time, here.
nk (4b512e) — 6/15/2009 @ 7:56 pmRepeating the “rape kits” lie is just a way to degrade Sarah Palin.
They know it’s false. They just don’t care. The only “truth” they care about is making America more socialist. Everything in between is just details.
Daryl Herbert (a32d30) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:00 pmMawy Reilly has repeatedly shown herself to be nothing more than a drunken whore – but a drunken whore who’s also 12 years old. Sad, but true!
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:00 pmYou know, I am glad that Letterman is trying to apologize. But he just can’t help himself. Notice, in his own statement:
“Kind of” a course joke? Really? Then, the part that illustrates that Mr. Letterman is not being entirely honest (again, from his own statement):
So…he could check personally on Bristol Palin’s age, but not who was actually present at the baseball game? The center of his so-called joke? And if he thought only Rudy Guliani was there, why go after Bristol Palin in the first place?
As a parent, I smell a kid who is caught lying, and trying to cover up and play victim.
Either he doesn’t review what his writers provide, or he is…um…not telling the truth.
But I think the best response to Letterman is here, from AlfonZo Rachel:
http://www.pjtv.com/video/ZoNation/AlfonZo_Rachel_Presents%3A_Letterman%2C_Palin_and_a_Topless_Drew_Barrymore/2026/
Because notice that good old Dave is still not apologizing for the “slut” comment about Sarah Palin. But can you imagine the hue and cry if he made comments like that about Drew Barrymore?
It’s all about alphabetist partisanship, of course, and what surely does appear to be a serious misogynistic streak in Mr. Letterman’s psychological garden hose.
Still, I am glad he is moving in the right direction. Although a gentleman—something Mr. Letterman is not—would personally call the Palins, hat in hand. Todd Palin, as well as Sarah Palin.
How do we know he hasn’t? I hope he has, but given Letterman’s “poor pitiful me” performance, I’m quite certain he would have announced doing so. Perhaps he has, but I wouldn’t bet much on that.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:04 pmCorrection, Eric Blair: A gentleman would not have made the joke in the first place.
Dana (aedf1d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:10 pm“…Yglesias graduated magna cum laude from Harvard…”
Another indicator that grade-inflation is a serious problem.
AD - RtR/OS! (956a02) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:11 pmWhat a lucky girl she is! Sarah Palin has an apology from Dave now in stereo. Let’s see if she chooses to hear it clearly now that she’s got one for both ears.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:11 pmYou know it’s been a bad week for the Left (Letterman, Iran, Bibi kicking ass) when they have to resort to talking points that were shot down in flames last year; or, they’re just too stupid!
AD - RtR/OS! (956a02) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:13 pmI vote, Yes!
No, Larry, if the insurance company balked, the woman was not billed. It doesn’t work that way.
As for Letterman, he owned up and apologized. I’d like to call this episode over.
Steverino (1b3695) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:13 pmDrop it, DCSCA. You were schooled before. Just drop it. It is pathetic to see you defending this kind of nonsense. I can tell you aren’t a father, but you do have a nephew that you clearly care for. You can surely imagine how parents feel about this kind of thing, and in particular your insinuation that Sarah Palin was using Letterman’s disgusting humor to help herself politically makes you seem much like Letterman. I hope not.
You are allowed to post here, for reasons that baffle me. So long as you are civil, no problem. But I would really and truly stay away from this topic. Surely you have other things to comment upon.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:15 pmYglesias graduated magna cum laude from Harvard
Big whoop. His leftist (oh, excuse me—that should be progressive) instincts make him just about brain dead in the area of common sense. And I doubt if his level of true compassion and sincere humaneness is in any better shape, or certainly better than anyone elses, including that of his ideological rivals.
Mark (411533) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:16 pmDCSCA,
You said Letterman already apologized. So why is he apologizing again?
Because you were wrong, as usual.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:16 pmDana #27: of course you are correct. Letterman is toilet film.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:16 pmIf a hospital accepts assignment, the charge is what the insurer says it is, whether it is Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance, and the insurer pays its covered share. If there is a co-pay or deductible, the provider must bill it to the patient but it has no obligation to do collection action if the patient does not pay.
nk (4b512e) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:21 pm#26- Because notice that good old Dave is still not apologizing for the “slut” comment about Sarah Palin. Hmmm. No doubt Jane Curtin has grown old and gray over the past 35 years awaiting Dan Aykroyd to apologize for repeatedly addressing her on camera LIVE from New York on Saturday Nights as, “Jane, you ignorant slut!”
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:24 pmIf there is evidence that hospitals billed self-pays (uninsureds) for rape kits, please present it.
nk (4b512e) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:25 pmHow do you know Aykroyd didn’t apologize?
See how annoying you can be?
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:26 pm#34- He did. He did again. Accept it. I have. Twice. Lets see if Palin does at least once.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:26 pmAnd yes, I hung around emergency rooms for four years and saw young girls coming in for things they would not tell the receptionist/security and he would not insist on.
nk (4b512e) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:27 pmYou keep talking. Funny how few people agree with you. And your continued defense of his actions make you look not so respectable.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:27 pmthis commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl
Modern culture has become so degraded and desensitized, and yet also so full of neurotic political correctness, that I admit to having an increasingly difficult time recognizing when a point — when a joke — has gone beyond the pale.
I recall the flap awhile back over Don Imus making a wise-ass remark about a women’s college basketball team (made up of black females) being “nappy headed hos,” and the guy now in the Oval Office (the same one who embraced Jeremiah Wright) saying Imus should be terminated by CBS radio, which he was.
The politics (and partisanship) behind all of these incidents is both hilarious and a bunch of BS.
Mark (411533) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:27 pmnk, I was referring to you know who, of course, not you.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:28 pmNo doubt Jane Curtin has grown old and gray over the past 35 years awaiting Dan Aykroyd to apologize for repeatedly addressing her on camera LIVE from New York on Saturday Nights as, “Jane, you ignorant slut!”
DCSCA has fully returned to its disingenuous habits. It only took a few days.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:28 pmThat is why I used DCSCA’s own argument, Bradley.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:30 pmYglesias graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, Mike K.
Are you claiming to have done better than that?
Comment by poon
Poon, I never had your advantages so, in spite of my national merit scholarship in 1956, the first year they were offered, I attended USC which had a mediocre engineering school. I wanted to go the CalTech (what year did you graduate, poon? ) but in those days they didn’t have student loans and my scholarship wasn’t funded because my father wouldn’t fill out the financial statement.
I struggled along and graduated from medical school on a four year scholarship, after engineering undergrad, and passed the national boards with a 98.6 average.
OK now your turn.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:33 pm#32- You are allowed to post here, for reasons that baffle me. So long as you are civil, no problem. Back at you.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:34 pmWith his second apology, Letterman, the comic, again, has had the last word.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:36 pmHey, is poon going after Dr. K. again? What’s with that?
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:36 pm#49: that was funny and ironic. Because you were pretty sure that Letterman had the last word, with the first “non-apology.”
We’ll see.
As for Letterman being a comic the past few years, I would refer you again to Inigo Montoya.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:39 pmI think poon was “schooled” by Mike K’s last comment.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:39 pmI owe you an e-mail DRJ. Thanks for you note.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:41 pmGood that he apologized. I don’t think any rational adult believes it is sincere.
voiceofreason2 (10af7e) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:42 pmMaybe some of the over the top stuff about a candidate’s kids will cease – especially irt Palin’s kids.
Freedom of speech can be painful to watch/hear at times. Whether it is Letterman, Rush, Matthews, Imus, Oprah, or Arsenio Hall we still have two tools at our disposal (1) the on/off button, and (2) freedom to not buy the products of the show’s sponsors
If people want the media to cut it out and quit the obvious slant and double standards the best way would be to organize a six month boycott of all television/radio programming on CBS, NBC and ABC.
Graduating Ivy usually makes you a “moron-until-proven-otherwise” in my book.
HeavenSent (1e97ff) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:44 pmVOR2 – the best way would be to organize a six month boycott of all television/radio programming on CBS, NBC and ABC.
I’d agree, but I think many people would have their children eat sand before cutting out TV.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:48 pmOh, and Bill Mahr, speaking of twisted little trolls, chimes in with his inimitable class:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jarone/2009/06/15/bill-maher-real-time-real-man/
I’ll be Letterman is really happy about that “support” from Mahr about now.
Speaking of “jumping the shark.”
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:48 pmNo doubt the Right will be demanding an apology from Roland Martin for his stinging column on the Letterman/Palin distraction as well which ran in today’s NCT. Mislabeled, of course, as penned by Michael Barone. Yet another mistake in a dying, error prone newspaper.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/15/2009 @ 8:48 pmJust to be clear, my “twisted little troll” comment only refers to Bill Mahr. David Letterman is a perverted bitter wrinkled muppet.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:03 pmAfter I finished typing un-repeatable things about Larry Reilly’s mother, I remembered that this was a DRJ post. Moderation, and indeed threats of moderation, are probably a good thing.
As for the poster with 5 initials, I heartily recommend that everyone ignore this person or persons. It isn’t here in good faith.
carlitos (84409d) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:10 pmAs for Letterman, he owned up and apologized. I’d like to call this episode over.
Comment by Steverino — 6/15/2009 @ 8:13 pm
Nope. I want blood.
papertiger (22d973) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:17 pmGraduating Ivy usually makes you a “moron-until-proven-otherwise” in my book.
Graduating from an Ivy league school? No. Our esteemed host is an Ivy graduate but the only time I can recall him mentioning it is when there was a dispute about the curriculum of his alma mater that he tried to clear up.
Assuming that an Ivy degree is ipso facto a mark of superior intellect? Absolutely that makes you a moron-until-proven-otherwise.
JVW (2cd0a9) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:18 pmASPCA is going into the all-dishonest all-the-time mode now.
DCRAP – If you assert that he had apologized before, please provide us with the text of said apology. Secondly, if he did apologize before, why in the world would he do so again?
What in the hell does Palin have to apologize for?
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:21 pmSorry. I am not applying the the victimology academy but poon got to me there for a moment. Yglesias and the rest of us should be judged by the things we have accomplished since college and there are lots of people who have done much more important things with their lives. Relying on what we did as teenagers is a weak excuse for what we do as adults. Some seem to have to rely on their credentials and not on the adults they have become. Pardon me for indulging on accomplishments long since eclipsed by life experience.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:23 pmThird time a charm? No, Letterman is an old pervert and a failure. He’s doing this in the face of firestorm because of his bigotry. Where does this oaf who fathers bastards think he can insult decent people?
He needs to be packed off to the rubber room where he can entertain people who like the DU and Kos Kiddies.
Thomas Jackson (8ffd46) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:23 pmAs for Letterman, he owned up and apologized. I’d like to call this episode over.
Comment by Steverino — 6/15/2009 @ 8:13 pm
Imus owned up and apologized. But I didn’t find him sincere until after a week of Cup of Joe Scarborough in the morning.
papertiger (22d973) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:26 pmYou may be right but if a swath of citizens decided to override what their kids wanted and stake claim to expected standards in programming…
voiceofreason2 (d50518) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:28 pmNothing to apologize for, Mike K. That particular dishonest troll was asking for it.
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:29 pmI am glad that Letterman finally decided to “apologize”. But frankly, all he did was say that he should not have told a joke in such a manner so that it could be construed to have been about a 14 year old. It is pretty clear that he thinks it is perfectly acceptable to make that joke about an 18 year old daughter of Gov. Palin, to say that Gov. Palin looks like a slutty flight attendant, and to compare one of the Governor’s daughters to Spitzer’s whores. Not much of an apology, and still quite cowardly.
As Dana noted, a real man would not have told that joke to begin with, but since he did, a real man would apologize in person.
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:34 pmWhere does this oaf who
fathers bastardsis a bastard father think he can insult decent people?FIFY, TJ.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (3a21c6) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:44 pmMike K,
I managed to stay married to the same woman for 30 years.
Your turn.
poon (093c46) — 6/15/2009 @ 9:51 pmCome on, DCSCA. Explain this to us. I will post it again, so you cannot say you didn’t see it.
If you assert that he had apologized before, please provide us with the text of said apology. Secondly, if he did apologize before, why in the world would he do so again?
Lets see if Palin does at least once.
What in the hell does Palin have to apologize for?
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 10:12 pmCome on, DCSCA. Explain this to us. I will post it again, so you cannot say you didn’t see it.
If you assert that he had apologized before, please provide us with the text of said apology. Secondly, if he did apologize before, why in the world would he do so again?
What in the hell does Palin have to apologize for?
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 11:10 pm#71. Poon, you got moderated for going after Dr. Kennedy before. It looks like you are daring DRJ to ban you. Which is fine with a number of commenters.
Or you could dial back the personal stuff. You were the one being nasty toward him. Are you helping the situation, or do you just like to fight? If the latter, why here? Go into some biker bar and insult some people, if that is your thing.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/15/2009 @ 11:24 pmWhat does your marital status have to do with anything, poon?
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 11:32 pmDSCSA – What, exactly, about that declarative statement suggests that Letterman thinks that he had apologized previously? Since it is clear he did not think that he had apologized previously, why do you?
JD (9df895) — 6/15/2009 @ 11:50 pmNow would be a good time to take Oprah up on her generous offer to have Sarah appear on the show after the election.
She could do a whole show on raising autistic children.
Or she could do a show on building an American pipeline to break our dependance on foreign fuel.
Or she could do a show on the perils of raising teenaged girls in an oversexualized society, with an emphasis on the coarsened atmosphere projected by the entertainment media at America’s children.
But whatever the topic may be it would be a clear victory for conservative women.
I mean what is Oprah to do? Refuse her a second time?
Let her. From what I gather Oprah’s ratings aren’t all that high at the moment. Another refusal for a Palin apperance would constitute a defacto ban on conservative women by the Oprah program. I doubt seriously that Oprah would survive such a ban.
If she were to refuse, that my friends would be like killing two birds with one stone.
excuse me. I’m just kind of day dreaming.
papertiger (4935fe) — 6/15/2009 @ 11:59 pmLetterman says that befere the show he checked to make sure the butt of his joke was 18.
bullshit
That smells like a fat lie.
Who goes into a meeting and goes “hey I dunno how old Palins daughter I am about to make a joke about here is, and I have serious.. ummmm.. qualms.. about a sexual joke about a girl who may be underage… can anyone confirm for me that this joke is about someone over 18?”
Bullshit
SteveG (c99c5c) — 6/16/2009 @ 12:02 amEvery prosecutor here can smell that as a big fat lie
Interesting idea, papertiger (11:59), especially in light of the past feud between Oprah and Letterman. Oprah might like nothing more than to stick a needle in Good Old Dave’s side.
I watched the clip of the “apology” on the CBS website. Letterman plays it for yucks, so in my book it is about as insincere as insincere gets.
No way Sarah Palin or any member of the family ought to go on Late Night and help him with the ratings war, but Sarah ought to challenge Letterman to appear on a neutral show — maybe one on Fox just to really mess with him — where he won’t be supported by his idiot audience and staff of writers and editors. Just the two of them and a moderator and we will see how well Good Old Dave does.
JVW (2cd0a9) — 6/16/2009 @ 12:31 amLecherman dodges the whole issue of flipping off a politician he hates by attacking her kids; which is what this was all about in the first place. And that’s not a matter of “perception,” it’s what he did.
Gregory of Yardale (07425b) — 6/16/2009 @ 3:45 amThe Palin response to Letterman’s apology is out. And, as MSNBC resident conservative Joe Scarrborough noted this morning, it was too political in content and she just should have responded with, “On behalf of the Palin family, we accept your apology.” For once, I agree with the conservative Scarrborough 100%.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/16/2009 @ 3:47 amDCSCA,
If Palin’s response was “too political,” why don’t you quote it so we can judge, DCSCA?
Afraid of getting laughed at again for another one of your fantasies that will get swiftly debunked?
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:21 amI’d agree, but I think many people would have their children eat sand before cutting out TV.
Comment by Apogee — 6/15/2009 @ 8:48 pm
We do not watch TV. At all. We have DVD and VCR players and the daughter watches movies that most of the time she picks, many rented from Neflix and Blockbuster, and many that we have bought. She just finished “Mary Poppins” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and asked for “Where the Red Fern Grows” and “The Black Stallion”. Most weekends, we also take her to a movie-theater or to a play. Although she enjoyed “The Nutcracker”, most operas and concerts are too long for her to sit through, right now, but we’ll see as she gets older. My wife and I find that we do not miss TV in the least, either.
nk (4b512e) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:44 am#82- It’s been broadcast in this morning. I am agreeing with conservative Scarrborough’s take on MSNBC regarding the content. I’m sure you can find it yourself. Or read it in the North County Times tomorrow, if they can quote it correctly.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:54 amComment by DCSCA — 6/15/2009 @ 8:11 pm
I’ll make this simple for DCSCA. It’s not an apology if you repeat the comments in such a way that the audience keeps laughing – repeatedly – at the target, and applauding the “jokes.” Also, as JD pointed out, Letterman himself said “I need to apologize” the second time he talked about it.
no one you know (1ebbb1) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:08 amLink for DCSCA to Letterman milking the audience for more laughs, not apologizing
no one you know (1ebbb1) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:10 amOnce again, DCSCA beclowns himself. It got old a long time ago.
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:18 amDCSCA,
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:39 amWith your record of repeatedly lying and making stuff up, you have no standing to slam anyone’s accuracy.
Joe Scarborough is not conservative.
brobin (c07c20) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:44 amWould someone inform me as to what poon, DCSCA, and Larry Reilly contribute except for visual and cultural pollution?
Letterman is a has been who is lucky he has a job. He may not be so lucky when his employers realize that Liberal political attacks are not funny and cost them revenue to boot.
PCD (02f8c1) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:24 am#90 – they serve as reminders that even the mentally handicapped can be contributing members of society (I apologize in advance to all the mentally handicapped who function at a much higher level than these three).
either orr (6c9faf) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:38 amApparently Gov. Palin has accepted Letterman’s apology (Hot Air link).
no one you know (65b7aa) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:38 amPoon, I graduated “Lowdy How Cum?” but went on to grad school a couple of years later after a stint in the Army. I earned a 3.54 on my Masters but took an additional 30 some odd hours with almost a straight A average. I’ve been a mental health professional for 40 years, Adjunct Professor at one of the University of Texas branches and have worked with many young ladies that have been raped as well as many others with all kinds of abuse that would raise your hair.
GM Roper (85dcd7) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:39 amBA, M.A., Licensed, DD214 – What have you accomplished?
Did Letterman actually say “I am sorry; it won’t happen again“?
If not, he did not apoliogize.
Dr. K (eca563) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:56 amHe should never have appologized.
David Ehrenstein (2550d9) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:11 am“It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception.”
Who died and made this comedian the king of the country?
In our law, in our communities and in our culture, the intent certainly does matter. That is why killing in self defense is not the same as murder. The PC People think they can control us.
His intent was to tell a crude joke about the child of a politician. Lettermen should have know better but he is not professional enough. He doesn’t deserve the time slot.
tyree (7f4639) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:21 amEric, JD, GM,
I’m, not ignoring you, some of my comments aren’t making it through moderation.
Sorry.
poon (093c46) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:33 amWhat does your marital status have to do with anything, poon?
Comment by JD
I was long since in bed with my wife of 22 years when this exchange occurred and I just noticed it. JD, I think we should give poon a pass on this one. After all it is probably trying to make the point that same sex marriage is more stable.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:01 amI’m sure you can find it yourself.
This is exactly the same MO we’ve been forced to endure endlessly, and it was best exemplified by Dggcrpp’s earlier refusal to provide video proof of it’s assertion regarding the Tea Party rally in Chicago, where the CNN reporter was defenestrated. Everyone (including Patterico) asked for video proof, to which Dggcrpp only claimed existed in it’s own special universe – and (suprise!) it was never posted. How many chances does this type of willful dishonesty receive here?
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:08 amI have been with my wife (my only wife) for nineteen years, I have kept at least one human being off of death row, and a whole bunch of others out of prison, and I
havehad at least an IQ of 85 because I was admitted into the Chicago Police Academy.I understand DRJ’s reluctance to ban poon but we can effectively ban it by ignoring it.
nk (2e1372) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:31 amAs nk once said, just step around it Dmac. Try a little zen.
carlitos (84409d) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:35 amMike K,
We were married for 12 years before we had a child. Because I was keeping criminals from prison, and because my wife was finding cures for neurologic ailments. Were I to give you her name you would likely recognize it, and were you to Medline it you would see a 1,000 references to her work.
nk (2e1372) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:41 amI am amazed, but not surprised, by the flexible yardstick in #81.
The irony is staggering. Let’s review:
1. Sarah Palin should have simply said “I accept your apology” and nothing more.
But….
2. Letterman need not have simply said “I made an offensive error, and I apologize for it.”
Notice that Letterman went all over the place justifying himself.
It seems to me that if #1 is true, why not #2?
But we know the answer to that question.
Party affiliation.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:54 amHey nk, I can’t tell who insulted you. Poon, maybe? If so, I am pretty sure that the reality of his/her life does not match the bombast. Or maybe I am misreading you. You and your wife have much to be proud of, clearly.
I’m with you on television and children, by the way.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:59 am…not to mention extreme jackasshattery.
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:00 amThat was in reference to Eric’s comment in #101.
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:00 amComment by Eric Blair — 6/16/2009 @ 8:59 am
Just saying, Eric. I believe you praised your wife in a similar manner not too long ago.
Actually, my wife will scold me for this. I should be above it, she will say.
nk (2e1372) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:08 amHe came close enough, Dr. K:
Steverino (69d941) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:10 amI’m with you on television and children, by the way.
Comment by Eric Blair — 6/16/2009 @ 8:59 am
That was my daughter’s choice, too. She said, “No more “Dragontales”, no more “Caillou”, no more “Curious George”, no more “Sesame Street”.
I kind of liked watching “Dragon Tales” and “Curious George”.
Kids, these days.
nk (2e1372) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:14 am106 – How would a judge react to a person if they “showed remorse” by stating that:
I am sorry I killed those 20 people, and I’ll try to do better in the future.?
That is not an apology. An apology contains a promise to NOT repeat the offensive behavior.
Letterman may “try”, but there is no insistence of how hard he should try.
Dr. K (eca563) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:21 amLetterman is a ____ ___ ___ and McCain was an ____ for going on his show. Anyway, if it’s Sarah Palin who replaces the has-been deadwood, his entire failure of a life might still work out good for America. Redemption.
nk (2e1372) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:28 amThat’s more than a bit absurd, Dr. K. Letterman didn’t kill 20 people, so the two conditions are hardly analagous.
Besides, no matter how penitent the criminal is, I should hope the judge imposes the death penalty on someone who killed 20 people.
He said he was sorry. He said he would try not to do it again. That should be the end of it.
While I agree Letterman’s first attempt at an apology fell well short of the mark, I think the second attempt was an adequate apology. Sarah Palin thought so, too. If the offended party feels it’s acceptable, who are you to quibble?
Steverino (69d941) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:35 amCome on, DCSCA. Explain this to us. I will post it again, so you cannot say you didn’t see it.
If you assert that he had apologized before, please provide us with the text of said apology. Secondly, if he did apologize before, why in the world would he do so again?
What in the hell does Palin have to apologize for?
You have studiously ignored answering direct questions, which given the time available to do so, suggests that you are either unwilling or unable to do so.
JD (9df895) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:48 amSteverino, I am truly sorry that you really appear to be that dense. I’ll try to not make the mistake of confusing you for someone who has half a brain. Mind you, I probably won’t try very hard, as I am easily distracted.
How’s that for an apology? It’s basically the same thing Letterman said.
The point is that by merely promising to “try”, you are leaving yourself wiggle room. Wiggle room in an apology renders it meaningless.
Next time you inadvertently insult your wife (or boyfriend*), I suggest that you apologize by promising to “try not to do that in the future”. See how far it gets you.
*If you are not a “sodomy advocate”, then I’ll try not to make that mistake in the future. Maybe. Feel better now? Bygones and all that.
Dr. K (eca563) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:57 amHe apologized for making a vile joke that could be construed to be about a 14 year old, and made it clear that he intended that vile joke to be about their18 year old daughter. He did not apologize for saying she looked like a slutty stewardess. He did not apologize for comparing her daughter to one of Spitzer’s whores. Now, Gov. Palin appears to have accept the “apology” in a far more gracious manner than it was extended.
JD (9df895) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:57 am111 – Uh, JD, as much as I hate to stand up for d—-, please reread his post. He was more than likely stating that since Letterman had apologized twice (which I dispute, it’s closer to “not at all”), Palin should accept it at least once.
Dr. K (eca563) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:00 amMilestones since college:
AD - RtR/OS! (b363ba) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:01 amI’m afraid that my life is somewhat of a failure.
I have never been arrested, convicted, or incarcerated.
Unlike many national figures, I have never had a close friend tried, or convicted, of a felony.
When confronted with less than desirable results of my actions,
I have not attempted to blame my shortcomings on others,
but have accepted the consequences of those actions, as painful as they might be.
I realize that the above admissions are not what passes for “normal” in today’s society;
but, absent a desire for public office or notoriety,
I cannot in any honesty change from the course of action that I have followed for lo these many years.
I hope that you all can forgive me.
Quite seriously, Dr. K, GFY.
My point is that you are being unreasonable in your assertion that Letterman’s second attempt wasn’t a valid apology. You seem to have dug into that position, and will not listen to reasonable argumentst to the contrary.
Sarah Palin has accepted Letterman’s apology. Since she was the offended party here, I think her decision to accept it should guide all of us.
If you are trying to claim that your gross insult of me here is at all analagous to Letterman’s apology, then you have a long way to go to prove any parallel.
Steverino (69d941) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:09 amOh good grief. It’s far closer to a real apology than most attempts are these days. He should get some credit for at least attempting; this was not your typical run-of-the-mouth non-apology to those who may have been offended.
htom (412a17) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:12 amWell, htom, except for the belated, after a week’s excuses, you are right.
SPQR (72771e) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:17 amWords are cheap, actions are dear.
Whatever Letterman’s apology is, it is meaningless words until he backs it up with an action. I suggest that he offer to donate a million dollars to a charity of Palin’s choice. That would be easy enough to manage.
luagha (5cbe06) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:19 amSteverino writes: “… who are you to quibble?”
Americans.
With First Amendment free speech rights.
Well, last I looked. Has that been Hoped and Changed?
SPQR (72771e) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:20 amSteverino, I figured that I’d save time and insult you (as Letterman insulted Palin and her family) and apologized (as Letterman did by basically stating that he was misunderstood).
That, friend, is not an apology; it is blaming the offended party of not “getting it”.
I have offered 2 apologies ala Letterman, and all I get from you is “GFY”? Right back at you big boy! How does it feel? Really?
And you think that Letterman apologized? Weasel words probably work OK for Liberals (or Progressives, I’ll try not to make that mistake again); but in polite society, an apology thus offered, even while accepted by the injured party, it not forgotten. The injured party just wants the episode over and done with. As do you.
As I stated before: Steverino, I am truly sorry that you really appear to be that dense. I’ll try to not make the mistake of confusing you for someone who has half a brain. Mind you, I probably won’t try very hard, as I am easily distracted.
Dr. K (eca563) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:24 amFair enough, Dr. K. And she has, in a far more gracious manner than either of the “apologies” were issued.
JD (9df895) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:27 amI still want blood.
Letterman – [Violent comment removed — P]
papertiger (7a9e8b) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:40 amOh, it was understood, alright, Mr. Letterman. But hey, in the spirit of Christian (and the Gov’s) forgiveness, let’s put this ugliness behind us and move on.
My tv-viewing household, we’re “moving on” to The Tonight Show, with Conan O’Brien…permanently.
furious (b6aff2) — 6/16/2009 @ 11:15 amHe should receive the same treatment Imus did. No more, no less.
Michael Ejercito (833607) — 6/16/2009 @ 11:42 am#89- Joe Scarborough is not conservative. Hmmm. You might want to let him know he’s been purged.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 6/16/2009 @ 11:47 amIsn’t perception the new reality?
AD - RtR/OS! (b363ba) — 6/16/2009 @ 1:19 pmIf there are those who perceive Joe as Not Conservative, isn’t that just as valid as those who perceive him as Conservative?
After all, everything is relative, right?
#112
What in the hell does Palin have to apologize for?
DCSCA reminds me of that poster who got banned who was a high school teacher – I can’t recall his screen name. He also had some semi-psychotic anti-Palin perceptions. Of course it’s hardly a unique phenomenon.
Gerald A (adb85a) — 6/16/2009 @ 2:00 pmI’m more interested in Dggcrpp explaining how he was working at Enron, NASA and also living in Britain…at the same time.
How ’bout it, Dggcrpp?
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/16/2009 @ 3:38 pmIt was probably wise at this point for Palin to have accepted Letterman’s Apology 2.0.
I very much doubt the apology was sincere. As was pointed out, it mainly consisted of Letterman saying his intention was misinterpreted by people who don’t get his humor. But his intention to sneer and demean was understood all too well.
However, at least Letterman’s lack of class has been exposed for all reasonable people to see. That category of course doesn’t include knee-jerk leftist Palin-bashers and career fabulists like DCSCA.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R., (4eaa94) — 6/16/2009 @ 3:55 pm#
I still want blood.
Letterman – f him with a shotgun.
Comment by papertiger — 6/16/2009 @ 10:40 am
Whoa, whoa, whoa……is this sort of violent threatening talk allowed around here or what???
Nice. Is everyone on the Right okay with this sort of extremist thuggery? I mean isn’t this the sort of talk that has led to some terrible acts of violence from extremist folks who follow the Fox network and others?
PettyPat_and his_PityParty (a89c50) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:25 pmWhat we are OK with is telling you to go fuck yourself. That is thuggery we can believe it, you troll piece of shit.
carlitos (84409d) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:27 pmPettyPat_and his_PityParty
Why not just name oneself “Please ban me now” and save time?
Mitch (890cbf) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:28 pmThis troll is tiresome.
JD (2c7553) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:29 pmThe ironic monicker is especially funny given that now he’s trolling here looking for something to be outraged about. The name fits.
carlitos (84409d) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:31 pmAD, I’ve been arrested and it was one of the more interesting experiences of my life. However, once is enough.
Mike K (90939b) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:37 pmTo the person that cowardly hides behind a name that insult the host – Your rhetoric of the last 8+ years got a US serviceman, Pvt. Long, murdered in Arkansas. Your attempts to tar the Right with the actions of murdering sickos was as predictable as the sun rising.
JD (2c7553) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:43 pmWell, what can be expected by a group of people who vote 2 to 1 that it is okay for a 75 year old grandmother to be tasered by a fat cop twice her size (and half as smart).
All I’m saying is that there seems to be a double standard here. That is a direct threat to David Letterman, like the many constant threats and lies manufactured by Fox, and Rush and Hannity And Beck and the rest of those snake oil freaktards about Obama, and if our president should be hurt or another horrific Oklahoma City bombing takes place, I really really really hope the Right and Fox and Rush mans up and takes responsibility and because they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and beyond in the voting booth. The blood will be on your hands folks, so let’s see how far you’re going to let this shit go on with these not so subtle threats and wacko conspiracy theories and complete horseshit streaming out of the right wing media without doing the decent thing and finding a spine and speaking out against it.
Go aheaad, I dare you to do what’s right and decent without getting your panties all in a twist about Communism and the end of America as we know it and all manner of racist, ignorant, manipulative excretia…..
PettyPat_and his_PityParty (57f09d) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:50 pmI can do worse Petty.
papertiger (0b6250) — 6/16/2009 @ 4:59 pmSo whatcha want sex or violence?
Maybe you would like me to mix the two up, like a Letterman joke.
papertiger (0b6250) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:01 pmYour attempts to tar the Right with the actions of murdering sickos was as predictable as the sun rising.
Getting a bit defensive aren’t we?? If the shoe fits. Case in point no one here called papertiger out on his violent threat. Now why is that? And no it has nothing to do with freedom of speech because lots of people have been banned here from the left for making statements half as threatening. How is saying…I want blood and f–k Letterman with a Shotgun okay in anyone’s book and especially on a site run by an ADA?? Hypocrisy anyone?
PettyPat_and his_PityParty (a89c50) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:02 pmHe didn’t say it was a loaded shotgun.
Uncle Pinky (e4d7c2) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:10 pmYou are a hysterical lying troll. Assassination pron, name-calling, and faux moral outrage is so commonplace amongst your type that it is no longer surprising when you act the way you do, coward.
JD (2c7553) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:22 pmI really really really hope the Right and Fox and Rush mans up and takes responsibility and because they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law
Since you claim to know so much about causality, along with our host, and are trying to bring his profession into this (which will not bode well for you, my saboteur friend), then perhaps you can explain exactly which law will hold ‘the Right’ ‘accountable’? Have you identified Does 1-152,000,000 yet?
Or are you simply part of the group that would like to write a new law to hold people (that you disapprove of) ‘accountable’?
You seem to have issues of control regarding others, which explain why you continue to linger here even though this site is so shocking to your sensibilities.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:36 pmPatterico should be flattered. He has seven trolls assigned to derail his threads.
Seriously. This site had the best comment section on the internet before the trolls started showing up. And drove away a lot of good commenters. This “tolerance of liberals” attitude should be re-examined.
nk Barack Hussein Obama (77d95e) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:46 pmSigh.
#1 – Letterman was an ass for making the joke – (let me put it this way) since when is it OK for a rich white man to mock 18-year old single mothers? IF a wall-street type friend of mine said it – the lefties would want to beat his smug ass. But hey, it was a nasty cheap shot at Palin, who the Left casts as so pathetic and absolutely no “threat” to them that they cannot stop attacking her even after they won. (sort of like the Klan being desparately afraid of..er, they mean “deeply scornful of..” black people in general and black men in particular.)
#2 – WTF? Make a sleazy comment and the response is an attack on the target of the comment? “MaryX is a @#$%#@$%!” “Gee, that seems wrong to say.” “Oh yeah? Well I heard she is a cheap bitch!”……and that’s relevant to the first comment…how? (other than reinforcing the image that attacks on MaryX are motivated by some sort of irrational hatred – apparently not grounded in anything relevant to the original nastiness.)
#3 – I am pretty ambivalent about Palin in general – however the more she is attacked and scorned for complete Bullsh*t – the more She gets the glow of virtue. And don’t waste my time or yours talking about how wrong this is….it is the opposition behavior that is encouraging the perception of Palin as a noble figure. Gee, don’t like that ? STOP THE FREAKIN’ BEHAVIOR!!!!! unless of course you cannot- you know, it is a compulsion. But thems Righties – they are scary, being slaves to EMOTION and all.
(“slutty flight attendant..” Dave – you seem to be the one with issues, do women in general threaten you old boy? Or just that one?)(and really – are the Dems and the Dem-friendly really ready to cast themselves as the voice of prudent america – “Watch that hemline, hussy!” ha ha ha ha.!!!1 – They just lost Bill Maher.)
Californio (9b0d11) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:50 pmI wonder how long our host will allow this pathetic troll to call him names?
JD (2c7553) — 6/16/2009 @ 5:51 pmTooth to splurwing plower!
Dmac (f7884d) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:33 pmPittyPat: If he were here, I know Patterico would tell you he doesn’t have all day to monitor every comment — lucky for you he doesn’t — and stop trying to bring his job into the discussion.
papertiger: No more shotgun or similar violent comments.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:40 pmMaybe I sould have said “F him with a crowbar”.
Ah well. Bygones
papertiger (81e410) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:44 pmPatterico should be flattered. He has seven trolls assigned to derail his threads.
I am impressed. Obviously, this site is effective.
Seriously. This site had the best comment section on the internet before the trolls started showing up. And drove away a lot of good commenters. This “tolerance of liberals” attitude should be re-examined.
Agreed, nk.
As much as I enjoy participating in World Wide Troll Smackdown, the last six months have been quite tiresome. I’m all for reevaluating “tolerance for liberals” as long as any changes made retains the intelligent and good faith liberal commenters that we can learn from and strengthen our arguments.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (bcc87c) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:55 pmPittyPat: If he were here, I know Patterico would tell you he doesn’t have all day to monitor every comment — lucky for you he doesn’t — and stop trying to bring his job into the discussion.
Bringing Patrick’s job into the discussion–especially in a negative light–is grounds for an instant banning, if previous performance is any indication.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (bcc87c) — 6/16/2009 @ 6:59 pmBeg your pardon Maam.
I take full responsability for the bad timing of that last post, and I’ll try and do better in the future.
papertiger: No more shotgun or similar violent comments.
Comment by DRJ — 6/16/2009 @ 6:40 pm
I’ll keep the papertiger toolbox closed also.
papertiger (da9e80) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:02 pmI know you will, papertiger.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:09 pmI hope CBS removes this old pervert. The public has had to stand for this brand of “culture” for far too long. Letterman needs to go back to the college circuit when crude and unsavory remarks are considered high humor.
Thomas Jackson (8ffd46) — 6/16/2009 @ 7:42 pmCalling for him to be fired over a single joke seems very extreme. It was a dumb joke that referenced Palin’s kids and should not have. He has apologized, and she has accepted. I’ll save my outrage for Obama’s failure to condemn the events in Iran.
Patterico (cc3b34) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:37 pmWhen the lynch mob is done with Letterman, Leno should be next:
“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.” — The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, 9/2/08
Myron (98529a) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:49 pmHey, Myron. Do you have any children? Just asking.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:57 pmEric: No. Why?
Myron (98529a) — 6/16/2009 @ 8:58 pmThen you should probably just leave the subject alone. Until you have children, you don’t understand how parents feel about sex jokes involving their children—from Leno or anyone.
After all, I hear this argument quite often from African-Americans—that no Caucasian can understand.
So, to coin a phrase, please move on. Leno is a fool, since he doesn’t have kids. Letterman remains a pervert, because he does.
But he is learning.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:06 pmGood luck, Eric. This one is willfully obtuse.
JD (1910a1) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:08 pmMyron We already got him fired.
papertiger (ef009a) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:11 pmDon’t you watch latenight tv?
I would normally say that Myron doesn’t make things up about his own background…but then, he doesn’t write about his own background.
I just want him to find a new topic.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:26 pmEric:
I figured you would go that way. Sigh. So predictable.
Let me understand: I need to be a parent to understand that Palin’s reaction to Leno and Letterman stand in direct contradiction? I am suggesting that in her case at least, the outrage is fake, b/c it’s not consistently applied. Do you have anyhing to refute this point, or would you rather continue to take the easier course of personally attacking me?
Papertiger: Good one. :)You only got Leno demoted.
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:27 pmIn JD’s world:
“willfully obtuse” = “doesn’t agree with JD”
But it’s your world, JD. The rest of us are just visiting.
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:29 pmNo Myron, it is not my world. You are entitled to visit whenever you like. You just are not entitled to your own “facts”. That you can so breezily dismiss this overt display of partisanship on behalf of Teh One by ABC shows me that the D or R behind the name makes a difference to you when someone’s gore is being oxed.
JD (1910a1) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:35 pmI figured you would go that way, Myron. Sigh. How predictable. Is it now your standard that the teenage kids of political opponents are fair game?
JD (1910a1) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:38 pmJD: What “facts” did I make up? I’d be interested to know. Otherwise I might have to accuse you of just running off at the mouth to make some kind of point. Even in your world, that’s beyond the pale.
Bless you for your pure nonpartisanship, as evidenced by the many times you’ve given the president the benefit of the doubt or praised something he has done.
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:39 pmIs it now your standard that the teenage kids of political opponents are fair game?
Point to where I said that. I only have few posts on this thread, all toward the bottom. It should be easy to find where I said that.
You wouldn’t be making up your own set of “facts” would you?
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:41 pmBy the way, JD, once upon a time — by which I mean on June 9 at this very blog — I DID say the following(parenthetical material added):
Gesundheit: You’re kind of cleaning up the McCain comment (about Chelsea Clinton) more than it deserves. It wasn’t merely tasteless, but a cruel comment directed at a young woman who had just recently turned 18. He used his national platform and stature to deride her as “ugly.”
He did apologize, and Letterman should do the same.
Maybe Letterman’s writers thought it would be funny to make a joke about “podunk Palin” and her daughters getting knocked up, not bothering to think that the girl at the game was a kid. But to give them that maximum benefit of the doubt, I’d be doing the same thing as you’re doing with McCain.
Party ID aside, both of the adults were wrong to drag in people’s kids.
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:46 pmI asked you a question, I did not state any facts. I asked if that was your standard. Your comments suggested to me that you thought that Palin was in the wrong, and should not have been offended because someone else once made a joke involving her daughter.
I never made any claim to be non-partisan, but feel free to savage that strawman.
JD (1910a1) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:46 pmI’ll give it a try.
Myron reel back to when the whole Letterman joke thing became an issue. It was due to Sarah being at hand, present to promote the Alaska NG pipeline project and reporters asking her as an apendix what she thought of David Letterman’s crude joke.
Governor Palin didn’t pursue this demanding an apology. It was waved under her nose by reporters, Wolf Blitzer for instance.
If a newscritter had not made the Letterman joke into a big deal, it would have been water under the bridge, just like the Jay Leno joke that I didn’t see or hear about until you posted it there.
That clear things up for you?
papertiger (c8ebbd) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:49 pmSo, I am sorry if I misinterpreted your position. I did not recall you posting that previously. I still think that your position that this was somehow fake outrage to be presumptuouis, but that is one of the standard Leftist memes advanced from the get-go. Had it been my children that were the target of the joke, I would have been mad. And trying to compare reactions from specific inciodents seems to be fairly pointless, as it removes all of the context. But, equivalence away …
JD (1910a1) — 6/16/2009 @ 9:54 pmPapertiger: If your account is correct, yes that would explain the contradiction in the initial response. Thanks for that rundown.
But in her preaching today about Letterman’s apology it would seem she might mention Leno — especially when you said: “Of course it’s accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who ‘joke’ about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve.”
Let me suggest that Leno was not thrown into the pool of men who need to evolve, b/c there is no political upside for the Palins (Todd&Sarah) at present to take him on, too. But I freely acknowledge that this is just speculation and nothing else.
But your reasoning for Palin’s differing responses to the same offense fails to explain why some on this blog and elsewhere are calling for Letterman to be fired but are not calling for Leno to be fired over the exact same thing. What struck me is that it is the EXACT same offense.
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:10 pmpapertiger: That should have been “especially when SHE said.”
I’m not putting words in your mouth …
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:11 pmI still think that your position that this was somehow fake outrage to be presumptuous.
I can’t deny that it is presumptuous, yes, since I do not know Palin’s heart. Personally, I think she was at least a little offended and the rest is politics. But that’s again, just speculation.
Myron (a5d1ef) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:14 pm… fails to explain why some on this blog and elsewhere are calling for Letterman to be fired but are not calling for Leno to be fired over the exact same thing.
Hey, look over there, cake!
nk (eaa598) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:15 pmI can’t deny that it is presumptuous, yes, since I do not know Palin’s heart.
You don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground. You are a disingenuous shit.
nk (eaa598) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:18 pmOh, I’m not attacking you, Myron. I think you are guilty of precisely the “sin” you are applying to Palin: cynical partisan use of a situation.
I don’t know you, and here I am judging you. Unfair? You seem fine with that level of lack of knowledge applied to Palin’s actions.
You don’t know Palin. You don’t know if she is or is not “consistently” applying anything (interesting that you feel that you can dictate that and make that judgement). What? She hasn’t given an interview regarding Leno to suit you? How dare she!
I do think that your not having children is relevant. If I was popping off about how lazy firemen were, and was not a fireman…and you were…would you be correct to criticize that statement?
So: move on. And as for McCain, keep in mind that he apologized without justifying his actions (go read the text of his apology, and compare it to Letterman’s bizarre little show), and further—keep this mind—McCain called Clinton personally to apologize.
Keep in mind what I wrote. Leno is a jerk. He has no children. Letterman is a perv. He has kids. He should know better.
Again, having kids is relevant here. And if it isn’t to you, I suggest you take it up with many your fellow progressives regarding ethnic politics, who have no trouble at all stating that a person not in an identity group cannot possibly understand people in that identity group.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:18 pmFrankly, I think it was…
It’s just that I have never found Leno funny, so I ignore him completely. I used to like Letterman back in the day (I miss Super Dave Osborn), so I occasionally pay attention to him.
The fact that Gov palin didn’t mention Leno might well be because a) Leno wasn’t the one that was brought to her attention, so you focus on what people are making you focus on and b) she might remain unaware as to what Leno said.
I was until about 30 minutes ago.
But you’re completely correct in that it was the same offense. I would love to see BOTH go away (but Leno only because, again, I NEVER found him funny).
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:21 pmMyron
Good for you. It looks like Pat and company have played out our collected outrage over Letterman.
Well done.
Now, you might want to try calming down Cynthia Yockey. She’s still put out by the Letterman thing, and vows to relentlessly pursue his firing.(link via Instapundit).
Good luck saving Leatherface.
papertiger (c8ebbd) — 6/16/2009 @ 10:42 pmMy goal has never been to get Letterman fired. CBS can hire anyone it wants, just as I can buy from anyone I want. That’s why I notified 3 companies I used to do business with that I would no longer buy their products as long as they advertise on Letterman’s show. I guess other people see it the same way because TV Guide reports Letterman has already cost CBS an advertiser.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/16/2009 @ 11:05 pmSo it goes. I for one, have holstered my shooting iron.
And my tire iron. 🙂
papertiger (a0d15a) — 6/16/2009 @ 11:40 pmI’m partial to my 9 iron.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/16/2009 @ 11:45 pmMyron – What struck me is that it is the EXACT same offense.
I shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to be lazy and accept your quote at face value – “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.” — The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, 9/2/08
In your quote, the words Gov. Palin announced indicate, to me at least, a different scenario. At that point, 9/2/08, Palin was still in the running for the office of VP, and I believe that she was doing ‘damage control’ by releasing that information either simultaneously or ahead of the DNC. The fact that Palin made the announcement, along with the timing of the announcement during a contentious election changes the relevance for me.
Yes, Palin is a politician, and although one can accuse her of bringing her children into the campaign by making that announcement, it would be disingenuous to suggest that she could possibly have supressed the information given the microscope she was under at the time. Making the announcement herself was an attempt to undermine the cries of ‘shame’ and hypocrisy that would have been far worse had she attempted to conceal the information. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but people would have been more vicious to Palin and her family had the information been revealed by an enemy.
Was Leno’s joke in poor taste? Yes, but the difference is that it was also topical, and since it coincided with a jab at a former Democratic candidate, the suggestion that it was simply a partisan attack on Palin’s family is much harder to allege. So even though the joke may have been in poor taste, the family (according to what I remember from Palin’s interviews) had discussed the possibilities regarding the jokes and negative publicity, and was most likely far more disturbed by the sheer amount of hatred from the left.
I also think that Leno had an ‘out’ in that Palin herself had recently made the announcement to the media. The information was out there, and Leno was not suggesting that this was a common occurrence for Palin’s daughter, unlike Letterman’s joke, which, combined with the ‘slutty flight attendant’ comment earlier, nastily implied a general lack of chastity for the entire Palin family.
I can understand your disagreement, but I just see a different tone and timing. I know that politics is a contact sport, but I was far more incensed at the level of dishonest smears leveled at Palin and her family during the campaign season than Leno’s joke. Compared to Andrew Sullivan’s sickness, Leno’s lame joke pales. Not so for Letterman. He devoted quite a bit of time going after Palin and her family, all for the crime of visiting New York and attending a baseball game. Leno was lamely trying to be funny using recent news topics. Letterman was executing a partisan attack. There’s a difference to me.
But fire Letterman? I can’t get behind that. But I didn’t think Imus should have been fired either.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/17/2009 @ 12:01 amWell stated, Apogee. I think that many comics are actually passive-aggressive bullies (Jon Stewart, for example), who hide behind the “comedian” business. The gold standard is how they would feel if the tables were turned.
Letterman was schooled. Rest assured he no longer thinks that everything he finds amusing is a great joke for public consumption.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/17/2009 @ 12:31 amThe liberals gone now?
Reily?
Petty?
Myron?
Good.
So let’s take it down underneath the prying eyes of liberal trolls and watchdogs.
Lets go tweeter and meet up on the VRWC channel.
Rally on me fellow conservatives. Pitchforks on the left. Torches on the right.
We’re going to drive leatherface out or die trying.
Whose with me?
This isn’t about Palin’s children. This is about thousands of children who were never born due to policies of Democrats.
Remember when the media Democrat nexus reported 5.4% unemployment as a bad thing? Do you?
We aren’t pitching a revolution against a bad joke, we are fighting against an unholy monopoly media.
Letterman will be our message.
Are you sick of global warming being reported as if it were real?
Rally on me.
Are you sick of Al Gore being honored as if he were a savior, instead of reviled as the disgusting scaremongering profiteer on misery that he is?
Rally to me.
Burn the witch.
Let loose the dogs of war.
Hit them where it hurts.
Don’t think of it as an end to stupid pet tricks.
Think of it as a salvo shot across the bow of ABC news and 20/20 devoting 3 hours to OBAMA CARE and the attempt to steal your health insurance from you.
Think of it as a little payback for the three term “presidency” of Martin Sheen (1,2,3 – remember the third term was only cut short by an actor’s real life heart attack death- {act of God?}) nettling the side of our real President throughout a period of national tragedy. A hollow heartless scold, recycling discredited democratic talking points almost as soon as they were uttered by the real crooks in Washington, repackaging them as “perceived wisdom” for primetime consumption.
Take it in the neck Dave.
Hit him for “The West Wing”.
He deserves it.
Think of it as payback for the steady stream of “In the Valley of Elam” type garbage movies, and an academy award for “Syriana”.
Dave taking it on the chin is as good as a body blow on all of self important Hollywood.
Taking down Letterman is as good as a national STFU to Diaz, Decaprio, and Clooney.
Who is with me?
Rise up. Throw off your shackles.
On to Rockefeller center.
I don’t want Justice. Justice can be bought.
papertiger (2c3adb) — 6/17/2009 @ 7:58 pmWhat I want is a reckoning.
Oh crap. Everything after “VRWC channel” is supposed to be on tweeter.
I’m sorry fellas. I blew the secret.
My bad.
Can I still stay on as a member?
papertiger (2c3adb) — 6/17/2009 @ 8:01 pmWhat the hell was all of that ?
JD (dab43d) — 6/17/2009 @ 8:10 pmI was just listening to a recording of the people protesting Letterman in New York.
They’re saying stuff like,
“he has some nerve when he is married to a slut and the father of b——”
“he rapes children with his mouth”
“he’s not even funny”
None of the soundbites came close to the nut of the reason why people should protest David Letterman.
papertiger (8731ef) — 6/18/2009 @ 12:58 amSo I thought I’d give it a shot.
At the same time I thought a riff on the VRWC would be a fun dig at any late entry libs.
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