CBS Altered Letterman Transcript, Not New York Times
I guess I owe the NY Times an apology from when I suggested they altered the Letterman transcript and failed to note it. Courtesy of Tim Blair, it seems that it was CBS itself that altered the transcript before it was released. They obviously knew it was problematic. Why haven't they apologized as a network, at least to the Palins, for airing it?
Given that it was CBS, the only question that remains is, did they use a word processor, PC or an imitation of an old typewriter from Bush's National Guard days to do it before they sent it out?
UPDATE. Letterman’s bosses knew that the joke was wrong: The remark was aired live, but CBS removed it from the transcript it makes available to media, including the New York Times, which publishes Letterman’s opening monologue on its blog site.
Update: To add a thought and the Letterman video from last night - Letterman claimed he didn't see a problem and was unaware of this until "today." But someone at CBS edited that transcript before this even became a public issue. Someone at CBS, possibly on Letterman's staff, was the first person to have a problem with this. Letterman is lying here, I believe - see Fausta who has the let's add insult to injury for more cheap laughs Letterman video from last night up via YouTube.
Dan Rather LIVES!!!!!!
Hypocracy is live and well at CBS…the more things “change” the more they stay the same.
Rich Vail
Pikesville, MD
Nothing quite expresses the hope and change embraced by modern liberals as clearly as a joke about raping an innocent 14 year old girl. And that’s the way it is, June 11, 2009.
Revolting, bug-eyed old pervert.
And shame on the deviants in the audience who laughed.
There was the Playboy “hate f*ck” article last week, and then this week we get Letterman smirking at statutory rape scenarios. What is it with the left and rape fantasies involving conservative women?
Letterman aside, the fact is that Bristol Palin had underage sex that resulted in an out of wedlock pregnancy while Palin was governor. Instead of taking that crisis as a big wake up call that their attention as parents were misplaced or distracted, the Palins accelerated their efforts at promoting Sarah’s political ambitions. And Sarah doesn’t seem to mind trotting out the kids to the media when it advances her goals.
Oh brother, so every teenager who has sex does so because of poor parents who need a ‘wake up call’?
Or, maybe is it just those teenagers who get pregnant and don’t have abortions?
Ah hypocrisy, thy name is ‘liberal’
I used to really like this guy, and still have a paperback collection of his Top-10 lists that was given to me by my sister who knew how much I enjoyed him. But either he’s turned into a repugnant creep or he always was one and I just became aware. Regardless, his usefulness to me is at an end.
A commenter on Blair’s post points out that the Letterman show is not aired live but recorded earlier in the evening so CBS had a couple of hours to contemplate his ‘joke’ and let it air anyway. That makes CBS as vile as Letterman and whichever of his writers wrote that humorless attack.
Who said anything about abortion? If your kid is catting around while you’re playing career mover and shaker, I think you need to re-evaluate your skills as parents. Conservatives like to give lip service to family values and morality, but when it comes to advancing political ambitions, these values seem to get thrown under the bus. We saw the same unfortunate call with the Bush’s. Their daughters were obviously in need of acute substance abuse intervention, but the high stakes political show had to go on.
Fifty percent of teenagers in the U.S. have had sex by the time they are 18. So, that means that HALF of the country needs to ‘re-evaluate their skills as parents’…but I don’t believe that most people criticizing Palin do so because her daughter had sex before age 18, they do so because its a cheap, sleazy shot at a public figure who they despise.
I don’t think the Bush daughter’s were in need of acute substance abuse intervention, either. They were young, rich and they liked to party.
It is interesting though that the Bush girls to my recollection got a lot LESS criticism for their underage drinking and drugging than Bristol Palin did for having sex with her boyfriend….sexism much?
Notice the repeated and ill-suited use of the word “promiscuous” in Letterman’s apology? He’s made the reference to “promiscuous sex” at least twice. Even while he is issuing faux apologies he is taking subliminal swipes at Bristol Palin and the Palin family.
btw…he’s always been a lech for those who are wondering. He’s just a dirty old man guilty himself of “promiscuous sex” that led to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
And he isn’t even funny on his best days.
He used to be funny, but he’s gotten less funny over the years.
But either way, his apology was lame, since the only Palin daughter that was in New York was the 14 year old, hence, it would be logical to assume that jokes made about the Palin daughter in New York would be directed toward the one that was in New York at the Yankee game, and was the 14 year old.
Letterman reviews all” jokes” and/or materials before showtime.He takes ownership for this embarrassed vulgarity.Moreover, the ghost of Dan Rather is still strong at CBS.
What? You mean not everybody thinks raping a 13 year old girl is funny?
Viewer, Bristol is irrelevant. His “joke” was about 14 year-old Willow, the only Palin daughter at the game. I can only imagine how she must feel!
He is disgusting as were the audience who laughed at a 14 year old getting “raped, yes sex with a minor is rape” by a 34 year old man. To further add more insult, he call a Governor of the United States of AMerica a slut and inferes her daughter is a whore. I am writing all the sponsers and CBS to get this guy fired. I understand there is anew contract in the works. CBS needs to fire this pervert. How about calling Michelle a slut and having her 12 year old daughter “knocked up” by a 34 year old man. Hows that for funny???
I think Mr. Palin would be well within his rights to challenge the vile scumbag who defamed his family to a pistol duel.
David Letterman has sexualized and marginalized Sarah Palin and her daughters merely because he does not agree with Palin’s political ideology. Let’s make that even clearer – he is attacking her not because of anything she has done, but because of how she thinks. Every woman, no matter what their political views, should be angry. Because I don’t share your opinions that gives you the right to basically call me a slut? That is not acceptable and NOW and other “feminist” groups should be calling for Letterman’s head.
Between this and the Playboy “Hate F–K” article, perhaps conservative women should be considered a protected class under Hate Crimes Legislation.
The network fired Imus for his remark so how can a network tolerant Dave Letterman a sick, perverted old man. I don’t and have never watched his show. He gives me the creeps. Wouldn’t let him near my children.
I have never found letterman the least bit funy. How is it that he commands so much prime time and adulation from a segment of the population? The guy is a nothing.
“I think Mr. Palin would be well within his rights to challenge the vile scumbag who defamed his family to a pistol duel.”
curious if they could win a law suit for slander…
don’t really want to see it pursued, but it would be funny to watch the left argue that a 14 year old daughter of a politician is a public figure. wouldn’t bode well for the obama girls, but the left doesn’t usually look that far ahead.
I went to the FCC Site and made a complaint against CBS for allowing this obsecene stuff on TV. Love high teck. We need to stand together against CBS and Letterman.
Late Night does not air live. It is recorded earlier in the evening, edited if need be and aired later from tape or a video server. CBS had plenty of time to edit Letterman’s monologue.
Letterman,
you have really gone over the top this time with your attacks on the Pallin family and their young daughters, how dare you, this from a person who FINALLY married your son’s mother. Why don’t you do as decent thinking people do, retire, or are you waiting to start attacking the Obama children, oh I forgot they are Democrates. You are a disgrace, your son must be proud of HIS 61 YEAR OLD FATHER
Letterman is a joke. I used to watch him but never again. The guy is a loser. No class at all. He will trash people just because they have different political views, a first class liberal.
Viewer,,
It was the 14 yo daughter named Willow he was referring to, not the 18 yo with a baby.
So what say you now?
If Letterman would ever pull his head out of his anal aperture, the resulting sound would deafen most of Manhattan.
And Viewer, how about a couple of words on the parenting abilities of Al Gore and Joe Biden? Or is it only a problem when the parents are Republicans? Or, more likely, are you incapable of actual thought and just plug in ‘talking points’?
I can only imagine if someone had said: “Hillary Clinton has the wardrobe of a cheap slut… and Chelsea was at a Knick’s game earlier today and got knocked up by the starting 5 at half-time”… That woulda went down sooooo well at NOW headquarters. Why Oprah prolly woulda invited the comic on the show to sell a book, or something. If you aren’t a socialist, these loon-bats wont dsy or do ANYTHING. They don’t actually believe any of that “women’s rights” nonsense. Disagree? You are fair game for EVERY scuzzy attack anyone can throw at you. WTG feminists. You made Rush Limbaugh look right on. That’s hard.
BTW: “I think Bill Clinton’s mom is a whore, and Chelsea got f*cked by the entire Dallas Cowboy Defensive line… ”
I have made a complaint with the FCC about CBS allowing this dirty old man to make these comments about women and girls. I have also gone to the http://www.firedavidletterman site and signed their petition to get Letterman fired at CBS. Ladies, if we are not for us, who will be? NOW has abandoned women and girls and we must band together to protect ourselves.
“and Chelsea was at a Knick’s game earlier today and got knocked up by the starting 5 at half-time”…
She would have never been hit on..as ugly as she was and still is. I also filed a complaint with the FCC and called CBS complaint line… (212)975-3247.
Grow up people, it was a joke – he and his writers obviously thought the 18 yr. old daughter was at the game and that’s that. Yes Letterman (admittedly) has a history of making jokes that are in bad taste, and the joke WAS in bad taste. But he does NOT have a history of making sex jokes about people’s teenagers.
Yeah, get over it, folks. The liberal POS should be able to assassinate the character of a 14 year old girl any time he wants. Conservative girls are fair game to these liberal scum.
I tell you what, rg, if you or Letterman talked about my daughter the way he did, joke or not, and I could get my hands on you, I’d beat the hell out of you. That is what Letterman deserves. He’s scum. The only thing worse than him are the scum like you who carry his water and support the bastard.
Once is enough for me,rj. That why we women need to support each other and stop this trash. If we are not for us, who will be? I have emailed the FCC and complained about CBS presenting this filthy material, Letterman’s sponsers, the head of CBS and signed a firedavidletterman petition. I am just one voice in the wilderness but women together can stop this stuff. Finally, after four days NOW comes out with a tepid statement. I have abandoned NOW for The New Agenda which is dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls, just as NOW abandoned women unless they were liberals.
It’s about time we started to boycott CBS, their advertisers and every moron that goes on the Letterman show from this day on.
We, the audience make or break programming. We have this power, lets use it.
The only joke on Letterman’s show is Letterman. He’s pathetic.
It was not quite an apology, it was a lame excuse. Besides, does it make a difference to which daughter he referred?
If my father heard a comment like that about my mom, me OR my sister, I’m positive he would be equally outraged! Pretend for a minute that someone said to you, “Hey, Your wife looks like a slut, but your daughter is a slut, and when she’s of-age, your other daughter is bound to be a slut”…tell me that wasn’t the essence
of Dave’s comments?
It was a ridiculous thing to say. And the non-apology made it worse. There will be fallout for CBS from this. Not firing cash cow Dave-right away-, but the joke writer is probably history. If not, he/she should be.
The media types go out of their way to take particularly cruel aim at Sarah Palin..it must be because she SCARES them. She’s gorgeous, much better looking than most flight attendants, and she is a political powerhouse. The media knows they can destroy her chances by appealing to the LCD (lowest common denominator), and that means anyone who doesn’t see these attacks on her and her family for what they are; NOT jokes, but personal attacks. Going after the KIDS? That’s just wrong, and if you don’t see that, there’s something ethically wrong with you.
I have been a Letterman fan for decades, since his morning show, but not so much in the last several months. He’s gotten so mean spirited, I can’t watch him anymore.