Letterman On Palin’s Daughter

By
June 9, 2009

Update: Geez, it was the 14 year-old daughter Willow at the game. Poorly researched and thought out inappropriate joke, or is Letterman even more of a pig for using it?

Update 2: Palin responds on radio. Calls it "pathetic".

Short clip below. So much for the Chelsea Clinton rule – and well beyond. Bristol Palin is eighteen and not even in politics. That didn't stop Letterman last night when he joked that "she got knocked-up" by Alex Rodriguez at the Yankee game the Alaska Gov recently attended.

I'm not a prude by any means. But this is inappropriate and unnecessary enough to take exception to it. Letterman's only gotten increasingly bitter over not getting The Tonight Show as he's aged. It shows. And I imagine the McCain diss during the campaign only fed into his ego problems. Talk about inadequate. He never really did best Leno who recently retired a seemingly happy guy.

Years ago I had a friend who had some personal dealings with him when he wasn't doing much more than filling in on the Carson show on occasion. The reviews weren't very good at all. Unfortunately, I suspect the Letterman we're seeing now isn't that far from who he actually is. Pretty pathetic in my opinion.

Comments:
  1. I remember a time when the press understood the word “propriety”. I remember a time when there was a code of honor, an understanding that some things were off limits. I remember a time when the press accepted that children of politicians were to be left alone.
    I’m really old, aren’t I?

  2. Dan Riehl says:

    You aren’t alone, Steven. Writing it only made me feel older. ha Still, as I responded elsewhere, just how old will Obama’s daughters be in eight years? In any case, eventually they’ll be 18. Can just imagine the fun material waiting there. And too bad Imus didn’t simply joke that the Rutger’s female B-ball team all got knocked up somewhere in the hood. I guess that would have been okay, as opposed to what he did say.

  3. seekeronos says:

    “— And too bad Imus didn’t simply joke that the Rutger’s female B-ball team all got knocked up somewhere in the hood. I guess that would have been okay, as opposed to what he did say. —”
    And doesn’t one just wish that were so: today’s “media” are so controlled by a combination of liberal white guilt and a fear of of being politically incorrect, yet they so easily cut down their own – Bristol Palin being a white, nominally Christian female: neither her being female nor her being otherwise apolitical but for her filial relationship to her mother save her from being savaged by the press.
    Had a member of the media said something out of turn about Ms. Chelsea Clinton, he would have been frogmarched out of his place of employment with all of his belongings in a copier-paper box.
    As for Letterman, his lowered ratings may suggest that people are finding his “comedy” tiresome.

  4. mark l. says:

    I’m looking at the video of letterman…
    in the 80′s, it was the show to watch, if you were ‘young and hip’.
    imagining the same 25-45 demo from the 80′s, which is probably the same group which now comprises the 45-65 demo following letterman in a similar fashion-
    getting bitter, old, and angry.
    I used to watch it when it was actually a funny show, 15 years ago.

  5. Let me get this straight. Making a joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter is going to far but telling someone their husband should commit suicide is A-O.K.?
    This has nothing to do with the party affiliations of those doing the offending?
    Don’t you get it, Dan. Letterman is an ENTERTAINER!
    (FYI I think what Letterman said was going to far, I’m just gob-smacked at your rank hypocrisy.)

  6. SacTownMan says:

    The state run media is so afraid of what Sarah represents that they will NEVER let up in their Media Matters crafted smear campaign.
    The fact is that the POTUS is surrounded by Chicago slime machine operatives. He is bought and owned by George Soros, is in bed with the unions, ACORN and has an ego the likes of which have never been seen.
    This bitter liberal is not an aboration but a prime example of the current state run Pravda machine that is here to serve the great Xerxes!
    These idiots still can’t see the underlying reasons behind Palin’s popularity and the Tea Party movement.
    It won’t be until the 2010 congessional elections are over that they will wake up and smell the coffee. There is a real CHANGE coming for the trolls but once again they are simply too stupid to see it. The european elections have shown that the socialist, tree hugging, free spending model of the “progressive movement” that is currently destroying the Republic is living on borrowed time!
    They are riding the popularity of Xerxes but in the meantime Nancy and Harry are seen as the partisan hacks they are. Just like Bill Clinton faced when poor congessional approval ratings knocked the trolls from power in the nineties.
    The American people wanted a “change”. What they got was a ego driven apoligist for president that is creating a legacy of debt and gloom for our children that will last a generation. The current government is set to borrow trillions to pay for the socialist transformation of the Republic.
    Americans are going to simply “snap” when they start to see the impacts of higher taxes, record deficit spending and energy prices going through the roof. Xerxes can ride the popularity wave for only so long!

  7. mark l. says:

    “but telling someone their husband should commit suicide is A-O.K.?”
    is this a recent occurrence or a reference to winston churchill?
    the anecdote that comes to mind…
    Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I’d poison your tea.
    Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I’d drink it.
    the joke is probably fairgame, but those who would find it to be a side splitter would have to have the following characteristics:
    liberal democrat. don’t like palin. still bitter about ‘winning’…
    it might be 5% of the population, but letterman’s broad appeal is withering faster than his wrinkles can grow.
    it is fair game, but I doubt there quite as many conservatives out there salivating at their chances once the obama daughters turn 18. i don’t see it as much of a comedy career builder. for letterman, it is just a sign of the decline.

  8. Nishner says:

    He’s a comedian, it’s his job to occasionally offend.
    What Chelsea Clinton rule? John McCain long ago told this:
    “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
    Because her father is Janet Reno.”

  9. Kyle Menig says:

    Dan, your hypocrisy is showing. Might want to cover that up. Jamie is absolutely right about how you treat this Letterman joke vs. how you treated the Levin joke. Letterman is a comedian/entertainer.
    But, OMG! Letterman made a joke about a Palin. Your obsession and love for all things Palin is getting in your way of being able to laugh. The simple fact that he made a joke that you didn’t like somehow gives you the power to read into his ‘bitterness’ is also pretty funny. I can just as easily say that your post shows how bitter you are about how your beloved Sarah and her clan are so readily mocked.

  10. Kyle Menig says:

    Was my last comment deleted?

  11. jaime says:

    “What Chelsea Clinton rule? John McCain long ago told this:”
    And Rush Limbaugh referenced her as the family dog.
    Funny how Chelsea and the Gore daughters became fine, productive, upstanding citizens and the the family values fruit of Bush/Cheney/Palin loin are pretty much all trainwrecks.

  12. Dan Riehl says:

    “deleted?”
    No, went to the spam filter for some reason. It should be up soon.

  13. Dan Riehl says:

    “Dan, your hypocrisy”
    If you read at RedState, where I sometimes cross post, you’d see that I said Limbaugh’s criticism of Chelsea wasn’t his finest moment. No hypocrisy here. People need to lay off pols kids, unless they put themselves out there in a serious way.
    You want hypocrisy – try Imus v the Rutgers B ball team. He hurt their feelings but I guess Bristol Palin has none, right?
    Carry on, idiots. Make yourselves look stupid. It’s what you do best.

  14. Kyle Menig says:

    Whoa. Settle down, Dan. What’s up with the petty name-calling? As Jamie said:
    ……Making a joke about Sarah Palin’s daughter is going too far but telling someone their husband should commit suicide is A-O.K.?
    Both Levin and Letterman are entertainers. You defended Levin for his pretty harsh comments, but now want to call Letterman ‘bitter’ or ‘pathetic’? Hell, Letterman may be just that.
    You said: ‘lay off pols kids, unless they put themselves out there in a serious way’. I think, if that’s the case, would you not consider the numerous TV and magazine appearances she’s made as her having put herself out there?

  15. Jenny C. says:

    Letterman was talking about Willow Palin the 14 year-old. Letterman is a nasty old perv.

  16. That’s the best response you can muster, Dan. Not even acknowledging my criticism or your own hypocrisy and instead pointing out another persons hypocrisy to cover you own.
    Well done.

  17. MamaAJ says:

    Dan and Steven, has it really changed? Or does it really just depend on who is involved? Bush daughters drink, it’s news. Biden’s daughter does…well, what was it she did? I can’t remember any of the news stories or jokes about that.
    Going back, how would press coverage of Reagan’s adult children compare to coverage of the Kennedy’s?

  18. Kyle Menig says:

    Bristol Palin, imo, is fair game. She’s 18 and has put herself out there by speaking about her situation on TV and in magazine.

  19. toby928 says:

    the Chelsea Clinton rule?
    Its really more of a guideline …

  20. mark l. says:

    thanx for the reminder, kyle.

  21. Ryan Frank says:

    Oh, by the way ‘She’s-18-so-it’s-OK’ crowd – Ace has noted that the daughter that was with Palin at the event Letterman was talking about is not Bristol and is only 13-14. Stay classy.

  22. ADK46er says:

    “Funny how Chelsea and the Gore daughters became fine, productive, upstanding citizens and the the family values fruit of Bush/Cheney/Palin loin are pretty much all trainwrecks.”
    Where does this kind of hate come from? Plus since you’re wrong about the Bush girls (see below) that probably means you’re wrong about Cheney’s kids too.
    Barbara lives in… New York City. Recently she has been working for the Smithsonian Museum in New York, The Cooper- Hewitt National Design Museum. Previously, Barbara had been working with patients in Africa, in Tanzania, South Africa, and, Botswana among other places, through a program sponsored by the Houston based Baylor College of Medicine’s International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative. She currently works for a public health-focused non-profit, Global Health Corps.
    In 2007, Jenna began marketing a book proposal with the assistance of Robert B. Barnett, a Washington attorney. The book… chronicles her experiences working with UNICEF sponsored charities in, Latin America including visits to drought stricken Paraquay in 2006, while working as an intern for United Nations Children’s Fund… the book was released September 28, 2007, with an initial printing of 500,000 copies. Her share of the profits will go to UNICEF; the remainder will go to the woman whose life is the basis of the book, assisting in the young woman’s continuing education.

  23. Kyle Menig says:

    Anytime, Mark. lol.

  24. lala says:

    Another “comedian”
    “But, Sarah Palin to the GOP, this is what I’ve got to say, she is very much like herpes, she’s not going away.” Chuck Nice
    And Letterman said something about Palin’s “slutty” flight attendant look.
    Sounds like the left is getting nervous.

  25. Yeah, it’s changed. Even during the darkest days of 1973 and 1974, the press never hassled Nixon’s daughters.

  26. ADK46er says:

    “Bristol Palin, imo, is fair game. She’s 18 and has put herself out there by speaking about her situation on TV and in magazine.”
    One slight problem… Bristol wasn’t at the game. She attended the Yankee game with her daughter Willow, who is either 13 or 14.

  27. stace says:

    Correct, ADK46er. jaime has no idea what he’s talking about. Also, Jenna Bush is an elementary school teacher in the DC public school system. Her students are mostly underprivileged minorities.
    Chelsea Clinton is a hedge fund manager. That’s fine, but that makes the Bush girls look like Mother Theresa in comparison. There’s at least one picture of her on the internet falling down drunk at a nightclub.
    The only thing I know about Ashley Biden is she’s a cokehead and a drunk. She’s even been arrested. Google Hunter Biden’s interesting hedge fund-lobbyist deals.
    Al Gore’s son was arrested for drug possession.
    I actually wrote a letter to SNL complaining when they made a joke about Chelsea’s looks back in the nineties. I guess a lot of people did, because they quit doing that. I hate it when politician’s kids are attacked. It may be time to take off the gloves, though, at least for adult offspring. I’m sick of this double-standard.

  28. SacTownMan says:

    The drunken loser Biden’s little cokehead kid is untouchable but an innocent little 13 year-old is “fair” game for the left.
    Great moonbat logic at work there trolls!!

  29. hiscross says:

    Why do so called conservatives get upset at liberals. They are liberals. that is what they are and that is what they do. Geez, you want them to be conservatives, then convert them. You’ll have to wait until they are old, but heh, you won’t have much t work with by then so it should be easy.

  30. Nishner says:

    More Chelsea Clinton Rules:
    “Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat,” said Limbaugh. “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” And he held up a picture of Chelsea.
    From that Great Comedian, Rush Limbaugh
    Chelsea was 13 at the time.

  31. lala says:

    Anyone have the video or a transcript of Limbaugh saying that? A link perhaps? Or is it urban legend?

  32. some guy says:

    Letterman has been tiresome and boring for quite some time. I don’t see why anyone would ever watch him now, and I turned him off, never to return, after his biases became so evident in the last Presidential election. CBS really needs to get a relief pitcher warming up for the late-night game.

  33. Mike says:

    “Anyone have the video or a transcript of Limbaugh saying that? A link perhaps? Or is it urban legend?”
    He legitimately did it on his show (I watched it).
    He also apologized within 10 seconds of the joke. He claimed he didn’t know it was the picture — I doubt that, but still — but he did apologize within seconds.
    So, has Letterman apologized?

  34. swift boater says:

    hey Jaime, I noticed you left out Al Gore’s son, AL Gore III. Why??????
    Maybe because of this:
    In recent years, the younger Gore has had several run-ins with the law. In 2000, Gore was arrested for driving 94 miles per hour in North Carolina, and in 2002, he was arrested for drunk driving in Virginia. The following year, Gore was arrested for drug possession in Bethesda, Maryland, after the car he was driving was stopped for not having its headlights on. Police searched the vehicle and discovered a small amount of marijuana. In his last encounter with the police (2007), Gore was stopped in southern California for driving 100 miles per hour in his Prius. Marijuana, Valium, Vicodin, Xanax, and Adderall were discovered after a police search of his vehicle.
    Please do not hold up Al Gore as a role model of child rearing and compare him to Bush\Cheney\Palin.
    I only do that to show you what a hypocrite you are, and you know it or you would have not left out his son. I personally think that politicians children should be left alone, unless they do get into the political arena through appearances, fund raisers, etc.
    Sort of like what Chelsea Clinton is doing right now, unlike Gov Palin’s children.
    swift boater=telling it like it is.

  35. David says:

    The daughter at the game, and referred to by Letterman, was not Brooke – it was Willow. Letterman took out after a 14-year-old girl with his vile, hate-filled rant. But, as all good Leftist know, Republicans are evil, so Willow, as the spawn of Satan, is therefore eligible for rape, mutilation, murder, etc. in Leftist world.

  36. stace says:

    my comment disappeared

  37. Dan Riehl says:

    It’s coming up – Typepad’s spam filter is picking up comments it shouldn’t here and there. Getting hammered by some Russian spam now, maybe it’s causing it to glitch. Found 2 that will be up soon.
    Sorry.

  38. Logan 6 says:

    “But, OMG! Letterman made a joke about a Palin.”
    No, he made a sick joke about 14 year old Willow Palin being raped. Maybe this is what passes for humor now days on the fascist Left but most of the American people find this stuff nothing more than misogynistic filth !

  39. SamIam says:

    Letterman actually made a joke about child rape. Yes, yes he indeed did. I wonder if this is something the FCC would have a problem with.

  40. Mrs Whatsit says:

    It is completely irrelevant what Rush Limbaugh said about Chelsea (though disgusting) or what McCain said about Chelsea (even more disgusting) or what anybody said about anybody. None of that justifies in any way what Letterman said about a young teenaged girl whose only offense is to be the child of a politician he doesn’t like. The people who are bringing up other unforgivable jokes told years ago are doing so only because they know that there’s nothing they can say to make what Letterman said even remotely defensible.

  41. Rob Crawford says:

    Ah, the wonderfully tolerant, charitable left.
    I do love the way they resort to tu quoque in “defense” of this.

  42. orthodoc says:

    Is Letterman still on? Thought he died and went to Vegas years ago. That being said,maybe he could do something even funnier – “hey, hope the Secret Service is there to take the Obama girls straight home from Sidwell. Wouldn’t want those cut lil’ Klingon pickaninnies to wind up in South East DC!” /cue laugh track and audience roaring with laughter.
    How do you feel about that, Jamie , Nishner, and Kyle? See? It isn’t funny. Is it possible for you to understand that a rape joke about a child isn’t funny, no matter who their parents are?

  43. jaime says:

    swifty – I inadvertantly left out Al Gore’s son. Yes, he sped. And did “the pot”, but if that’s all you can get out of the Clinton/Gore progeny, then you’re REALLY reaching.
    The very product of good clean ChristoRepublican child rearing showed themselves to be utter moral failures by your own standards. It’s like an endless marathon of Redneck Road Rules with them.
    And to say that the Palin kids were not part of the political arena when her twit Sportscaster mother shoved them out on stage with her at every possible stump speech is patently absurd. You would have thought Bristol was Gypsy Rose Lee.
    Swift Boat=proven liars who weren’t even on the fucking swift boat.

  44. Reggie1971 says:

    “And to say that the Palin kids were not part of the political arena when her twit Sportscaster mother shoved them out on stage with her at every possible stump speech is patently absurd. You would have thought Bristol was Gypsy Rose Lee.”
    Oh right. Letterman making a sexual joke about a fourteen year old is OK because she appeared with her mother at political rallies. Got it.
    And we all know how rare it is for politicians to show their families at political events. It was practically unheard of before Sarah Palin did it. Sure thing.

  45. Logan 6 says:

    “And to say that the Palin kids were not part of the political arena when her twit Sportscaster mother shoved them out on stage with her at every possible stump speech is patently absurd.”
    Ah, liberal logic! Because Palin had her kids onstage with her that means that it’s OK to make rape “jokes” about a 14 year-old-girl. The trouble is that the “progressive” left has sunk so low in the sewer that it really does not know what is appropriate speech or behavior anymore. This following on from Playboy’s anti-conservative women rape fantasies shows America just how twisted and misogynist the Left has become. No wonder they have such sympathy for islamic terrorists …their mindset on women is basically the same.

  46. Jones says:

    none of these kids- whether their parents are R or D- have anything to do with politics. They should be left alone.
    The minute they run for office, have at ‘em. Until then, it is wrong to make them the objects of partisan humor and insult.

  47. Logan 6 says:

    “It’s like an endless marathon of Redneck Road Rules with them.”
    More reverse racism from the liberal fascists.

  48. Brooks says:

    This is what decadence looks like.

  49. stace says:

    Jaime, you said the Bush, Cheney, and Palin kids are trainwrecks.
    In what way? The Bush and Cheney daughters are solid productive citizens. One Palin kid got pregnant at the same age and marital status as Obama’s mom. Letterman’s girlfriend accidentally got pregnant, and she’s certainly old enough to know how that works.
    Ashley Biden and Hunter Biden have much sketchier records of drug use and sleazy hedge fund/lobbying.

  50. orthodoc says:

    Is Letterman still on? I thought he died and went to Vegas.
    Kyle, Jamie, Jaime, Nishner? You know what would be a great joke for Letterman to tell? “Hey, it’s a good thing the Obama girls get Secret Service protection to go from Sidwell back home. Otherwise, those little Klingon pickaninnies might wind up in Southeast DC – who knows who’d pick ‘em up!” /cue laugh track, audience roar.
    See? It isn’t funny. Maybe this is too tough for liberals to comprehend, but joking about raping a 14 year old is beyond the pale. Kind of like promoting a “hate-f***” for conservative women, if you want to play that game. and I don’t see too many lefty types calling Playboy out on that one.

  51. GRANDMA says:

    AS FAR AS LETTERMAN GOES, ONE WHO LIVES IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULD NOT THROW STONES. HE IS WHAT 60+ AND GOT CAUGHT. A 5 YEAR OLD SON, NOW CAN YOU SEE WHY HE IS SO MEAN HE IS FORCED TO MARRY WHEN HE THOUGHT HE HAD A FREE RIDE.
    TYPICAL LIBERAL WANTS SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.
    THIS WAS WRONG WRONG WRONG NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT IT.

  52. Gabriel Hanna says:

    “Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat,” said Limbaugh. “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” And he held up a picture of Chelsea.
    He held a picture up, and you saw it over the radio?

  53. j bryan says:

    All this bickering over liberal or conservative commentary!!! All I know is that if I were Todd Pailin, I would have to locate Letterman and punch him in the mouth!

  54. James says:

    said Limbaugh. “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” And he held up a picture of Chelsea.
    That must have translated well on radio.
    Maybe like the book is always better then the movie version?

  55. INCITEmarsh says:

    Uh, guys? Rush had a television show at one point.
    That doesn’t make the story true, but you look silly attacking it that way.

  56. Jim says:

    Gap-toothed, butt-faced poltroon.

  57. James says:

    In the old days when Dave stepped in it there would be a sidebar.
    Paul Schaefer would cut in, something like this,
    Paul: “Dave… Dave… Dave!”
    Dave: “What? Ladys and gentlemen, my good friend Paul Shaefer. What is it Paul??”
    Paul: “Dave. How old were you exactly when you knocked up your live in girlfriend?”
    Dave: “Ulp. umm. (pulls at the collar of his shirt)
    Is it getting hot in here?… Something wrong with the airconditioning?”
    Dave: “Lou.”
    Lou: “Yes Dave.”
    Dave: “Can you get the writers to come down here for a minute?”
    Lou: “Sure dave”
    (Cut to writers shooting spitwads at each other in what is obviously Dave’s private office.)
    Lou: “Janet, Dave want’s a writer’s meeting on the set.”
    Janet: (looking flustered) to the other writers:
    “Dave’s on to us. He wants a meeting.”
    (Writers staff file onto set for upbraiding)
    Dave: “Politicians kids are off limits from now on.
    (gives them a long look seeing if the edict has registered – becoming slightly annoyed in not seeing the reaction he is looking for)
    Dave: “Write it down.” (slight pause as writers scribble in pads)
    Dave: “OK go away.”
    (writers file out looking relieved that their office hyjinks went undiscovered)
    Dave: “Well that was ugly. Paul are you OK now? Satified?”
    Paul: “Perfectly satified.”
    Dave: “Thank you. That’s my good friend Paul Schaefer folks. Stay tuned. We’ll be back right after this important station break.”…
    But that was the old days. Like Dan alludes, the guy is slipping. Dave is what, hundred and seventeen?
    Getting up there.

  58. Wally Sandaber says:

    Let me explain the joke, s-l-o-w-l-y, so that many of you can get it. Sarah Palin is anti birth control and Sarah Palin’s underage daughter WAS knocked up. Palin’s daughter did this by … ta dum, having underage premarital sex and not using birth control. In common American varnacular, this is known as … yes, folks, “getting knocked up.” It is not a joke out of thin air. The joke has context and the context is that Sarah Palin’s daughter was ALREADY knocked up. Letterman’s joke refers to that context. Only.
    Was the joke in good taste? No. But that’s Letterman. He’s crude. Letterman will however, lay off someone’s family IF that person does not use her own family as a “pro family” political prop, like Sarah Palin has for years. Oh, nevermind. This all involves irony and I think irony is just not in the conservative American gene pool.
    In regard to the slutty flight attendant joke, lemme just finish with another mangled use of the English language by Sarah Palin five months after the American people, um, rejected her.
    Per the transcript:
    “Well, that is where we are headed. And we have to be blunt enough, candid enough with Americans to let them know that if we keep going down these roads, nationalizing many of these services….yes, that is where we will head….And Americans have to be paying attention and we have to have our voices heard and ultimately it has to be our will, the American people’s will imposed on Washington instead of the other way around. ”

  59. sarhin2012 says:

    Letterman should at least know which daughter got pregnant. To imply that all of the Palin girls will get pregnant out of wedlock is not only tasteless, it borders on treason. Sarah Palin has done more for this country than so-called comedians will ever do.
    Could it be class hatred that causes Letterman to lash out at Sarah who has worked for everything she ever got? I remember reading that Letterman is from a very wealthy family and that he snubs his nose at real Americans.
    Letterman would be the first one to cry foul if anyone made a joke about the Clintons or any democrat. He drinks koolaid.
    Sarah forever!!!! Letterman never!!!!
    Typical PC nonesense to make jokes about Christians while others kill!
    I wish the GOP had guts. They would hold hearings and expose Letterman for what he is: a PC koolaid drinking phony!!!

  60. Brian Epps says:

    ///”Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” And he held up a picture of Chelsea.
    That must have translated well on radio. ///
    Something along those lines happened on his short-lived syndicated TV show.

  61. jaime says:

    Dave Letterman is just a comedian and was obviously thinking that Palin’s knocked up 18 year old daughter was the one at the game. But throwing a tantrum over “rape” just raises more money. Dave Lettermen was referring to bristol, but you accidentally on purpose insinuate he wishes the 14 year old to be raped.
    Is this what consistently happens after getting your asses handed to you in election after election? You become enormous pansies that cry wolf after every bogus indignity? What happened to that smug warmongering spirit that carried you cheetos warriors through the last two decades?
    Don’t worry, one day in 2016, you might get your testicles back from Obama.

  62. Mrs Whatsit says:

    Jaime, by your reasoning it would be perfectly fine to make a rape joke about Malia or Sasha Obama, since after all their father “shoved” them out there on the national television stage during his campaign. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled with that, as will they.
    Thanks for exposing the way folks like you think, down there on the underside of the rock.

  63. Stinkin says:

    a truly washed up old bastard..has he forgotten trashing children from his bullypulpit isnt funny…dave, you bitter sob, first it was Leno, now it’s Obrien..passed by once again and stuck at cbs with katie…wow…but how long before they go dark…heres hoping they do.

  64. Mark in Texas says:

    Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat,” said Limbaugh. “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” And he held up a picture of Chelsea.
    He held a picture up, and you saw it over the radio?

    It was during his short lived TV show.
    The pictures were projected on a screen behind him. When the picture of Chelsea Clinton went up and the audience started laughing, Limbaugh turned around and immediately started saying something about that being the wrong slide and he kept saying no, no, no. I thought that he was setting up for some other joke when somebody screwed up the order of the pictures being shown because Limbaugh is usually funnier than that. Anyway, this is part of the leftist folklore now so the actual facts don’t matter to people like Jamie.
    Just like earlier this week when a caller said he was going to boycott GM and Limbaugh said he understood why some people felt that way the MSM was claiming that Limbaugh was urging a boycott of GM.

  65. Tyrconnell says:

    James, Gabriel Hanna, the picture was done on Rush’s short lived TV show.
    Ah, jamie, are you sure you want to run with this?
    “And to say that the Palin kids were not part of the political arena when her twit Sportscaster mother shoved them out on stage with her at every possible stump speech is patently absurd.”
    After all, Billy Jeff had his daughter and wife many times on stage during his run, so that clears Rush by your own logic.

  66. GTraylor says:

    Forget the weak bullshit hypocrisy charge. Neither Limbaugh’s nor McCain’s shitty and mean-spirited “jokes” change that fact that Letterman’s “joke” is shitty and mean-spirited, and I would say downright contemptible and creepy with the professional-baseball-player-impregnates-14-year-old line.
    I even concede that the dumbshit Letterman writers didn’t even check *which* daughter was with Palin…they just know a Palin daughter “got knocked up” and thought it would be fun to take a dig. That still doesn’t make it any less creepy.

  67. Charles Fletcher says:

    Liberals have a free hand to say and do what they want. People talk about a minority “Freedom Loving,God Fearing
    True Americans are in the Minority”

  68. Bill says:

    Who were the sponsors during this episode? Berate them for the hate that they sponsor.

  69. h0mi says:

    “That must have translated well on radio.”
    It wasn’t on radio and he didn’t hold up a picture. He had a TV show and they cut to a picture of Chelsea. I don’t remember the in studio audience reaction to the picture.

  70. Lettermans Misogyny And Crude Remarks At Palins Avoid Media Scrutiny

    Of course, everyone remembers how the media ran with a silly comment from actress Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live, vis a vis I can see Russia from my house! It was goofy and light hearted, but, somehow, that almost became reality, as if P…

  71. furious says:

    “the family values fruit of Bush/Cheney/Palin loin”.
    Seems like the Bush daughters turned out ok after a little underage drinking in college, no? Obama, what, snorted coke during his college years? Kudos to the poster who clowned Jaime upthread.
    Cheney daughters turned out ok too, unless you’re saying there’s something wrong with Mary being a Lesbian, Jaime. Are you? Kerry&Edwards seemed to think so, with their ham-fisted attempts at making it an issue during the ’04 campaign. As for Liz, she gutted and flensed Nora O’Donnell of MSNBC (a low bar, I’ll admit). Seems like the Cheneys raised their girls right, Jaime.
    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/04/023409.php
    Oh, and, Jaime, speaking of Edwards (since both you and he brought the the Cheney daughters), care to comment on Edwards’ “Secret Second Family Values”? Tom-catting on his cancer-ridden wife? Using campaign funds to pay hush money to his babymama? Lying to his campaign volunteers, contributors, and supporters? Getting cornered like a rat in an outhouse by paparazzi?
    Bristol Palin let her baby live, and took responsibility for it. We all know Obama compared unwanted babies to STDs, and said that a baby would be a “punishment” for his daughters. Man would countenace snuffing his own unborn grandchildren because they’d be an inconvenience. I’ll take the Palins’ version of “Family Values” anyday over Pres. Obama’s empty-suited “above my pay grade” rhetoric.
    Jaime, you’re running out of gopher holes to step in and ankles to break. By your standards of equivalence, the Clintons could make fun of Limbaugh’s daughter (if he had one) or McCain’s daugthers (but Meghan pretty much parodies herself). Doesn’t justify (or even distract from, to the extent we indulge your ludicrous logic) Letterman’s piggishness.

  72. furious says:

    Sandabar: Let me spell it for you, as you say “s-l-o-w-l-y”: V-E-R-N-A-C-U-L-A-R. With an “E” after the “V”.

  73. furious says:

    Question for the Mutually-Assured-Family-Destruction Crowd:
    When exactly did the Palins make fun of anyone else’s children? I’m sure you can respond with sourced links, and am happy to wait.
    In the meantime, you display all the critical sense of those mobs that attacked Norwegian and Swedish embassies over Mohammed cartoons published in Danish newspapers.
    Targeting children, bunch of thugs and ersatz hostage-takers the lot of you. Those of us with a sense of decency are calling our local CBS affiliate (without bringing their children into it) and registering our displeasure with their late-night lineup. Maybe the newspapers can afford to alientate half their audience, but local TV affiliates can’t.

  74. Ralph Kramden says:

    “Letterman On Palin’s Daughter”
    I’m OUTRAGED that this sordid blog would make such a sordid reference using such SORDID IMAGERY!
    I DEMAND AN APOLOGY FOR THIS OUTRAGEOUS WORD PICTURE!
    OUTRAGED I TELL YOU!

  75. Wally Sandaber says:

    Thanks for catching that typo Furious. Any comments on my actual post?
    Oh, and Sahrin. Do you actually believe that the United States Congress should hold hearings on a David Letterman joke?

  76. ADK46er says:

    Jaime – Since you made the claim that republican children have turned out to be “train wrecks”, including the Bush girls, I’m wondering why you haven’t responded to those of us who’ve posted what they’ve been up to over the past few years?
    In any event when you make such obvious false claims it doesn’t work when you call other people liars.

  77. Melissa R. says:

    Hasn’t it been determined that the 18-yr old Palin wasn’t at the game? That this joke was about the 14-yr. old daughter?
    Does that shine any light on the sickness of Letterman?

  78. Ralph Kramden says:

    Mellisa- Apparently Bristol wasn’t at the game and the younger daughter was. Pretty clearly the joke wasn’t about the younger daughter (it doesn’t make sense that way – Bristol is the Palin daughter that got pregnant), but lots of people want to pretend that it was, because Letterman is seen as liberal. Not that it was a funny joke in the first place – children should be off-limits, even when they’re used as props in their parents campaigns.

  79. Judy says:

    When is the media going to let the “15-minutes of fame” people go back to where they came from?? Paris? Palin? Does anyone see a pattern here? Get a real life, ladies; start being productive members of society. As for the Letterman “thing,” remarks about children are uncalled for, BUT Palin does look like a slutty airline attendant, and I wish she’d just go back to where she came from…where is that again?…raise her children properly, tell her husband to straighten up & fly right, and get back to the business of trying to run Alaska without all the female hysterics.

  80. bjm says:

    Bristol Palin did not do anything different than the present
    Mrs Letterman, she had a child out of wedlock and was a single Mom, just because she was living with someone with a lot of money is no different and I wish someone would remind Mr Lettermen.

  81. Anna Keppa says:

    You libs want us to lighten up? Well, here’s a real thigh-slapper I’m sure you’ll enjoy.
    Seems Michelle, wanting to score points for her on-the-rise-husband, used to drop Malia and Sacha off behind Rev. Wright’s church so the Rev could get some “quality time” with the little girls, know what I’m sayin’????
    What???? You’re OFFENDED?????

  82. Jon says:

    I really cannot believe that some of you think that some reactions Palin are signs of the left being nervous. Do you really believe that anyone with half a brain sees Sarah Palin as a threat? I pray she runs for President or Vice President in 2012, it will be a default victory for Democrats. Even intelligent Republicans know she is at best a poster child for the extreme right, the same extreme right that is currently alienating the majority of the Republican party. Entertainers poke and prod her because she’s hilarious. She does and says ludicrous things and deserves the jabs she receives. She is the one that brought her family onto the US political stage. Would Bristol be so involved in teen abstinence programs if it wasn’t for her mother? I think not. Palin invited this upon her children. It’s a free country and if you’re an idiot and make moronic decisions you deserve the consequences of your actions. If she has any real friends they’ll tell her to head back to Alaska, stay there and shut her mouth.

  83. Alexandra says:

    I agree that children of politicians should be off-limits. BUT in this case, Bristol Palin has chosen to become a “national spokesperson” for a shoe manufacturer’s “Abstinance Initiative.” She has chosen to walk onto the public stage, and the ultimate stage-mother herself (Sarah Palin) has cheered her doing so. So, Letterman may have been crude in this case, but the Palin family continues to seek the public eye and the public stage. With that comes public mudslinging. And being 18 doesn’t get you a free pass on that.

  84. James says:

    “I pray she runs for President or Vice President in 2012.”
    - Me too. The only thing wrong with last year’s ticket was there were too many RINO’s on it.

  85. anthony says:

    poor dave 2 years left on the payroll and still trying to beat the tonight show how many years has it been i no 20 keep trying dave

  86. h0mi says:

    David Shuster was suspended at MSNBC for arguing that Chelsea Clinton was pimped out by her parents during Clinton’s presidential run. The run that took place while Chelsea was an adult, not a little girl. The Clinton who lost, not the one who won.

  87. Frank B. says:

    I remember Dave from his days on local TV in Indiana. He’s laways been a lazy, self-centered, hick, jerk. He used to know that about himself.

  88. Ken Staley says:

    When you wade into the cess pit to play ball with the big boys, you have to assume you’re wide open to any attack. And yes, family members SHOULD be left out. HOWEVER, when you want to use your family as a Role Model…you’ve just invited the community to comment on them as well.
    She can’t have it both ways. She either needs to leave her family out of it and stop parading them all over…or toughen her skin.

  89. L. Huntington says:

    CBS is not making Letterman apologize so… we the public should simply boycott CBS and NOT SUPPORT its advertisers. That simple act if adopted by the public would put an end to this nonsense. Get them where it hurts..in the wallet

  90. George Linkous says:

    Look, I do believe Letterman meant the jokes to be about Bristol. So he’s innocent of making a joke about child rape. But the real jokes are still pretty bad. The most fair take on this is one I read on americashrugged.com.
    Letterman really did used to be funny. Now he’s just a stale, bitter one lib.

  91. Ray says:

    It is open season for conservative women, I’m afraid. Substitute prominent liberal women for a Playboy hate f*** list and see what happens to ya. Enough said.
    I remember under the Carter administration where his offspring were definitely off-limits! As it should be. What happened to that ideal?

  92. FZ says:

    I think the Lefty’s on here are about as far from ‘liberal’ as Stalin is from being the Pope. It’s almost amusing when I hear them howl about Limbaugh and 5 guys on radio and FOX news being equal to the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean of news, media and arts they control. It’s time the right stopped playing games and started taking action, sit-ins, shutting their freak’n apparatus down, just like the Left did in the 60′s and now control the media. It’s time to get in their face and let them know you’re pushing back my any means. It’s the only language these beasts understand.

  93. Mark says:

    Ok, i agree Letterman went too far on this and he is too smart for this kind of base joke, but what i see now is Palin using this to make political hay, she has went beyond being upset and is now using this to elevate her standing with the public. Her daughter is not a whore but her mother is sure trying to whore her out in the pursuit of power. it shows you Palin will do anything move up the political food chain.

  94. Leah says:

    wait wait…now, I haven’t been keeping up-thankfully since it seems most of americans have lost their damn mind. I saw the joke on the clip just now and, while in bad taste, I don’t feel it was even that big of an issue. It wasn’t like he was standing there talking about a brutal rape of a 14 year old girl-as many of you are making it out to be. He just made a joke about another palin girl getting pregnant. He didn’t draw it out or further ellaborate on explicit details. As a female who was molested for 7 years of my childhood, I do feel that rape is no laughing matter. However, what Letterman said had nothing to do with RAPE-perhaps consenting statutory rape, but not forced sexual activity with a minor. Half of the male population would be found guilty of that if parents filed claims. Palin needs to calm down and stop being so hyper defensive. You put yourself in the public eye, and you’d be foolish to believe that doesn’t include your family. Palin should have accepted the apology, regardless of how staged she felt it, and left it at that. Instead, she uses it to fuel her media fire.

  95. Tom in Seattle says:

    First, I agree with Letterman that his comment about about Palin’s daughter was in bad taste. Kudos to him for being willing to say so on national TV.
    Second, I am old enough to remember back to Kennedy that President’s children were off limits in the media. Rush Limbaugh changed the game by going after Chelsea Clinton in his infamous “White House dog” comment. He never apologized. Unfortunately he opened the door so blame him to start.
    Third, the media and comedians are not the same thing and they operate with different rules. Media are (or once were) expected to strive toward fair, balanced, and factual reporting. The media, including Rush, believe they are talking about the “real world.” For this reason people tend to give media statements more weight and credibility. Comedians make up stuff to be funny. It may reflect the real world but it is not about the real world. Therefore, Limbaugh’s comment about Chelsea Clinton was received as a real judgment about her and much of his audience actually found it offensive. Lettermen’s comment was a joke, in poor taste yes, but no one should be expected to take it seriously and most people weren’t even sure which daughter he was even talking about.
    My takeaway from is this is general difference between the far right and the rest of us–independents, progressives, liberals (but probably not leftists)–is the the far right does not really seem to have a sense of humor or understand humor–parody and satire in particular. Case in point, when Limbaugh “jokes” about FemiNazis, he actually believes what he is saying and wants you to also. When Letterman jokes about someone or something he only wants you to laugh with him (or at him) and doesn’t care about the topic itself.

  96. rick says:

    Be a man, Letterman! You are crude and stupid in your ‘jokes’ about a 14 year old girl. Be a big LetterMAN (instead of a little Letterman) and apoligize for a scripted joke that was inappropreiate.
    Didn’t you anything from Clinton – it is best to face up to your mistakes instead of deny them.

  97. Angela says:

    “Bristol Palin is eighteen and not even in politics. ”
    But she is all over People magazine, doing photo shoots and interviews practicing abstinence carrying her baby around.
    OK…