What perfect timing. Just as Letterman's inappropriate joke about Sarah Palin's 14 year-old daughter is all the blogs are talking about right now, Letterman's network helps us out by informing us of how interested they are in the doings of the political blogosphere. Given that the Letterman kerfuffle is far larger than this one, I can't wait to read their next insightful item on the blogospheric buzz.
But in the latest chapter of Sarah Watch, a minor kerfuffle has erupted in the blogosphere over whether Palin's attendance at a Washington fundraiser held on behalf of Republican House and Senate candidates Monday night (with the First Dude in tow, naturally) was a big hit or a non-event.
Update: William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection thinks I missed the point and CBS' Rashomom moment headline was another inappropriate swipe at Palin. Based on the evidence below, I seriously doubt it.
Was CBS News' Political Hot Sheet blogger Charles Cooper really using a rape analogy for Sarah Palin, on the heels of the raging controversy over CBS late-night host David Letterman making jokes about Palin having a "slutty" look and Palin's 14-year old daughter being "knocked up" by a Yankee's baseball player?
But yes, Cooper did sink that low.
I was tipped early to the vid by a non-blogging Republican source and posted on it at Noon. Cooper's item, while published at 4:30, cited Politico and WaPo stories that were up late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, respectively. Add in some time lag for editing, that Cooper likely reads sites like the ones he mentioned and not the various small blogs this was playing out on at the time he published - and the fact that a Roshomon Moment has an established, independent standing as meaning the very type of phenomenon Cooper was observing ... that's a conclusion to which I'm not even close to jumping. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Back when I was bogging actively, I would get e-mails from CBS constantly about how they were "listening" to blogs. It seemed though they were listening to what they wanted to hear
So this does not surprise me.
Posted by: Anthony | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 09:57 AM
Everyone needs to write a complaint to CBS -
Posted by: Jane | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Lettermans joke was akin to pulling the wings off of butterfly, more disgusting than funny. Can you imagine a little girl goes to a ball game with her mother, something that she would remember her whole life with fondness and love and then she is verbally sexually assaulted on National Television and her memories are turned to shame and hurt. He's more the baby raper than a comedian, he even turned up the laugh track to make you think there were deviates in the audience who thought it funny. You could see the enjoyment on Letterman's face, gave him a tingle right up his leg.
Posted by: Ron | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Reynold's "here" and "here" links lead to a FORBIDDEN page that references littlemissattila.
Posted by: lala | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Oops, "here" should be "this" in the above. I just checked it again and it is still forbidden. I wonder why.
Posted by: lala | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 10:59 AM
"a FORBIDDEN page"
She must be having server issues - the link worked before- Glenn's link to her yields the same issue.
Posted by: Dan Riehl | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 11:08 AM
link works for me.
Posted by: mikee | Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 01:03 PM
dave letterman shows us once again he has no class or manners.his ratings are so low he could craw under a snake without waking it up(LOL)............leno retired and lettermans ratings are still droping.......dave i been a jerk at times in my life, and you just proved it to me.......WRONG IS WRONG......... .........cbs should fire you then I KNOW THE RATINGS will skyrocket........heres daves top #10 new jobs....10 teaching family values in Iran.............#9...replacing the abortion dr who got shot(after all dave know how to hack up a good joke) #8 taking his kid to michael jackson NEVER ending ranch....#7become a plumber.....he can snake out the smallest pipes iN NYC( tip on this new job, just never bite your finger nails....#7 grow mushrooms...(cause your full of crap and your in the dark)......#6 become barney franks hair dresser#5..........spokeman for the little blue pill(its hard to think that you could swallow it)....4.....team up with larry flint and citi bank(call it GANG BANK)...............#3 get a new show on GAY tv(called up for 30 seconds)...............#2 donate your fossel of a body to reseach...........#1...........strap your self on a rocket(because the world will once again fear the united states(they will know our rockets deadly with your sick, crap will cover any country
Posted by: mrj.r smith | Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 01:46 AM
How long would Rush or any conservative have stayed on the air if they had made deragatory sexually explicit comments about Lettermans son? The media thinks things are all funny and free speech issues when they say something stupid, but if a conservative says it, its a huge issue and action is taken. Letterman is out of line. BOYCOTT CBS! I was a big fan of a lot of their shows, however, I will not be watching any longer since they cant control thier "stars" , first Wanda Sykes, now Letterman. They all stink
Posted by: Kdpvegas | Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 10:33 PM