Letterman's "joke" was disgusting, offensive, wrong and indefensible

[Apollo11]

I am posting this as a response to the "Letterman support thread" which already got 95 recommends today.

I watched all the YouTube clips of what Letterman said on his show and the reaction to it on various channels (including FOX & MSNBC).

I have been shocked (or at least - very disappointed) to see:

1) David Letterman making such a disgusting and offensive joke directed against Governor Palin's "daughter" (I don't think the argument about which daughter he meant is particularly relevant, and I don't accept the idea that anyone over the age of 18 is "fair game").

2) Someone like Keith Olbermann making light of the situation and failing to come down clearly on the side of saying that politicians children should be off limits (even if one of the Palins' three daughters is now 18 years of age).

3) Members of Democratic Underground lining up to applaud Letterman, echo his pathetic excuses, and pour sexism and hatred all over Gov. Palin and her family.


CAN'T YOU SEE that if the Palin daughters are "fair game" - then it will be harder for us to complain when someone decides to go after the Obama girls?

CAN'T YOU SEE that using sexist language against Governor Palin is the same as using those same words against Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton or Sonia Sotomayor?

CAN'T YOU SEE that by supporting these disgusting attacks against Gov. Palin and her family - you reinforce the GOP talking points about what "the left" is like?

CAN'T YOU SEE that every time the so-called "liberal elite" attacks Gov. Palin - it will only help her to gain more sympathy and support?


Sheesh! Sometimes I wonder if this place isn't turning into the Dummy Underground ... :eyes:

[spanone]

1. it's called comedy. sheeesh

[winter999]

6. And you would still be fine if it were your own daughter?

I, for one, wouldn't tolerate this "joke" in any way, shape, or form.

Remember, Polish "jokes" were considered comedy, too.

[juno jones]

13. I have a head chef of polish decent who LOVES polack jokes.

And if I was a public person who was waving my now adult daughter around as some kind of paragaon of virtue and example, I would deserve all I got.

Sarah's got nothing. Dave might have been tasteless, but c'est la vie, he's been tasteless for the whole 25 years I've 'known' him and I always found his skewering of public persons who start overstaying their 15 minutes via revealing too much 411 to be hilarious.

And I DO think Sarah looks like a slutty flight attendant. She has cultivated that image to short-circuit the little brain at the base of men's spines. Dave merely called her on a particularly heinous aspect of her M.O.

[Crabby Appleton]

71. are 'jokes' about Obama's daughters OK too?

[RaleighNCDUer]

99. The joke was not about Palin's daughter(s) - it was about Palin and

her incompetence dealing with 'family values'.

Let us suppose a hypothetical: A prominent woman has a child who, while the woman was sipping wine coolers on the porch, was playing in the street and was hit by a car, breaking the child's leg. If someone made a joke that the woman should have found a house a little farther from the street, is that an attack on the child or the woman?

[omega minimo]

148. WTF? The joke was that the daughter got "knocked up during the 7th inning by Alex Rodriguez."

:crazy:

[RaleighNCDUer]

166. Learn to read:

"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game," Letterman said, "during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

The joke was Palin's 'awkward moment' - clearly referencing the way she dealt with Bristol's being pregnant while on the campaign trail. As i said, the joke works just as well even if you imaging that she was there with NEITHER of her daughters because the reference is to her and, indirectly, her older daughter.

'Awkward moment' rather than a fucking family crisis.

Get it?

[omega minimo]

174. Those convoluted rationalizations are pure bull crap

[RaleighNCDUer]

181. Oh?

Just how DID Sarah present her pregnant daughter to the world? Shes going around promoting family values, abstinence only sex ed, and her daughter gets pregnant which exposes the emptiness of both those positions.

It was just a little awkward, don't you think?

As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this is exactly the same joke as Leno's joke about why she took the girls on the campaign with her - because when she left them in Alaska they got pregnant.

Same joke - not about the girls, but about Palin.

[pipi_k]

205. Yep, I agree

IMO, it was more a statement on what a rotten mom and hypocritical person Sarah Palin is...not directed toward her kids, who, after all, are still not "fully cooked" yet. Even if one of them is 18. She's still a baby, and still apparently under the influence of a mom who can't decide if she supports "abstinence only" one week or "Darn it, we goofed, but that's OK" the next.

Her position on teen sex seems to change with the wind.

So anyway, yeah...more a commentary on HER lack of character than on her children, who are really not much more than babies themselves.

[RaleighNCDUer]

212. Exactly. I actually feel very badly for Bristol, because if she was

a fully-realized woman who was in love with Levi, she would not have let her parents break them up. I've known many kids that age who could stand on their own - but a great many who can't, despite being legally adults.

I was raised in an atmosphere of something akin to 'benign neglect' - always provided for, for food, shelter and clothes, but otherwise left to my own devices so I became responsible for my own decisions long before I turned 18. I can't imagine what it would be like to have such fundamental issues as love and marriage dictated by my parents. Of course, I'm several decades past that so it's not an issue now.

[rhett o rick]

228. I agree with you. It's a statement about the hypocracy. nm

[Name removed]

242. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rhett o rick]

304. Wow, didn't realize that post would prompt a response requiring deletion. nm

[Name removed]

336. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rhett o rick]

402. Wow, some one doesn't like these cans. nm

[rhett o rick]

529. From "The Jerk", hello, is this mic on? Tough crowd. nm

[Mad_Dem_X]

492. Exactly!

"it was more a statement on what a rotten mom and hypocritical person Sarah Palin is."

SHE paraded her pregnant daughter out in front of the world, while at the same time spouting off about "abstinence-only education." But when someone else makes a joke at her expense, suddenly she's all offended and sanctimonious.

Fuck her and her hypocrisy!

[rhett o rick]

246. Rationalization is the key to happiness. Do you wish to deny us happiness?

:sarcasm: if needed.

[bc3000]

434. It wasn't a joke. She did get knocked up during the 7th inning by Alex Rodriguez

I saw it on ESPN.

[BoneDaddy]

465. that was when he stole second base, right

happened so fast too.

[rhett o rick]

527. And the abortion is schedule for the Billo's show. nm

[dotymed]

463. HOW DID

Jackie O break her arm?
A- by helping Jack off a horse...

[George II]

519. Letterman was incorrect - Palin's daughter got knocked up by Levi Johnston!

[rhett o rick]

528. Yes to prove they have "family values", their having a family. nm

[yodoobo]

Thats quite a stretch

I really don't think Letterman was trying to make a grand social statement.

[RaleighNCDUer]

222. Grand social statement?

Sarah Palin's family values are all fucked up.

That's what he said, in non-comedic style. How is that a grand social statement?

[yodoobo]

231. Of course they are

If your assertion is correct, then he is attempting to make a social statement.

Maybe he was. Maybe he is getting out of the comedy business and is getting into social commentary.

But I don't think so.


I think his intention was clear...get a few laughs and fill a bit of airtime by making one of Palins kids and a millionaire ballplayer the butt of a joke.

Unfortunately for him, he or his staff miscalculated and the wrong kid showed up.

[RaleighNCDUer]

237. You don't get it - SARAH was the butt of the joke - Bristol and A-Rod were

the devices USED for the joke. And it had nothing to do with which kid showed up, because he would have told the same joke if NEITHER of them had been there - the actual presence of a kid there is immaterial to the construction of the joke.

[rhett o rick]

247. I agree. nm

[yodoobo]

251. Sarah is certainly joke worthy, but I think that is a bit of spin

I see the construction and the diagram and methods you have built to arrive at that conclusion.

I suppose it works on paper in an academic sense with full analysis and footnotes, taking into account where the subjects were in relation to each other, their past family history and the political statements and opinions of all involved, you are are probably right.


But a national audience doesn't sit down and diagram a joke then conduct an analysis on it. They just respond within a few seconds or milliseconds.

No one deconstructs a joke to determine if they are offended, or if they find it funny. They just respond. In fact I would say that 100x more analysis of this joke has been done here on DU, than the writers put into it.

Letterman got a response and he being the professional that he did realized he needed to apologize.

I think he did the right thing.

[verges]

280. The ONLY reason anybody even

thought about this beyond the night of the jokes delivery, is that Mrs. Palin threw a hissy and got all upset so she could be in the news cycle a little longer. When Leno and SNL told similar jokes during the campaign she ignored them. She even went on SNL herself the next week!

[shellgame26]

395. That's it

She is an opportunist to the nth degree. Being on t.v is all this is about. Remember the GOP has been snubbing her for some time now and she probably sees this as a way back into the spotlight. If she was really concerned about her daughters, she would never have exploited her older daughter's pregnancy for political expediency. And that is presicely what she did. I'll never forget her tossing around that poor little baby in front of the camera during the campaign. This woman is a hypocrite!

[RaleighNCDUer]

531. OK, I get it -

You're saying that the reason people got upset is that they didn't listen to the joke - just picked out key words to be pissy over.

That explains a lot.

[blossomstar]

329. Exactly.

That seemed totally obvious to me, why others see it differently is a mystery. It was tasteless, but most late night comedy is, that's why they have it late nights! It was all about Palin, not her kids. Palin USED her kids to try to get elected, she should have let Bristol have the privacy she deserved. If there is blame here, it is Palin. Those that don't see it for what it was are just not comprehending the intention of the joke. I don't think they are going to get it if they didn't when he said it.

[dothemath]

417. You are a real idiot ................

So how did a female child get pregnant at a baseball stadium when the female child is not at the stadium? Maybe A-Rod mailed her a 'little something something'?

Parsing words and obfuscating meaning is so republikan, don't you think?
Letterman is a scumbag. You are a scumbag if you think it is funny to make that kind of remark about a child.

[Richard Steele]

438. You are fooling no one. Enjoy your stay.

nm

[BoneDaddy]

467. And you are a bore

for making this your private jihad. It was a joke and it was quite funny.

[mwb970]

468. Jeez, what a dumb post.

> So how did a female child get pregnant at a baseball stadium when the female child is not at the stadium?

Time for Humor 101. You see, idiot, jokes have what's called a "setup" and then a "punch line". In order to make the punch line work, the setup sometimes has to be untrue. Have you ever heard Jay Leno start a joke by saying "I was walking through Costco this morning...."? Not true! Jay Leno never walks through Costco, but he had to say that to set up his punch line. Similarly, it doesn't even matter whether Palin herself was at the game. It was just a setup for the punch line of a joke, not sworn testimony in a court of law.

Boy, explaining humor is really tedious, isn't it? Fortunately, it's not necessary for most people. Sadly, conservatives take everything so literally that they simply cannot "get" humor or jokes. Of course, irony and genuine wit are way out of reach as well.

:eyes:

[RaleighNCDUer]

490. Please understand this -

NOBODY GOT FUCKING PREGNANT AT THE BALL GAME.

It didn't happen.

Do you understand the concept of 'fiction'? In 'fiction' that which happens does not happen, and those who act in fiction do not act in reality.

"So how did a female child get pregnant at a baseball stadium when the female child is not at the stadium?"

Are you fucking KIDDING?

[blossomstar]

330. Tellin it like it is. Yes!

[twitomy]

472. How so?

If you think she WANTED her daughter to get pregnant, then I would agree.

Bad, unwanted things happen in the best of families.

Al Gores son was caught with dope and has had at least one DUI.

Does that mean Al Gores family values are "fucked up"?

Striving to meet a standard and failing is not "fucked up". What is "fucked up" is giving up

on those standards and not picking oneself up and trying again.

[RaleighNCDUer]

491. If you have good family values you allow the girl her privacy because

being an unmarried teen is difficult enough without nationwide media watching - instead, she exploited her daughter's situation and interfered with her daughter's relationship with the baby's father.

THAT IS FUCKED UP.

Do you disagree?

[twitomy]

522. Yes, I do.

I tend to think that the media exploited her unmarried pregnant teenage daughter, rather than
Palin doing the exploiting. Besides its hard for me to understand how "exploiting" ones pregnant daughter to gain votes would work, or even how it could be done. "Vote for me, my teenage daughter is pregnant!" huh? If the daughters pregnancy could have been kept quiet in the background, Im sure Palin would have been happy to have it kept that way. But since we have an "exploitative" media, and politics the way they are, there was no way she could have not addressed it and was forced to put the best face on it..

And yes, If my daughter (I have three) would get pregnant by some teenage smuck, you damn well
bet I would be "interfering" in the relationship, as it would be obvious I wasnt "interefering" enough..

[RaleighNCDUer]

524. A bit of logic deficiency there -

So, Sarah taking Bristol & Levi on the campaign trail with them was 'putting a good face on it', but she really didn't like him and got rid of him as soon as the campaign was over - when he was no longer useful.

1) If she really didn't like him, but put on a 'good face', would she have maintained the fiction if McCain had won? Would Levi and Bristol been married? How else could she keep the 'good face'?

So, she would have had her daughter marry somone she didn't like and her daughter did not want to marry, for political convenience.

That's fucked up.

2) If she really DID like him, seeing as how he stayed with Bristol under their roof during the campaign, which would not have happened if she and Bristol didn NOT like him, why did she cut him off when the campaign was over? Maybe she blamed HIM for her loss, because of the embarrassment?

So, she stopped her daughter marrying the person of her choice because of petty vindictiveness, because he was a political inconvenience.

That's fucked up.

The only way the situation would NOT be fucked up is if Bristol and Levi stayed in Alaska and kept to themselves. But she wouldn't let that happen, for fear people would say she was 'hiding' her - worried more about her campaign than Bristol's psychic health.

THAT'S FUCKED UP FAMILY VALUES.

[twitomy]

526. nope..

And you know all this how? Are you eavesdropping on the familiy?

Whats fucked up is that you are drawing a hell of a lot of conclusions based on nothing

but your hatred.

[rhett o rick]

229. Of course he wasn't and noone was suggesting that. He was using Palin's hypocracy

as an opportunity for a joke. Hypocrites make easy targets.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

Congrats that the dumbest thing I've ever seen posted here.

[EndersDame]

257. If when they turn 18 and go on national publicity tours

promoting something as dangerous and lets be honest laughable as abstinence only then yes they are fair game.

[ejpoeta]

458. not that she was promoting abstinence... it's that she was promoting it with a baby on her lap.

I mean, the fact that she was probably told having sex causes babies wasn't enough to stop her, I don't know why she thinks that her saying it would stop anyone.

[verges]

272. When the Obama daughters turn 18

and set foot on the public stage voluntarily (as Bristol has); then yes, they become fair game.

The point is (or rather, one of the points) is that Bristol has voluntarily become a public figure in her own right by going on talk shows and appearing on the cover of people magazine. If you don't want negative public attention, you stay out of the public light.

[JuniperLea]

289. Obama's daughters are not adults, and neither was pregnant...

Apples and oranges based on the first missed fact alone.

[liberation]

514. If you require a false analogy to make your point...

... maybe it is time to reconsider your stance? Have the Obama girls engaged in such level of hypocritical behavior?

Alas, it is quite telling to see some people spending so much time and energy to defend the honor and sensitivity of the right winger d'jour, god forbid we offend the people who are hellbent in destroying us. What a bunch of humorless PC lemmings we have in this site....

[omega minimo]

146. Oh please. that cliche? And as for your other comment = "She was asking for it"

"And if I was a public person who was waving my now adult daughter around as some kind of paragaon of virtue and example, I would deserve all I got."

[winter999]

155. Exactly. I agree - "she deserved it" is the standard

excuse rapists use. It's called putting the blame on the victim.

[omega minimo]

158. "Blame the victim" who is "fair game" for sexist "humor" because she's female

Dave could get away with "slutty stewardess look" in tne Top 10 but someone might have warned him about the "knocked up" joke.

[Odin2005]

209. Yep. "she was asking for it" is ALWAYS the unsaid context of said "jokes".

[ShortnFiery]

456. No, but when Sarah Palin winks for the cameras and plays her sexuality to the hilt ...

then why should ANYONE take her seriously? All that she has going for her is "her looks" and "spunk" and sad to tell the truth, her looks are fading fast.

Damn the truth! :shrug:

[dotymed]

466. DON'T LOOK NOW,

MOMMAS GOT HER BOOBS OUT....LOL

[spiritual_gunfighter]

238. The statement was correct

Palin was parading Bristol and the rest of her family as some "good ol fashion family values" and Palin gets what she deserves from Letterman. I agree with the above post, this was not a joke about Bristol Palin it was a joke at the expense of Sarah. She deserves it.

[customerserviceguy]

387. And if you knew a black person who liked "n****r" jokes, that would make it OK, too?

Yes, the daughter is on the cover of People magazine, with her child, and unashamed. Isn't that one consequence of the word "choice"?

[dothemath]

414. Why are you here? ..........

You HAVE ?????????? a head chef of polish decent (try descent) who loves polack (where are the caps?) jokes. WTF does HAVE a head chef mean? And I know a person with ties to Poland that will kick your ass if you tell a "polack" joke around him. You can't make a point with an anecdote, you moron.

Sara Palin hasn't been "waving her daughter around" as anything. She does respond when scumbags like Letterman make stupid remarks that appeal to redneck jerks like you. How would you feel if someone made a remark like that about your 14 year old daughter? David Letterman is a stain on the national scene, just like Limbaugh and his ilk. And you, trying your best to get your 15 minutes of fame started, have failed, as you have for most of your "1000+ posts".

[Rob Gregory Browne]

169. Yes, I'd be fine with the joke if it were my own daughter.

It's a joke. It was humor. He meant no ill harm to anyone involved. When the hell did we become such a freaking uptight society that even some LIBERALS in the crowd can't take a joke for what it is? The joke was harmless, was not offensive to women, was not MEANT to be offensive to women and has been blown all out of proportion by the Palin camp in order to get some face time on TV.

If anyone should be pissed about the joke it's A-Rod. Anyone familiar with Letterman knows that HE was the real target.

I think anyone who is getting their shorts or panties in a wad over this truly HARMLESS joke, should consider getting therapy.

[Name removed]

245. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

340. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[omega minimo]

368. You actually titled a book "Kill Her Again" and you're harping about who needs therapy?

:rofl:

[Rob Gregory Browne]

442. Actually, no. I didn't title the book.

My title was The Gypsy Wheel.

My publisher chose Kill Her Again.

[mainer]

510. Hey Rob! I know you!

wink wink.

[Rob Gregory Browne]

518. Judging by your "handle," I think I might know who you are.

:)

[Uzybone]

369. +100 on all your points

[ShortnFiery]

454. Yes, I'll check out your work. What's truly sad is NOW organization has become "a joke"

by playing into this saga. I was going to renew my membership earlier this year and I'm glad I did not.

Many times, I can understand the ACLU taking up some seemingly right-wing cases in the interest of free-speech but NOW's defense of that manipulative political hack, one each, Sarah Palin, is unforgivable.

I'll donate to family planning but not through NOW, never again. :thumbsdown:

[Petals]

537. Well at least we know Rob can take a joke...

Glad I saw the "which corner Rob's daughter works" thing before it got moderated. I wish I could recall the poster, but joke got moderated before I could reply. When a supporter popped up and got moderated (for suggesting the moderator had no sense of humor, which i think is against the rules)too I nearly peed my pants. Long free speech however short it's duration.

In all seriousness though, suggesting your daughter (assuming you have one) is a prostitute isn't exactly harmless and I'm not too keen on Dave painting a huge scarlet letter on Bristol or Willow.

Teenagers make poor choices and often compound their mistakes by concealing them. Although I must admit I laughed very hard at this poster's deft joke which I think was aimed at his disbelief about you being "fine" with such things, I would have been mortified if your daughter were actually at risk and on the street.

A young woman's right to choose shouldn't have come at the end of a gauntlet of public ridicule.

Dave was wrong, Sarah was wrong, Bristol and Levi were wrong. Unfortunately "all are punish-ed"

[Warren DeMontague]

191. I'd be more worried that my daughter was ACTUALLY 'knocked up' by Levi Johnston

than if David Letterman subsequently made a joke that she was 'knocked up' By A-Rod.

[urgk]

449. Bristol's right to be ignorant doesn't supercede the right of other girls to be informed.

Abstinence-only education, which she advocates, DOES NOT WORK. I consider her public appearances an attack on all girls. She gets paid to make it more likely for daughters everywhere to get STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Her paycheck is blood money. If my daughter espoused that kind of crap, you better believe I would have long-since sat her down and told her why her dad had raised her better than that.

And what does this have to do with ethnic jokes? Is hypocrisy an ethnicity? What, exactly is the country of origin? Is "Do as I say, not as I do" on their flag in Latin? Because I'd like to go boycott that embassy to stop sending us its damaged, useless, vocal, short-sighted, uninformed citizens by the truckload.

[Petals]

538. Are you saying women are mindless animals?

Teenager make poor choices. If she had abstained it would have been VERY effective.

If we teach them to how to use contraception and they choose no to, do we assume a more comprehensive program also DOES NOT WORK?

No, we redouble the effort to limit the impact on their health.

If it were any other health issue they would be routinely screened for communicable disease and those silly masks wouldn't be just on our faces.

[George II]

506. Question - WAS Palin's daughter knocked up?

[pokercat999]

15. And that would be accurate................... if it was funny! nt

[Gman2]

129. OP needs to put doillies over all TV's, or not go digital!

[ColbertWatcher]

44. Done in one. n/t

[hedgehog]

56. Which explains the real problem with the Letterman joke: it really

wasn't very funny.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

291. A lot of jokes flop -- just ask any comedian

To me, what's interesting is this: If Palin had had enough class to ignore the joke, it would have died right there. Ask anyone to tell you what any one item from Dave's Top Ten list was for the previous night, or even what the subject was. Hell, half the late-night crowd was watching Conan, and the rest of America was probably asleep.

The only reason these four seconds of television stand out from any of the other 86,396 seconds that day is because -- and only because -- Sarah Palin chose to make them so. She could have conveyed her message directly to Dave at his office, and he would have immediately apologized, both over the phone and on the air that evening. Palin chose to blow the joke out of proportion, to reframe it from a joke about her to a joke her 14-year-old daughter, and to go on the air over and over again playing the victim. Those were her choices.

Dave made a mistake. It was a lousy joke, and shouldn't have been included in the list when others were available.

But it was Sarah Palin who chose to make it an issue of equal importance to right-wing domestic terrorism, the exclusion of the single-payer option from the healthcare discussion, the failing economy and other issues which really matter.

[mainer]

511. so why did the audience laugh?

[Odin2005]

207. Based on that logic rape jokes are "comedy" too.

:eyes:

[mainer]

512. it wasn't a rape joke. It was a sex joke.

about a previously (and consensually) knocked-up girl getting knocked-up again.

There was NOTHING about rape in the joke. It's only because the Palins chose to drag Willow into the picture that it suddenly became about statutory rape. NO ONE knew it was Willow at the baseball game -- not Dave, not the public, not the audience. But the Palins keep banging that drum "Willow getting raped! Willow getting raped!" And that's the ONLY reason we even know that Willow was there. They are, once again, exploiting their kid for their own purposes.

[bjobotts]

425. CAN'T u SEE Palin is a beauty pageant contestanat brought to the political stage wink wink U bethcha

[bjobotts]

426. Giving the announcers "star bursts" when viewing from their easy chairs.

[bjobotts]

427. Painted a big taget on herself then said"oh but don't shoot me there" wink wink You betcha

[bjobotts]

429. "All of them Katie", "In what regard Charlie", How dare you compare her to women with brains

[bjobotts]

430. She winked at the cameras during the debates trying to emanate sex with her eyes goober

[kegler14]

499. COMEDY??? You thought that was funny??? You're warped.

[WeDidIt]

2. Mighty broad brush there

:eyes:

[marmar]

3. Butter in the middle and on top, lightly salted for me....

:popcorn:

[MercutioATC]

4. **Yawn**

I'm glad to see that some people have enough energy to get worked up about the non-issues...

[Apollo11]

16. Feel free to ignore this thread

97 DUers already recommended the "Letterman support thread" that was started 23 hours ago.

In the interests of balance - I decided to put the other side of the case.

I will be curious to see how many recommends this thread gets in the coming 24 hours.

I think that this issue is a test of our moral authority and character.

Do we respect young people - even when their mom is a GOP politician?

From my perspective - this goes to the issue of who we are as people.

[tavalon]

47. A test of our moral authority and character?

:rofl: :popcorn: :rofl:

Not.

[Apollo11]

89. Dude - you just totally failed the test

I'm like, disappointed.

[tavalon]

98. Dudette

And I so don't take your word on my moral standing. I'm like, amused.

[condoleeza]

214. I ignored the support thread and agree with your take on this.

It was a stupid joke, he should apologize. The Palin kids have enough problems already just coming from a family of nimrods and somebody needed to say what you did. The media is what keeps Sarah's name out there, they need to let it die and focus on things that matter.

[verges]

281. I like that.

Dave should look into the camera and say "Bristol, Willow, I'm truly sorry you're from a family of nimrods."

[SemperEadem]

354. oh, you really take what you say way too seriously

it was a joke. If you don't like it, the stop watching letterman, boycott cbs and their advertisers and you go audition for the gig.

Sarah Palin is like the monkey who climbed the pole for attention. She doesn't get to complain when people throw rocks at her.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

5. In space, no one can hear you whine.

[Ikonoklast]

32. Not so.

I can plainly hear the emanations through the Aether all the way down to the planet surface.

Waaaaahhh!

[Vinnie From Indy]

33. lol!

Very good!

[Vinnie From Indy]

43. OUTRAGEOUS!

I am outraged at your outrage over the outrageous claims that Dave's joke wasn't outrageous.


Personally, in my scheme of outrage, this ranks somewhere between putting the milk container back in the fridge with no milk in it and not getting the required pickle with my corned beef on rye with swiss at my local deli.

[Celtic Merlin]

123. What? No kraut?

Outrageous!!!

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[Chulanowa]

142. No pickle on your corned beef is just barbarism, plain and simple

That calls for torches and pitchforks

[Botany]

161. Dill or Garlic Dill?

[verges]

284. Perhaps we should begin a cheese thread? nt

[BobTheSubgenius]

325. This hasn't become cheesy enough for you? \nt

[Raster]

299. Promise?

[RetroLounge]

302. ...

:applause:

RL

[ProfessorPlum]

382. You win the thread

Bravo!

[TahitiNut]

7. How dare Letterman horn in on the "Sarah & Tawd Pimp Their Kids" reality show?

:eyes:

[Stinky The Clown]

115. It is not "Tawd" ...........

...... it is "Toad"

:hi:

[irishcat]

297. Actually,

it's turd.

[JerseygirlCT]

119. That's what weighs in the balance for me

I don't think politicians' kids ought to be "fair game" - unless they're actively involved in the campaign. This one is where I think Palin's began this whole thing. It's as if it's ok for them to trot their kids out as displays, or use their daughter's unfortunate situation as fodder for campaigning about their "pro-life" beliefs. It's ok to make a campaign icon of their newly born son, and use those kids at every opportunity when it furthers Sarah's rabid ambitions.

So while I agree that the joke was lame, and badly thought-out, I have to put a bit on the scales on the other side, thanks to the Palin's behavior.

(The same goes for the sexist joke about Sarah Palin. It would be completely outrageous - except for the fact that she herself plays that image up at every opportunity. Her winks and wiggles and skirt shifting up crap... her flirting with any rightwing media person she can find... She plays the game and calls "foul" when someone comments on it).

Personally, anything that brings her into the spotlight more is bad. I just want her to go away. Go far away and stay there.

[TahitiNut]

167. Yeah... I largely agree.

But insofar as "anything that brings her into the spotlight more is bad" ... nawww. It only indicates the utterly bankrupt taste of the political media and the right in particular. She and her gene pool are abysmally dysfunctional and twisted. They're just as 'ideal' (and representative) as the Three Stooges ... emblematic an almost comedic emotional immaturity and fundamental corruption of morals and ethics. She's a real life PARODY of a rampant personality disorder, all-too-common among too many.

She and her ilk DESERVE derision, lampooning, and disgust -- she's not just ASKING for it, she's wallowing in it like a pig in shit. To the degree her kids suffer ... that die was cast when she reproduced. Those kids have been mere props -- furniture in her house of horrors since day one. The mere FACT that anyone knows their names -- but DON'T know Joe Biden's kids names or even McCain's kids names -- is testimony to their abysmal exploitation by Sarah and Tawd themselves. There is NOBODY to blame but Sarah and Tawd ... and the human trash that elevates such pathologies.

[Raschel]

189. Did you see her gleeful look throughout the Lauer interview?

Very, very odd and inappropriate. I agree, she has a mental disorder and is wallowing in the attention.

[sandnsea]

8. lol, those Tina Fey "attacks"

really got Palin sympathy and support.

Sarah Palin's daughter, singular, is a spokesperson for a political group. She made herself a target.

The only people who have a legitimate gripe are flight attendants, who seem to understand the concept of a joke, in that they're not true.

[Apollo11]

30. Tina Fey's impersonations of Palin were very, very funny

and so was the "Palin Rap" skit they also did on SNL.

Did Tina Fey go after any of the candidates' children? :eyes:

[sandnsea]

60. Bristol is an Abstinence Spokesperson

No different than Liz or Mary Cheney. And if Chelsea Clinton becomes a spokesperson for some cause, she's fair game politically too.

[Major Hogwash]

384. I'm in love with you!!

At least for tonight.
And I am against abstinence.

I have to sleep on it, ask me in the morning, I have to sleep on it, ask me in the morning.

"Love by the dashboard light."

And I remember when they were upset by Baldwin's Schweaty balls scenes.

LoL

[babythunder]

254. When a candidate's kid is placed in the spotlight

they are going to be fair game. You seriously took the time out of your day to create this thread? At the end of the day Letterman's comment has absolutely NO IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE or anyone else. Seriously when are some people going to learn to get over things.

[JamesA1102]

9. It's selective outrage

Leno, Conan and Bill Maher all made jokes about Palin and her daughter that were as bad as worse. To single out Letterman is not fair.

And there is a difference between the 14 year old and the 18 year old who is an sdult and on a media tour.

[Apollo11]

48. Poor Letterman

Why single him out? It's not fair!!!!! :sarcasm:

The difference is that Bristol did not even go to New York. Willow did.

[JamesA1102]

93. So you're saying that it is ok to make jokes about Bristol? nt

[Apollo11]

112. Well - that would depend on the joke

Getting pregnant by her boyfriend does not necessarily make her a "skank" who does it with baseball players she never met before, and to suggest that it does is profoundly sexist. Even misogynistic.

[JamesA1102]

120. So Leno's joke about her getting pregnant by

John Edwards and Conan's joke about her and the Philadelphia Flyers gets a pass. Like I said selctive outrage.

[verges]

286. Here's the thing though.....

If it really happened, it's not a joke.

[EndersDame]

259. She went on a national publicity tour

She made her self a national figure and national figures leave themselves open for jokes

[RaleighNCDUer]

108. The difference is, that it makes no difference -

the same joke, told the same way, would have worked just as well if NEITHER girl was at the ballgame, and was no doubt written that way - nobody in the country would have interpreted it was an attack on Willow, and few, even, as an attack on Bristol because it was, like the other 9 of the Top Ten, a joke about SARAH.

[Apollo11]

117. Are you Letterman's lawyer?

How is "her daughter got knocked up" NOT a reference to the daughter who accompanied Governor Palin during her visit to New York?

[RaleighNCDUer]

136. As I said. Try, just try, using a little imagination, to read that joke

in the circumstance that NO daughter was there.

It still works the SAME WAY. Therefore, it cannot be ascribed to the particular circumstance.

It is, in fact, a variation on Leno's joke from last year about why Sarah takes her daughters with her on the campaign trail - because when she leaves them at home they get pregnant.

Leno's joke does not mention any names (like Letterman's) and with all due outrage could be interpreted to refer to Willow as well as Bristol - but NOBODY thought he was talking about Willow.

IT'S THE SAME FUCKING JOKE.

If Letterman should be ashamed of anything, it's pirating Leno's material.

[verges]

287. Because Bristol was the

one that ot "knocked up."

[mrbarber]

300. Are you serious?

"How is "her daughter got knocked up" NOT a reference to the daughter who accompanied Governor Palin during her visit to New York?"

PLEASE tell me you are not serious with that remark.

[DUlover2909]

421. So? Who cares? It was a joke. Palin opened this pandora's box all on her own.

With her hipocracy and self-promotion. She's not a baseball fan so why even take her daughter to a game? She's asking for the humilation with every step she takes. This is her attempt to cash in on the publicity. If she hadn't responded the issue would have fizzled out way before now.

[Big Orange Jeff]

10. Wow... just wow.

Have you tried Sanka?

[tavalon]

49. LOL!

[Botany]

11. Oh please

[Apollo11]

27. So what?

Spot the difference, people:

A 17 year-old girl has sex with her steady boyfriend, gets pregant and has a baby.

A 14 year-old girl is impregnated by a 33 year-old baseball player she never met before.


Wait - I get it - because ALL the girls in that family are EASY - right? :sarcasm:

[Celtic Merlin]

133. Jeeeezus! Would ya just TAKE the Palin Spokesperson job already?

You've campaigned for it long enough, just accept their offer and make it official.

[Botany]

157. What world do you live in?

Letterman's joke was about a now 18 year old girl ....... Bristol.
Letterman has publicly apologized for any misunderstanding and hurt his humor has caused.

The 17 year old girl's pregnancy and child is fair game because of the hypocrisy of her mother
and that both mother and daughter were more than willing to bring up some of these subjects in public.

Mom promoted Abstinence-only sex education but let her underage daughter sleep with her boyfriend
in her home.

The daughter has taken a paid p.r. job "selling" Abstinence-only sex education even after she said in public
that "it doesn't work."

If the Palins want privacy for "family issues" then they can damn well act like that is what they want too ...
BTW putting your daughter on the cover of people magazine is not what people do when they want to
keep things quite.

This whole thing is faux outrage by the right who have so little else to talk about.

[Chemisse]

445. This is absurd

A joke like that should have been nothing more than a minor annoyance to Palin. All that hysteria is not real outrage; it's her way of keeping the spotlight on. This is her pattern. For people to react as though it actually was an outrage for him to make that joke is really laughable. How does it feel to be dumber than Sarah Palin!?

[TankLV]

494. I challenge YOU to spot the difference: SELF PROCLAIMED SPOKESPERSON ON ABSTINENECE ONLY

goes around telling THE REST OF US what to do WHILE SHE IS WAS/IS STILL FUCKING AROUND WITH UNPROTECTED SEX!!!

as opposed to a "innocednt child" who did nothing at all to deserve any criticisms?

and then SELF PROCLAIMED SPOKESPERSON put HERSELF on stage and IN THE PUBLIC SPOTLIGHT, now cry LIKE THE FUCKING SPOILED WHINEY CHILD SHE IS TRYS TO PROTRAY when someone CALLS HER OUT ON HER HYPOCRICY?!!!

can YOU spot the RESEMBLENCES?!!!

[Vickers]

12. Why isn't anyone defending A-Rod?

:shrug:

That poor, defenseless gazillionaire...

:(

[ColbertWatcher]

59. Because he's a slutty baseball player. n/t

[AlCzervik]

14. How dare Palin use her children as human shields.

[cayanne]

17. Children should be off limits

IMHO attacking children isn't funny. Even though the Palins paraded their kids everywhere doesn't mean we have to take them on. It wasn't funny when Limbaugh told the joke about the Clintons having a cat and a dog (Chelsea) in the White House and it wasn't funny what Letterman said.

I feel sorry for the Palin children.

[tavalon]

53. You should feel sorry for the Palin children

but not because of this joke or Letterman. Those kids have really lousy parents including a mother who would sacrifice them to Great White Sharks if she could be President.

[cayanne]

177. I fell sorry for them over all.

[Blue-Jay]

261. Sure thing!

[nomaco-10]

18. You know what the worst thing about the Letterman joke was?...

It gave sarah palin an opportunity to saturate the airwaves for days on end blathering like a complete idiot, feigning outrage and exploiting her children on every news channel and talk radio show she could get on. Does she spend any time at all doing business on behalf of the Alaskan people in her duties as governor? Pitiful. sarah palin has reduced herself to a pop culture question in a Trivial Pursuit game.

[aikoaiko]

19. When the Obama girls go public speaking they should be fair game

[pacalo]

265. Only if one of them gets knocked up & then becomes a self-appointed spokesidiot for abstinence.

But it ain't gonna happen to those classy girls.

[Why Syzygy]

20. No. No. No. No.

Do you advocate for Liz Cheney too?

We could not sink as low as the Neandercans already have if we dug a hole to China.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

21. LOL! Not Sure Which I Find Funnier: Letterman's Harmless Joke Or Your OP.

:rofl:

[Tarc]

22. Oh my, the return of the "concern trolls" ?

I thought you and the rest were weeded out months ago?

[liberal N proud]

23. It's OK for Palin to parade her children on stage

exploiting the child and her out of wedlock pregnancy while chastising others for the same. An act which thrust the whole family into the spotlight.

But when the spotlight uses a different color, that of comedy, it is wrong?

Palin started this by using her children to gain political ground.

[bullwinkle428]

24. Too bad DU doesn't have an "un-recommend" option

[Javaman]

25. wow, just wow.

:eyes:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. You should make a list of things you don't find funny.

Then we'll know what's good.

[underpants]

28. I got the joke

next

[lxlxlxl]

29. huh? uninterested...

the palins use a late night comedian's joke to 'prove' that there is an organized attack machine? puh-leese.

if the 'liberal elite' were building sympathy for the gop, then they would have won.

[Bluenorthwest]

31. bristol is an adult

who is a paid spokesperson for Candies clothing line's 'don't have sex like just wear sexy clothes' promotion. She's on magazine covers and talk shows with her baby. She takes fees for these things. She earns money by doing these things. This is her job.
I offer that the Palins dragged their kids and even their kid's boyfriends into the spotlight when there was no reason at all to do so. They were with her every where.
I offer that the standard of treatment for those that Palin used as campaign props has been set by the Palin family themselves, when they said the various things they said about Levi, who is Bristol's age, and whose life was altered beyond reason by Palin's need to use him as a prop. She has, as Gov of Alaska and a GOP leader, taken this 18 year old kid to task in public, as well as his family. Say what you like about Levi and his family, you'd not be saying a thing about them if Palin had left them out of her side show from the start. She made him into a public figure, to serve her agenda. When he was no longer needed, she said all kinds of things about him and his family, who are residents of the state of Alaska, of which Sarah Palin is Governor. David Letterman is a comic.
The double standard lies in the way the Palins treat Bristol, and even more so Levi, and then expect kid gloves in return. If Levi is fair game for criticism from the heights of power to the largest news audiences, then I sort of think Bristol is fair game for comics. Has Sarah left 'the kids' out of it? No, not her own, and not other people's either. She made the rules sink so low when she started reacting to Levi as if he were an adult of equal power and standing to herself.
Or maybe the rules are different for Levi because he's a 'redneck' or poor or a boy? Do unto Bristol as Sarah would have others do unto Levi seems fair as it gets to me.
I'd just like to saw that I first say Biden's family at the Democratic convention. Today I know he has a son named Beau, and his wife is Dr Jill Biden. I could not tell you how many kids he has, or if the son is the only son. I did hear they bought a dog.
The point is, Joe and Jill did not run a dog and pony show with their family. As the Palins did. I mean why do we even know the names of her kids? Because they were used as political devices by their mother.

[Apollo11]

39. Which is probably why she does not accompany her mom on trips

unlike her 14 year-old sister, who was actually in New York last week.

But part of the Letterman defense is "Sarah Palin has so many daughters so it's not our fault if we always mix them up".

I think the joke deliberately implied that ALL of the Palin girls are, basically, "skanks".

I guess according the Taliban Underground - they should all wear bhurkas? :eyes:

[dionysus]

55. strawman fail....

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[frylock]

128. +11

[cwydro]

163. Nice personal attack.

Why can't you disagree and be civil at the same time?

[TahitiNut]

171. +20

:rofl:

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[frylock]

131. +12

[TahitiNut]

172. +21

:rofl:

[Vickers]

79. 'I think the joke deliberately implied that ALL of the Palin girls are, basically, "skanks".'

Wow, you REALLY didn't get the joke, huh?

:rofl:

[Bluenorthwest]

82. Instead of addressing my points about fair play

and the Palin's own treatment of their kids and of Levi, you use hysterical crap like Taliban Underground? Bhurkas? Why is that? No. Really. Why?
I asked some good questions about the double standard you and the Palins are promoting. And you ignored them all to reply with hyperbolic nonsense. Remember, it is Palin that opposes a woman's right to choice, Palin that charged for rape kits in her town, charged the victims.
Your desire to defend a woman who is not a friend to women's issues, a woman who exploited the living hell out of her kids, and her kid's kids, and the father of the kid's kid, for as long as that exploitation served her agenda.
So why do you have nothing to say about the way Sarah exploited her kids? About the way she, as a holder of high public office, blasted an 18 year old citizen of her own state, in the national media?
Why did she do that? Why is Bristol on People and taking money from companies to be a spokesperson? Why, if privacy is so important, are they selling her privacy on the open market?

[Apollo11]

100. Let me explain

Everyone deserves a certain level of respect, even if her/his mom is a GOP politician and even if her/his older sister had sex with her boyfriend.

Or even in the case that someone got pregnant and had a baby (shock!) - she still deserves a certain level of respect.

If we refuse to respect our fellow human beings, that says more about us than it does about them.

[ColbertWatcher]

118. Respect aside, you do realize that David Letterman is a comedian, right?

You also realize that comedians tell jokes, right?

You also realize that comedians are the modern-day equivalent to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_jester#Political_significance">court jester, right?

Did you also know that the Palin's were very selective in which comedian's jokes "offended" them?

Can you not see that the Palin's are desperately trying to turn a joke about her hypocrisy into a way to play the victim?

You do realize that Palin always blames everyone else for her faults, mistakes, gaffes and corruption, right?

You do realize that by trying to focus the media's attention on some alleged slight that Palin won't have to discuss her failed record as governor?

Right?

[MB63]

248. Not a very good one if he's flogging CDs and what's now in theaters...

Face it...the guy is old, grumpy, and need to get laid.

[RetroLounge]

309. If what you say is true, that makes the OP a tool...

:applause:

RL

[Bluenorthwest]

126. Gee I never heard THAT before!

The arrogant tone does not cover up the fact that you are refusing to address specific points. What do you have to say about the respect the Palins are giving to Levi? Sarah is the Gov of his state, he is an 18 year old kid.
What do you have to say about the lack of respect shown by you, when you ignore direct questions and reply instead with sarcasm and snark? You are asked a fair question and you shout 'Taliban' and you call that respectful?

I assume you also have huge issues with Wanda Sykes telling jokes about Limbaugh?

And at this point I also must assume that you agree with Sarah that Levi is fair game for attack by elected officials in his state, as a private 18 year old citizen? What she says and does about him, you think is just dandy, obviously. If you did not, you would address the questions asked of you, instead of climbing up on a soap box to speak spew at people.
You are what you complain about. A verbally abusive person, who does not show respect in exchanges with others. You, by free choice, are calling names and using characterizations, in lieu of giving direct answers to what you are asked.
You are so much more vile in speech than Dave would ever be. Just so you know, your crap is well noted, has been seen in history many times, and all who practice it run away from a question in fear, shouting insults and calling names as you go. As you do here today.

[Celtic Merlin]

140. Excellent points, Bluenorthwest.

I especially liked the point that Levi deserves as much "respect" as the OP seems to feel that the Palins deserve.

Then again, Levi is MALE. Perhaps the OP's desire for respect "halteth at the uterus and doth not extendeth to the testes". If it did, we might have heard alot more from the OP about Sarah's very public attacks upon the poor guy.

Good work.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[Bluenorthwest]

147. Thanks

My career was in media, and the treatment of family by those in the public eye is a huge issue for me. During the last cycle, the Palins were the most exploitative political family I have ever seen. So the arguments in their defense are simply repulsive.

[Apollo11]

198. Rush Limbaugh is fair game

Who has been attacking this Levi guy? Not me.

[verges]

296. Ok, I'll bite....

Why is it OK to joke about Rush dieing a painful death from kidney disease ok; and joking about Bristol; Palin getting "knocked up" not OK? On my scale, joking about wishing someone dead is much frther past the line.

[ImOnlySleeping]

407. What happened to this...

"Everyone deserves a certain level of respect.... If we refuse to respect our fellow human beings, that says more about us than it does about them."

Poor Rush Limbaugh is just a human being and deserves your respect. Blah.

[blossomstar]

350. Oh finally the truth is told. Thanks, well said.

[urgk]

481. Agreed, BlueNorthWest. 100%. n/t

[Xenotime]

164. That's bullshit. They don't deserve any respect. That's why they are not in power.

The fact that they got served and can't take a great joke is their problem. Sucks to be them.

[RaleighNCDUer]

116. Taliban Underground - Freeperism #2. nt

[CTyankee]

270. I basically agree with everything you say. My problem is with the whole

subject of young women being "knocked up" being commodified by Letterman. Palin did it,yes, but liberals don't need to do it. Bristol Palin has essentially proved our point: abstinence doesn't work. Republicans exploit their kids for political gain. BUT WE DON'T DO THAT.

Letterman should not have done the routine.

[glitch]

34. Agreed. And trying to beat the Palins' in "most offensive" is a loser's game anyway.

The smart play is to let them have that win.

edit: damn possessive apostrophes, I am going to stop using them altogether.
Who's with me?

[dionysus]

35. well, palin really does look like a slutty flight attendant... just sayin'

:shrug:

[RaleighNCDUer]

125. No, she looks like a slutty stewardess -

that look went out with the use of the word 'stewardess'.

[dionysus]

135. touche

[d_b]

36. eat my dump

thanx

[dionysus]

37. that's awful yet strangely funny at the same time.

[AlCzervik]

41. that's wrong but funny.

[d_b]

50. gotta do them trolls dirty

[name not needed]

318. How DARE you accuse the OP of being a scat muncher!

Have you no shame? :rofl:

[The Wizard]

364. That would be

coprophagia.
By the way, this thread eats shit.
Somebody either has to get off drugs or start using them.

[Happyhippychick]

38. I feel sorry for people with no sense of humor.

[omega minimo]

149. I feel sorry for people who think in black and white.

[tavalon]

40. Are you not aware that he already apologized?

Are you not aware that it is Palin, not Letterman, who is continuing to stoke this fire? She's using one of her kids, once again, to hype her own fame. Not okay.

[Apollo11]

58. I thought his apology was insincere

He tried to excuse it by saying the joke was about the older sister (who was not even in New York) - not the middle sister (who was actually in New York).

Plus - having sex with your steady boyfriend is not the same as having sex with a 33 year-old baseball player you never met before.

The joke is based on the implicit assumption that any girl who is not a virgin is therefore a skank.

Also - if your older sister had a baby - that makes you a skank too. Shame on Dave!

[tavalon]

70. I don't think you get to decide whether he was sincere or not

And I don't think Sarah Palin needs your help in her Munchausen by Proxy game. She's really good at it.

[mitchum]

90. GIVE IT UP, YOU FUCKING CONCERN TROLL

[Apollo11]

94. Thanks

Now I get to cross "bug mitchum" off of my To Do List.

[mitchum]

103. Hey, I have a suggestion for something else you can do to mitchum

[emilyg]

323. You are about as nasty as they come.

[mitchum]

388. Thanks, honey!

[emilyg]

412. Condescending jerk - you're going

on ignore.

[mitchum]

413. Oh no! Why don't you just go and fucking whine to the mods instead?

[emilyg]

418. Little man - this grandma fights

her own battles.

[mitchum]

453. Caught you, liar! I thought I was going on ignore?

[dbmk]

303. The joke clearly was a reference to Bristols pregnancy

and Palins hypocritical exploitation of it.

I did not know that Palin had at all attended a baseball game when I saw the top ten. There was no doubt in my mind which daughter they were referring to.

You can't really let go of who was really there, can you?

But lets pretend that you did not know that Palin had attended a baseball game.
Would you still assume that they meant any of Bristols younger sisters, if you heard that joke?

Its a straw man to constantly imply that it was about a 14-year old.

The joke is based on the assumption that you know that abstinence touting Sarah Palins abstinence touting daughter got pregnant out of wedlock.
If you publicly advocate doing 0 on the sex highway, don't be caught doing 90. That makes you interesting and fair game for criticism - and jokes.

[urgk]

450. So, you get to set the acceptable social and sexual boundaries for women?

Because it looks like, under your benevolent rule, you'd "allow" women to have sex with a steady boyfriend, but would vilify them for having sex with somebody they'd just met.

You get to draw social/sexual boundaries for acceptable behavior amongst women but David Letterman is the one attacking/judging/degrading women. I see.

[dsc]

42. I recommended this and you are dead on

sadly both sexism and homophobia are totally fair game when we don't like the target of the 'humor'. Evidently not all bigotries are created equal.

[grantcart]

422. +1

It was clearly in bad taste.


Take the whole sex thing out of it and Letterman still should not talk about politicians' kids.


Just leave all of the kids out of it.


My god the adults give you more than enough material.


What do they want, the politicians to make fools out of themselves and write the jokes out as well?

[Arkana]

45. Obama doesn't pimp his daughters for publicity.

So no--it won't be harder for us to complain if someone goes after them.

Bristol's been doing her own speaking engagements and giving her own opinions--that makes her a public figure.

You're just enabling Sarah Palin's persecution complex.

[MB63]

250. Maybe he can pimp them to Dave and A-Rod for a few guest spots?

You know when his popularity dips....sounds like Dave might be into that...

[Arkana]

276. Get banned you sick motherfucker.

[Contrary1]

298. And so it was. n/t

[Arkana]

343. Yeah, he was actually banned when I wrote that.

Didn't even realize it.

[konnichi wa]

46. I keep forgetting how Chelsea was a slut with a bastard child.

:shrug:

[elehhhhna]

91. lol

[ColbertWatcher]

51. Glitch. n/t

[depakid]

52. Wow- yet another ridiculous sefl-righteous bit of non-sense

Sounds almost like something from NOW, an organization which due to takes like this has become largely irrelevant.

[WonderGrunion]

54. Bristol Palin is the spokeswoman for an abstinence PAC

She is no longer just "a politician's child" any more than Liz Cheney or Meghan McCain are. I don't applaud Letterman. The joke was in poor taste. But the Todd & Sarah's attack against it was hyperbole and political opportunism at its worst. This is the second time that she has used Willow in this fashion (she claimed the booing she received at a hockey game was directed at Willow as well) which means it's a pattern of misdirection on her part. Palin uses her children as political tools.

[ColbertWatcher]

57. Can't YOU see that Dave's has the right to tell his joke?

Even if you consider it

"disgusting, offensive, wrong and indefensible"

Oh, and I also recognize that you also have the right to criticize it.

Kick and rec.

[Apollo11]

62. Actually I think there are limits to freedom of speech

and in this case - Letterman should not look surprised if Todd Palin punches his lights out.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

63. So physical violence is acceptable when someone says something offensive to you?

Don't let the Republicans know.

[Apollo11]

69. I never said it was acceptable

I just said that Letterman should not look surprised if it would happen.

I think most Dads would get mad if someone said that about their daughter on national TV - just for a cheap laugh - and then admitted that was why they did it.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

74. You seem to imply it. "Obama should not look surprised if someone tries to shoot him!"

Not saying it's right, but I'm just saying he shouldn't be surprised!

See how that sounds?

[Name removed]

253. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

338. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ColbertWatcher]

88. Are you suggesting that Tawd punch Sarah for all the stupid things SHE has said? n/t

[elehhhhna]

80. IT was a cheap shot, and it was not-funny enough to have been

deleted from the monologue anyway. This is a free country, and yet we hardly discuss the downside of freedom, i.e., the freedom to say really, really stupid, tasteless things. To make bad decisions. To fail. To maybe have someone's Dad want to sock you in the mouth, even.

The joke was an epic fail, but as a mom, I'd have expressed shock then let it DROP. Keeping those teenagers in the spotlight is bad, wrong, and irrelevant -- regardless of who's perpetuating it.

[ColbertWatcher]

97. I don't think Dave's obvious joke was that big of a failure.

It was a joke and the Palins cannot accept being in the spotlight and all that comes with it.

They really do believe their own PR and don't understand how anyone could say anything short of worshipful praise.

That's what all their fake indignation is all about. When people joke about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (or her family that she has made very public) they're joking about her incompetence and failures.

And neither she nor her husband (or their party for that mater) can handle criticism.

[ColbertWatcher]

84. Of course there are limits, but a comedian making an obvious joke about a public figure ...

... should not be one of them.

I would suggest limits on hate groups inciting violence, but very few other limits.

[mitchum]

105. What? Like shouting "white trash skank" in a crowded theater?

Is that one of those "limits to freedom of speech" of which you approve?

[ColbertWatcher]

121. Excuse me, but the term was "slutty flight attendant."

Let's stick to the facts here.

[RaleighNCDUer]

130. Aha! Call to violence! Freeperism #3.

And you're outa there.

[Vinnie From Indy]

513. And what might your prohibitions against free speech be?

I look forward to seeing your laundry list of unacceptable speech.

Cheers!

[Raineyb]

61. Sorry, not wasting my time getting up in arms to defend the grown woman

who's on a media tour preaching abstinence, a concept she herself had trouble with as evidenced by the fact that she has a son.

[Apollo11]

66. So y'all are buyin' Dave's "it was about the older sister" defense?

I thought that was a pretty weak defense. But either way the joke was over the line, because being a young mom does not make someone a skank who does it with baseball players they never met before.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

67. Yes. I think most people hear the words "Palin daughter" and think of the one that's been all over

magazine covers, TV, radio, and internet for the last 8 months. I couldn't have told you her other daughters name for all the money in the world last week.

Not to say that I thought Letterman's joke was good or in good taste. But I think it is completely dishonest for people to suggest he meant a 14 year old.

[Raineyb]

76. Yeah. As the joke wouldn't have been funny otherwise.

No, being a paid spokeswoman for a political group which wants to inflict abstinence only sex education on our students makes the younger Ms. Palin fair game. It's called hypocrisy and I have no problem with anyone making jokes to point it out. Speaking of which, you apparently have no problem with the joke being on Mr. Rodriguez who at least doesn't go about saying do as I say not as I do.

I find your outrage fairly ridiculous and evidence of the inability to either recognize a joke or get one when one's told within earshot.

[springhill]

143. Are you for real?

It was obvious it was about Bristol and not Willow. For you to spout this nonsense that he was talking about Willow is just plain wrong. Dave would have no way of knowing she was with them, as it was not even reported until AFTER Dave made his joke. Do some research on this please.

[elehhhhna]

152. omg of course he was referring to the babymomma /teenaged daughter.

though I agree it was inappropriate.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

249. Do you even watch Letterman and understand the running joke about A-Rod...

and "whomever"? "Whomever" is usually Madonna, for obvious reasons.

I've watched Letterman for years and while he can be raunchy, there is no phucking way he was referring to a 14- or 15-year-old girl. For you to suggest he was is highly disingenuous.

I'm not buying the charges of misogyny either; everyone is a target with late-night comics, Letterman included. I don't think the joke was particularly funny and actually feel sorry for Bristol -- not because of Letterman, but because of her phucking lunatic mother.

[Warren Stupidity]

335. the fucking joke doesn't make any fucking sense unless it was

about fucking bristol. How fucking dull are you?

[urgk]

451. YES, it was about Bristol. It doesn't make any sense otherwise. n/t

[rhett o rick]

530. Good grief. The joke was about Palin and her hypocracy. It had nothing to

do with a specific daughter. The point was that she is such a "good" mother, who knows what will happen with A Rod around. Her older daughter was made pregnant and she didn't have the father arrested. Good friggin grief. She is a whoppin hypocrite and open for ridicule.

[rcrush]

68. There are no offensive jokes. Just people who are too sensitive.

[Apollo11]

73. In that case, you won't mind if I call you a dumbass.

After all - it's just a joke! ;-)

[rcrush]

77. Sure go for it.

[Vickers]

81. lol

:thumbsup:

[rcrush]

86. Heres some more. Sarah Palin is so slutty....

that I could have been Bristols daddy but the guy behind me had the correct change!

Sarah Palin's so slutty that when she heard Santa Claus say HO HO HO she thought she was getting it three times!

[ColbertWatcher]

101. It's not a question of being too sensitive; it's about wanting to be mad. n/t

[lame54]

72. Can't YOU See that Bristol is a politically active adult...

who is pushing a hypocritical cause

she is fair game

when they finally do go after the Obama girl's(and they will - it's inevitable) - it will probably be baseless

and as far as your last point that making fun of her only empowers her - tell that to Tina Fey

It was the endless ridicule during the campaign that destroyed her - thank god for that

[Apollo11]

75. Did you read the whole thread?

I already dealt with this "but I was talking about the older sister" BS.

[lame54]

96. yes...

and I disagree

he meant Bristol not Willow - Bristol, because of her hypocritical abstinence preaching, is fair game

Palin by bringing out the words statutory rape is far more over the line than Letterman

[Apollo11]

104. But Bristol did not even go to New York

What would you call it when a 14 year-old girl gets impregnated by a 33 year-old man? :eyes:

[lame54]

109. Holy fucking shit...

it was a mistake - he got the wrong daughter - the intent simply was not there

maybe if you understood that basic premise you wouldn't be so quick to carry the torch for poor Sarah

[Apollo11]

113. "Sorry Willow - I meant to say that your sister is a skank. Not you!"

That is the most beautiful apology I ever heard. Very classy.


Not.

[lame54]

124. now you get it

[GAtomboy]

193. Right

The Palins exude class so that is what they get in return. I don't for one minute believe Letterman was talking about the 14 year old daughter. He was talking about the one who was actually PREGNANT... as her mom trotted her about on the campaign trail. Palin has no shame, that's why she's now using her 14 year old daughter to keep her useless and irrelevant self in the media any way she can.

[irishcat]

305. Have you ever seen Letterman before?

He makes his living making jokes of questionable taste about people in the news. Some of the jokes aren't funny, but enough are that he is quite successful. There is a reason that he is on late at night; bad taste.

Before you cry mysogeny, remember that his joke implies that A-Rod is as promiscuous as Palin's daughter.

Before you mention the fact that the older daughter wasn't there, remember that he talked about Palin's "slutty stewardess look", even though she was clearly not dressed as a stewardess. It's call "artistic license".

Humor is a funny thing.

[RetroLounge]

312. And you were wrong and con tinue to look like an asshat

But please continue, I'm enjoying your logic flameout.

RL

[tularetom]

78. This has all been stated 50 times in this post alone

but Palin brought this all on herself.

She does look like a slutty flight attendant. She spent the entire election campaign prancing around in skirts that barely covered her hoo hah.

And she thruet the preggo kid in front of everybody repeatedly, portraying her as a girl who had made a mistake but who was going to do the right thing by marrying the baby daddy and gettin her life back on track. Until she didn't get elected that is. At that point she didn't need the poor ol baby daddy anymore so the whole charade fell apart. At which point the daughter became the spokesslut for abstinence.

And the media ate up the whole white trash soap opera. Barely a week went by that something wasn't in the news about the Palin clan. She loved this. And all this fake outrage just keeps her in the spotlight.

I don't blame Dave Letterman at all. I'm not even sure I blame Palin. I definitely blame the broadcast media for jumping backwards through their own assholes to keep the spotlight on this worthless dildo chick.

As I said its all been posted nefore but I had to get my 2 cents in.

[Apollo11]

85. You remind me of the Taliban

Let's have women wearing bhurkas and keeping their teenage daughters locked up. :sarcasm:

We might as well blame Madonna for singing "Papa Don't Preach" :eyes:

[lame54]

102. how is your joke not over the line?

[Apollo11]

107. Because I am mocking the Taliban caucus here on DU

and you folks are fair game in my book.

[mrbarber]

316. Here's a hint:

Referring to the members of the messageboard your trolling as "you folks" is a classic troll mistake.

Freeper troll is a troll.

[frylock]

153. you remind me of a fucking dumbshit idiot..

i wonder why?

[RetroLounge]

313. That's because "it" is a dumbshit idiot.

:thumbsup:

RL

[mitchum]

83. You're wrong, but just keep on beating that dead moose

[baldguy]

87. Can't you see that this whole episode HAS BEEN CREATED & ORCHESTRATED BY THE RW MEDIA?

By being taken in by it & continuing it YOU are doing the GOPs work for them.

edit to add:

Her VP nom gave Palin the chance to get what she's craved all her life & what her history as a beauty pageant contestant, TV reporter & small-time politician did not give her - and her media-consultant crafted image as "The Hockey Mom" with her family in full display did: wealth and fame. The fact that she had to sacrifice privacy & a normal life for that family isn't part of her thought process.

Sarah Palin has built up a good head of phony poutrage, needs to lie about what Letterman actually said, ignores all of the similar late-night jokes in a similar vein that were told without the RW media circus taking notice, ignores the near universal criticism of Lettermans actual comments, ignores his apology, and needs to create imaginary slights against her precious little snowflakes to keep the "story" going. It all goes to prove her own insincerity. "The lady doth protest too much," and all that.

It's just another variation of the standard RW bullshit. The fact that anyone who claims to be a Democrat, a liberal or a feminist - and who should know better - is taken in by it is just sad.

[RaleighNCDUer]

92. Careful there -

your freeperisms are showing.

[Apollo11]

127. Questioning my bonafides?

Don't forget that back in January 2008 I started the most succesful pro-Obama thread of the whole primary season.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4181905

[RaleighNCDUer]

139. LOL

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4181905

I linked to the same post just in case you got embarrassed by your own hyperbole, referring to a 29 post thread - half of which was your own self-kicks - as 'the most successful pro-Obama thread of the whole primary season', and decided to edit it.

A thread put up, I must add, when HILLARY was the candidate to beat, and Obama was running a distant 3rd.

And no, I'm not going to go into your motives for posting that thread - or your self-serving linking to that thread.

[hiphopnation]

95. sense of humor

ur doin' it rong!!11!!!

[TexasObserver]

106. Letterman, si!

Apollo, no.

[islandmkl]

110. the most telling aspect to your 'take' may this nugget of opinion from you:

response #62:
"Actually I think there are limits to freedom of speech
and in this case - Letterman should not look surprised if Todd Palin punches his lights out."

can you clarify your self-defined 'limits'? beyond the 'shout fire in crowded theater' obvious aspect, just where and how do you define YOUR interpretation of the Constitution?

yeah, the f***ing 'First Dude' may want to resort to a violent reaction, as is his right to engage in unlawful behavior and suffer the legal consequences...or, on the other hand, one (myself) might put money on David Letterman in that encounter...

i think Todd has little to be righteously outraged about (considering the Palin family's penchant for public exposure for all members)...whereas Dave might just feel like defending his RIGHT to say things, even if they suffer from POOR TASTE (jesus, what a smarmy reason to inhibit the 1st Amendment)...

i thought his 'apology' was truly humorous...as it was intended...like a parody of all the self-righteous 'apologies' we hear from asshats who get caught saying truly stupid stuff...

hey, you don't like the humor...turn it off...in the meantime, i think the Palin's need few supporters finding strawman arguments to keep their shtick alive...they probably DO appreciate any help they can get here at DU....

[mr blur]

111. Have you really got nothing else to worry about? Lucky you. (nt)

[opihimoimoi]

114. This is Distraction...the real issues are Global changes ....the really important stuffs

Over population

spector of large famine over the horizon coming to our shores

diminishing food supplies

ricing ocean levels

global warming

diminishing fresh water

pollution everywhere

energy sources

We need to focus on the larger issues...

[baldguy]

134. +1

GOP media consultants dream of meaningless nontroversies like this for their talking heads to whine about instead of dealing with real issues..

[opihimoimoi]

282. Yup, most peeps concern themselves with small manini crap instead of the larger picture

i like your term "nontroversies"...it fits perfectly...

[Celtic Merlin]

122. CAN'T YOU SEE

...that while publicly preaching for a strict "abstinence only" policy for American teenagers, she paraded her pregnant teenage daughter around on political stages across America for personal political gain - and ONLY for political gain?

...that the glorification of Bristol has made her more of an endorsement for underage pregnancy than for the line of tawdry clothing she's hawking?

...that while Letterman's joke was certainly in poor taste, he has thoroughly and publicly apologized for it?

...that the Palins want the media attention over this to go on, and on, and on for their political gain and that you're buying into it with this?

...that the time has come to allow this entire tempest to be relegated to the Teapot of Ancient History and move on to other much more important issues facing these United States and the world?

...Russia from your house?

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[cherish44]

132. Actually there's nothing wrong with Bristol Palin jokes in my opinion

She's over 18, she chooses to be on magazine covers, gives interviews and attends rallies as a spokesperson for abstinence (which is a joke that practically writes itself)...she and her ex are slamming each other in the media very Jerry Springer-esque drama.

The younger Palin girls should be left alone. The Obama girls should be left alone. But once they hit 18 and they're running their mouths or acting like drunken peices of shit (Bush twins anyone?) then they're fair fodder for jokes.

Letterman apologized, time to GTFOI

[Princess Turandot]

137. There's no way on God's Green Earth...

that Dave was making a pedophilia joke. No way. If you ever watched his show on a regular basis, you would realize that, so it's pretty fucking obvious that you do not. One would have to be utterly uninformed to make such a connection.

If you watched his show regularly, you would know that his recent monologues often include an A-Rod joke. A-Rod: recently separated multi-millionaire, controversy magnet. (Screw the Palins. If nothing else, Letterman is just too smart to set himself up for a slander lawsuit, involving Mr. Rodriguez and an underage girl.)

Did you email and scream about Monica Lewinsky jokes to all concerned, whose teenybopper worship belied her physical age? Have you emailed Leno about his jokes about women? Have you spoken out about Bill Maher, who seems to think that women are just things to be fucked? Personally, I deplore such jokes about women but I deplore them whomever mouths they come out of. On balance, many men are much greater offenders than Mr. Letterman.

Do you know that Letterman has had UN folks on his show, asking for donations for important matters?

Do you know that Letterman, after having interviewed him, is an Obama supporter? Ya think that doesn't matter to the Palin camp?

Because if you answer no to any of the above, the term 'hypocrite' may be one that you should worry about sharing with the Republicans.

[Cronus Protagonist]

138. This thread is representative of the "Dummy Underground" of which you speak

How Jungian. Project much?

[Contrary1]

141. Sorry. I don't have enough hours in a day, or years left to live...

to get all riled up about words. There are plenty of "comedians" out there who say things I don't find funny.

Wanda Sykes, for instance. I didn't find her performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner all that funny. Many people here did. That's fine by me. I am not about to dictate to others what is or is not funny...to them.

I see a lot of "jokes" and innuendo on DU about women's breasts. Does it bother me? Nope. Should it? After all, I lost both my breasts to cancer. Should folks be allowed to post something that I, might find offensive about breasts? Certainly. I can either laugh, or dismiss it.

The one thing I won't do is waste a single moment being disgusted or offended.

[omega minimo]

144. Many Democrats embedded in misogynistic culture don't SEE it, like fish in water.

Many Democrats don't SEE the regression of women's rights in recent decades.

Many Democrats don't SEE bigotry toward females as bigotry.

Many Democrats don't SEE women's rights as integral to all our rights.

Many Democrats don't SEE calling women "slutty stewardess look" or "knocked up in the 7th inning by Alex Rodriguez" as any "big deal."

[baldguy]

151. Many Democrats can see a joke as a joke - even a bad one.

Many Democrats understand that the heath care crisis, the financial crisis, the leftover GOP wars in Afghanistan & Iraq and 1000 other issues are more important.

Many Democrats see that this whole brouhaha has been staged by Palin & her RW GOP media managers - just so some other Democrats can be taken in by it & do the GOPs work for them.


Congats! You're now an honorary member of SarahPAC! ON TO 2012!

[Bluenorthwest]

154. Also the difference between a joke about a person

and a class of people. I guess some folks are into a lack of reason and humor, as well as full blown double standards in which Sarah gets to say anything about anyone and yet if anyone responds it is terrible, an attack on all women!

[omega minimo]

160. oh god how hard do you have to work to miss the point that much? Why are you on DU

if you don't even get basic concepts? If your's is some generic BS reply, go latch onto someone else's post. Not one that states some facts, which you have now confirmed YOU DON'T SEE.

:thumbsdown:

[Bluenorthwest]

168. It means that I as a gay man do not hear every joke about

Elton John as being about all gay men, because he's Elton, and I'm not. See? See? If I felt that every joke about my a member of my profession was about all of us, I'd never get to draw a non offended breath. I know how the language works. So I do not have to pretend that Dave meant all flight attendants, many of whom are male, some of whom are 60, etc.
A joke about Bristol Palin is no more a joke about all women than Bristol Palin is all women. To claim such is offensive.
She's an adult. She is in the public eye by choice. And her mother's choice. They both made choice I do not think of as wise, choices I'd never make for any child in my charge.
Your personalized and hyperbolic attack, as usual, does not face a single point I have made in this thread.
My 'generic BS' happens to be coming from someone who was in the public eye at an early age, has even been in People magazine, just like Bristol. I know all about how this works. I know a joke when I hear one, if I didn't I would have starved to death years ago.
You are not stating facts, but invective against people who do not agree with you. To me, it is the Palins and their defenders that are anti-child and anti=woman. Against choice, dragging all those kids to every photo op.
I think you are arguing on the side of the exploiters. Understand that now? You are not being a feminist, you are being a conservative hypocrite.
Sorry, but this is what I know. Go live it and then tell me all about the press. When was your last national interview, name calling poster?
What is YOUR standing here?

[omega minimo]

173. Aside from the immature belligerence, thank you for your post.

"A joke about Bristol Palin is no more a joke about all women than Bristol Palin is all women. To claim such is offensive."

Where did I claim that. My comments were about the environment we live in, which IMHO extends to all gender issues, affects fe/males and GLBT and all of us, including in the ways gender roles are used to control us. Relevant to the gay marriage issue which is a total non-starter on DU. So be it.

Don't use my comments, which are true and affect all of us, as an excuse to make a personal attack against me.

"Your personalized and hyperbolic attack, as usual, does not face a single point I have made in this thread. "

And why would you assume anyone has read your every post in this thread? Shall I make an "it's all about YOU" joke?



Many Democrats embedded in misogynistic culture don't SEE it, like fish in water.

Many Democrats don't SEE the regression of women's rights in recent decades.

Many Democrats don't SEE bigotry toward females as bigotry.

Many Democrats don't SEE women's rights as integral to all our rights.

Many Democrats don't SEE calling women "slutty stewardess look" or "knocked up in the 7th inning by Alex Rodriguez" as any "big deal."

Those are all true. Attacking me with your projections makes it appear you don't SEE much of it either. Please think about how sexism and bigotry toward women affects all of us.

Since I won't assume you saw this post, I add:

Many Democrats can't SEE that sexism/misogyny SUPPORTS the power structure controlling those issues.

[kath]

186. "in the public eye at an early age", "been in People magazine"

hmmmm - now you join my list of "DUers whose identity in real life I'm just *dying* to figure out".

my curiosity is killin' me!! (you, DFW, one of the lawyers who used to post here, some others...)

[omega minimo]

159. Many Democrats can't SEE that sexism/misogyny SUPPORTS the power structure controlling those issues

Congats! You're now an honorary member of Sexism's All Right Cuz I'm Oblivious Club!!




The "knocked up" joke went too far, admit it.

[baldguy]

170. It was. And he was roundly criticized.

And Letterman apologized for it, didn't he? He even offered her time on his show to respond - which she refused out of hand.

And dare I say MOST rational thinking people - left & right, male & female - understood he was talking about an 18-yr old mother.

MOST Dems understand that Sarah Palin doesn't represent *all* women in any way, shape or form. She doesn't even represent most women.

Sarah's faux crusade has nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with promoting Sarah & the GOP. You should get your head out of the sand & stop promoting Republican causes.

[omega minimo]

182. ya know people who have a point and a willing reader might refrain from the dickhead

insults at the end.

:puke:

[baldguy]

187. If you don't like being mistaken for a Republican, don't sit in their cheering section.

[omega minimo]

194. If you don't like being mistaken for an asshole, don't act like one. More "BLAME THE VICTIM"

Bully bullshit

[baldguy]

197. You think Palin IS A VICTIM?

:rofl:

[omega minimo]

202. Like I said I was reading #170 and listening to you but your "head in the sand" crap

ended discussion. :thumbsdown: Maybe some of the macho boys here will play with you.

[baldguy]

211. News flash: PALIN LOVES SHIT LIKE THIS

She should be bending over backward, tripping all over herself to THANK David Letterman for keeping her name in the news. Her tame GOP media trolls wet themselves three times over hoping to get this kind of free publicity. And she's is taking this opportunity and running with it as fast & as far as she can.

And she should be thanking you, too for doing your part. But she won't

[omega minimo]

218. Go spew at someone else. Bet you're fun at parties, spouting off irrelevantly

[Bluenorthwest]

216. I hope you grasp how abusive and disrespectful your own

words tend to be.
The knocked up joke about an adult professional political figure who is famous because she got pregnant when no married while promoting a sex free life for others did not go far enough. That girl and her mother abused and mistreated that boy and his family mercilessly. They have all the power and money in that situation, and they are selling themselves off to the highest bidder. They are doing that to themselves. They are adults, taking money to perform a service. They are selling their celebrity.

All you do is call names and use abusive language to others. You can not answer a question asked of you, you can not converse. You declare, you shout,you use the tactics of the bully. But being meaner does not make one more correct, just meaner.
The very nature of your style of engaging others belies the vast respect you claim to be pushing. The way you expect professional comics to treat Bristol Palin certainly is not evident in your own chosen manner of dealing with people.

[omega minimo]

221. and your personal attack is somehow not abusive and disrespectful?

I stand up to bullies and they don't like it. So be it. If a bully attacks and then pretends they want to discuss, too late. Sorry.

"All you do is call names and use abusive language to others." That's completely false.

"But being meaner does not make one more correct, just meaner."

Yours is the "meaner" hypocrisy here. :thumbsdown:

[RetroLounge]

315. "Yours is the "meaner" hypocrisy here."

:rofl:

RL

[omega minimo]

367. Oh look, another one who doesn't understand how gender bigotry affects and controls all of us

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

405. Glad you're under "control"

:rofl:

RL

[omega minimo]

431. You can't comprehend this and your sigline is "Gay Rights are Human Rights!"?

:crazy: No connection there?

[RetroLounge]

464. You continue to beat dead horses long after you are wrong...

:rofl:

RL

[Starbucks Anarchist]

508. She's moved on to beating unicorns.

[RetroLounge]

521. No surprise there...

:hi:

RL

[MilesColtrane]

355. Don't forget the victim card tactic.

S/he loves that one, calling those who disagree or push back "bullies" and "swarmers".

[omega minimo]

370. You really

shouldn't listen to all the venal gossip your little friends spread. :think:

[RaleighNCDUer]

176. And many Democrats don't see Sarah Palin embodying ANY of the

women's values that you are so 'concerned' about, inasmuch as she is openly hostile to women's rights and by all appearances wants the very regression and bigotry that you speak of.

If she didn't, why does she choose to get up on a fucking stage in a miniskirt, and choose outfits that only lack a perky little hat to say "Fly ME!"?

[omega minimo]

180. With you on the first part. The second is confusing.

Mind clarifying? The dustup has definitely brought up the topic of women's fashions.

[RaleighNCDUer]

183. Second line should have read "if she wasn't (hostile)" rather than

"didn't".

It is about her hypocrisy - including her picking a fight over Letterman's joke, while not showing any interest is a dozen other instances that were as bad (and I certainly agree the joke was tasteless, but that's beside the point).

[baldguy]

185. And her hypocrisy about trying to cast Lettermans joke as being sexist & misogynistic

While being on the wrong side of every issue of gender equality we face.

[Odin2005]

199. Yep. I know I didn't "get it" until my friend was raped.

And then some assholes said it was her fault because her touchy-feely, extroverted personality meant that she was "asking for it". :eyes:

Christ, am I the only guy who gets this shit? :banghead:

[omega minimo]

206. No. There are cool men here too.

Like other issues, the bullies try to take over...

:pals:

[unapatriciated]

374. I have been reading this thread and must address the point you are missing...

I think being the victim of spousal abuse and going through my daughter being raped simply because she was gay and hadn't met a "real man" qualifies me to have an opinion on this.

I got the joke, and agree it was in poor taste, that being said it was in no way directed at the younger daughter or even Bristol for that matter. It was directed at Palin and her narcissistic attitude regarding her own children and their well being.
Face it we all know women of palin's ilk, they are users and I for one will not feel sorry for her. I will save my outrage for those that that stand in the way (like palin) that deny my daughters and grand-daughters equal rights.
I will chose my battles and this is not one that needs to be fought.

[omega minimo]

433. Good points. TY. The big picture issue IMHO is the culture of gender bigotry we live in.

[RaleighNCDUer]

210. Do you doubt that Todd and Sarah would AGREE with that asshole?

Try to remember WHO you are defending here.

[omega minimo]

224. I believe we were talking here about misogyny in general. Your post may be misdirected.

No one's defending anyone AFAIK

[RaleighNCDUer]

233. It seems to me you only think we are talking about misogyny -

because Sarah is creating a misogyny strawman of the Letterman joke. By supporting her strawman, you are, in fact, defending her hypocrisy.

Letterman makes a joke about her, referencing her older daughter's pregnancy and A-Rod's libido, and she spins that as an attack on her younger daughter - even though she knows better - and flogs it to make herself out as a victim AND a supporter of women's rights, when actually she is neither.

THAT is what it is all about - not some tasteless joke.

This is one case where it really is all about Sarah.

[omega minimo]

266. Please check the thread

Odin2005 replied to this
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5852733&mesg_id=5853729

[Odin2005]

225. Given the mindset of many conservatives it wouldn't suprise me.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

503. What does that have to do with Letterman's joke?

It was aimed at Bristol, the hypocritical abstinence advocate. How you go from that to acceptance of rape is odd, to say the least.

[RetroLounge]

314. But we do see dumbasses here all the time

such as the OP

RL

[pepperbear]

145. no,.....

michelle obama, hillary clinton, and sonia sotomayor aren't the same as palin.

[Name removed]

150. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HughMoran]

156. The worst part of all is it's given that troll the spotlight she so desperately craves

I could kick Lettermans ass just for that alone - I HATE seeing Palin threads here and lately I can't hide them fast enough.

[Name removed]

162. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LanternWaste]

165. Do you hold George Carlin and Lenny Bruce...

Do you hold George Carlin and Lenny Bruce to your same standard of decency that you hold Letterman to? What of Richard Pryor? The Family Guy? The rank and file comedian or hip cartoon show?

If so, can you direct us to your prior posts in which you stated as much (as Carlin quite recently passed, I'm confident you chimed in on at least on his his tribute threads, yes?)

Or (and I find this a bit more likely), you've bought into holding Letterman to the a journalistic standard rather than a comedic one that the talking heads have been attempting to sell us...

[omega minimo]

175. Interesting point. B/C the humorist presents a joke with a POV and the POV is key to reception.

:think:

[Christa]

178. Read this

A history of worse things said that she never complained about:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5852119

[Apollo11]

192. I already did

None of that excuses Letterman's "knocked up" joke, which takes things one step further by suggesting that the Palins' second daughter (who is under-16) was impregnated by a 33 year-old man while visiting New York with her mom. The joke only works if the audience shares Letterman's assumption that all of the Palin sisters are skanks, presumably based on the fact that the eldest sister had sex with her boyfriend, got pregnant and had a baby.

Maybe the Palins finally got tired of the attacks and decided to draw the line?

As far as I know, Sarah did not bring it up until she was asked about it in an interview.

Then she posted a statement on her Facebook page where all her friends could see it.

It was Letterman who poured gasoline on the fire with his insincere incomplete "apology".

[baldguy]

208. For the ten millionth time - Letterman never made any joke about Palin's 14-yr old daughter.

To continue to claim that he did - or that any rational thinking adult believed he did - is disingenuous AT BEST.

[Apollo11]

227. The joke did not specify which daughter he was referring to

But it had been widely reported that Willow Palin was accompanying her mom on the trip to New York, and you would think someone who is so obsessed with Gov. Palin as Letterman obviously is (or at least - one of his writers), might have paid attention to some of the coverage.

Letterman saying (3 days later) that the joke was "about" Bristol is what we call post-facto justification. A convenient defense from Dave's point of view, but impossible to prove either way.

[baldguy]

241. It's a concept in the English language called "context".

A joke about Palin having an awkward moment because her teenage daughter got pregnant is REFERRING TO HER TEENAGE DAUGHTER, WHO ACTUALLY GOT PREGNANT!

And in any case, he apologized & invited her on the show to confront him. That's what adults do in these situations - and that's precisely WHAT SHE REFUSED TO DO!

Letterman did his best to make amends, and instead she insulted him & made baseless accusations against him - obviously at the behest of her media handlers. The fault for escalating & continuing this stupidity rests with Palin.

[blossomstar]

356. Only perverts would think

for even one SECOND that Letterman was referring to any other than Bristol (who WAS knocked up!). It didn't MATTER who was there!!! Don't you get it for God's sake??? Palin became WHITE TRASH when she used WILLOW in the same sentence as "rape" to glean attention. Anyone with any brains can see that. Screw Palin's straw man scheme.

[LanternWaste]

215. Do you hold Carlin or Lenny Bruce to the same moral standard?

Do you hold Carlin or Lenny Bruce to the same moral standards?

[Deep13]

179. I thought it was out of line, but not the end of the world.

He should not be using misogynist language anymore than a TV person should be saying n****r. Letterman tells one tasteless joke (and it was) and gets crucified. Meanwhile we have whole TV and radio shows on the right spewing vicious sexist and racist and homophobic lies every day. That's not an excuse, of course, but I think it helps put it into perspective.

[emilyg]

184. K/R Thank you.

At times DU is a mental cesspool.

[Apollo11]

188. Hey emilyg

I am proud to represent the voice of sanity on behalf of you and the other 20 (and counting) good folks who recommended this thread!

:hi:

[magellan]

190. They'll go after Sasha and Malia anyway

...just like they did Chelsea Clinton and Amy Carter. The right doesn't give a shit about moral high ground.

[Apollo11]

195. So let's all get down in the gutter and start throwing shit

and if anyone complains we can call it a pre-emptive strike against the imminent threat of a right-wing assault on the First Family ... :sarcasm:


Speaking for myself - I would prefer not to get down in the gutter.

[magellan]

196. Oh stop being a doormat

This isn't anything worth getting all high and mighty over.

[Apollo11]

200. What part of "people's families are off-limits" don't you get?

Did President Obama not make himself clear back on September 2nd?

Or is it that many of you folks disagree with what he said? :eyes:

[baldguy]

213. Obama said "people's families are off-limits" about the Palin kids.

But then IT WAS PALIN THAT PUT THEM IN THE SPOTLIGHT.

[magellan]

217. First of all, friend, Obama was talking about the presidential campaign

Second, this is still America. Free speech and all that.

Third, Letterman didn't transgress any worse than Leno and O'Brien and Maher have since last September on the subject of Bristol.

If anyone is at fault here it's those buying into Palin's convenient outrage over Letterman.

[Apollo11]

220. OK - so me and the 25 DUers who rec'd this thread at "at fault"

because we are "buying into Palin's convenient outrage" ... :eyes:

Because Dave's "knocking up" joke was just fine, and who really cares which Palin daughter he was suggesting would have sex with a 33 year-old baseball player.

Because they brought this on themselves by having a mom on the GOP ticket ... :sarcasm:

[magellan]

235. As much as you imply others are at fault for approving of "pre-emptive strikes"

Own the outrage. Or get a grip.

"who really cares which Palin daughter he was suggesting would have sex with a 33 year-old baseball player"? Do you seriously believe the RW spin that Letterman was referring to WILLOW? If so, it explains a lot.

And no, they didn't bring this on themselves. PALIN brought it on them.

You like to presume a lot from your lofty height.

[mrbarber]

328. This isn't an attack on Palin's family.....

This is an attack on the hypocrisy of Bristol.

And no, nobody is buying that line your selling about it being Willow Dave was talking about. Try again.

[bridgit]

201. Letterman is no Andrew Dice Clay that's for sure, but neither does Palin = Olympias,

at least not yet. She's working it. I see her as an organic Lady MacBeth; said to have that internal that makes it easier and so willing to love and then hold-for-points the faces of these loved ones into cameras that play like Palin Family Vacation brouches then whimper like shot bunnies when no one buys a ticket and BAM!

Palin steps onto the ever-turning republican you-owe-me-an-apology-go-round and weeeeeee! - here we go, it's all my fault cause I *can* see it :cry:

Are there more appropriate jokes than the one Letterman told the other night? Even from a Dave who's comedy is not particularly known for it's political nature ala Will Durst, certainly Mort Saul, etc? But rather an alloy of some'ah this sometimes that but mostly round 80% heartland piss and sardonic vinegar? Yes.

If after courting NYC and her '$40 the hard way', can we ever really just go home by clicking our heels three times? Cause first I'm thinking no, but then I'm seeing a great pitch for sum'ore ah'dat good ole, comfy reality TV ~ Palin Family Style

[Odin2005]

203. Exactly, just because Palin is an ass doesn't we have to use sexist epithets on her.

[SeattleGirl]

204. I think Palin is disgusting, offensive, wrong and indefensible.

SHE is the one who drug her kids out on stage during the campaign.

SHE is the one who used them as nothing more than props (remember how badly she held that poor little baby?).

SHE is the one making a big fuss about nothing.

Sorry, but I just can't feel sorry for her, or defend her.

She's disgusting, and if anyone is harming her daughters, it's her.

[Apollo11]

219. I would prefer if candidates' children were not expected to get on stage

But if it is OK for Sasha and Malia to get on stage at the Democratic Convention and talk to daddy over the satellite link-up, not to mention the election-night acceptance speech, then I find it difficult to complain about Republican candidates doing the same thing.

I don't agree that Sarah Palin is making a big fuss. She responded to interview questions and she put a statement on her facebook page.

I don't agree that Letterman's "knocked up" joke is "nothing". I think he crossed the line and his 8-minute on-air "apology" (more like an attempt to excuse his own poor judgement) was insincere and inadeqate. The way he invited Gov. Palin to come on his show (and leave Todd at home) was an obvious attempt to keep the story going and get more attention for his TV show.

[SeattleGirl]

230. What I take umbrage to is the fact that Palin had those children on stage

all the time, and now she's feigning outrage over someone making comments.

I do agree with you that I think the children should just stay off the stage, but ultimately, that's up to the parents to decide.

Sorry, but I think Palin is an attention seeker who is not above using her children to get said attention.

It's hard for me to feel bad for someone who brought the mess they're in down on their own head.

[LaPera]

232. Get a life dude, a real life-It was funny and Palin makes a fine living exploiting her children at

every opportunity for ALL of us .....at every event and podium she can wiggle her way or push her way on to....this is the queen of exploitation a fucking pig of a woman!!

Palin's duplicity is almost as obnoxious as your comments....you sound like the jerk-offs who were so disturbed when a joke was made by Wanda Sykes' joke about wishing pigman Limbaugh would have kidney failure...get fucking real were talking about a fucking joke and fucking pigwoman Palin...is soaking it to keep her name in the news....

What a pile of pig shit is Palin, and oh how moral you are....Mr. Moral...life is so tough & unfair isn't it Skippy, you need a real life not one pontificating morals and about others sense of humor which is subjective at the very least!

[Brgotn]

365. Bristol was

only brought out due to the attacks that were going on about her situation.

SHE was being ATTACKED before PALIN presented Bristol to the public!

[CreekDog]

223. No it wasn't quite all that bad

It was tacky and over the line.

but you make it sound like something much more than it was.

[snooper2]

226. What’s the difference between Sarah Palin’s mouth and vagina?

Not everything that comes out of her vagina is retarded…



Now you have a real reason to be offended :evilgrin:

And on edit:


A week after finding out she was pregnant, Bristol Palin received a call from her doctor.

He called her to tell her that he was talking with colleagues, and that they came with a “natural” alternative for her.

The alternative was to have her mother, Sarah Palin to talk to the baby at least once a week for the until the big day and there would be a 95% chance that Bristol would have a miscarriage.

:rofl:

[Toasterlad]

236. Yeah, That Was Pretty Offensive.

I just wanted everyone who only saw "Deleted Message" to know that.

[LaPera]

239. I like that too, but watch out for Mr. Moral!!

[Contrary1]

263. I'm not offended.

And I just wanted everyone who only saw "Deleted Message" to know that.

[Warren Stupidity]

339. +1

Now that was offensive. And funny. And offensive. And funny.

[blogslut]

234. Poor Governor Palin

Whatever will she do when they stop making jokes about her?

[TahitiNut]

252. She might have to disband the "Sarah Palin Defense Forces"

:eyes:

[Swamp Rat]

394. OH NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

:o Yukon Cornelius and the toothless Bumble will end up on skid row! :cry:



This thread, like many in the past few days, is hilarious! :D :hi: :hug:

[TahitiNut]

401. Ya just gotta love DUers coming to the defense of poor, widdle Sarah, huh?

After all, she's "just a girl." :rofl:

Hiya, Swampie! :hug: :fistbump: :pals:

[Swamp Rat]

403. "Just a girl?!?" ........................... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[spiritual_gunfighter]

240. Wow

You wasted all that time and energy to this gigantic non-issue? There are bigger fish to fry.

[LaPera]

243. You're correct, like # ONE - Universal Health Care for ALL - with a public option

at the very least (single payer being the best).

[yoyossarian]

244. If that's how you feel...

...then I doubt you'll appreciate MY post on the subject...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5853542

And BTW, the horrific treatment Chelsea Clinton suffered at the hands of the ass-hat media
marked the true beginning of this sort of stuff... and all over her LOOKS.
Yes, that's right, I remember it VERY well... "people" like Limbaugh and O'Reilly and
many, MANY others targeted a !2-YEAR-OLD GIRL over her LOOKS 'cuz they were so
BLOOD-THIRSTY and DISGUSTINGLY ENVIOUS of Clinton's general intelligence and popularity...
But this is all OLD NEWS. They STARTED this shit back in '92.

Dummy Underground? Sheesh!!!... get an education, will ya?



Great gift tee shirts, mugs, buttons and other cool stuff at


Laugh City!

President Evil Online has risen from the grave!

[Taverner]

255. Dude or dudette - I really haven't the time to research your gender

But I disagree 100%

A joke is a joke - and guess what, Bristol HAS been knocked up before

And before you start screeching in a shrill harpy voice that it was the fourteen year old, there is (1) no proof she was with her at Yankee stadium (2) Dave didn't know that and (3) Who cares because Palin was the one to thrust her fucking family of hillbillies in front of the cameras in the first place.

[SeattleGirl]

256. Bingo!

I couldn't agree with your disagreement with the OP more.

[ForeignSpectator]

279. and (4) the joke "works" with Bristol only so it couldn't have been about the 14 year old anyway n/t

[bobburgster]

258. I agree with all three of your points.

As for your "CAN'T YOU SEE" points. I tend to agree with you on the last two. You can't compare the Obama girls and Palins kids...the first were not marched out daily on the campaign trail. The parents, Sarah and Todd forgot the eleventh commandment, "Thou shall protect thy kids." during the campaign because they were star struck. It's a hell of a lot harder for them to protect them now.
The sexist language one....I have a hard time with, though I understand you point.

To be honest, I was always was bothered with the Bill and Monica jokes too....thought it was more sad than funny.

Disclaimer: I did laugh at the above jokes.
:shrug:

[Dogtown]

260. Manufactured outrage

and I suspect any one pushing this meme on DU is a fool &/or a shill.

[mnhtnbb]

262. And so were all the jokes made about Chelsea Clinton years ago.

Turnabout is fair play, I think. I remember a lot of guffawing from right wing commentary folks
about Chelsea's looks--which she couldn't help--as opposed to Bristol's behavior, which she certainly could.

I'm with Harry Truman, if Sarah Palin can't stand the heat, then...

[MrSlayer]

264. I sometimes wonder if this isn't "stick up your ass" underground.

What exactly is acceptable comedy? Elephant jokes? Anything safe and harmless is usually not funny. All this handwringing and teeth gnashing over a joke is ridiculous. I'd hate to live in the ultra PC, let's not offend anyone world some liberals envision.

[SeattleGirl]

267. Same here. What a dull, dry world that would be.

I bet there would be Laughter Police on duty 24/7.

[AllieB]

268. I'm the first one to decry sexism and misogyny on DU, but

this is freakin' ridiculous. IT WAS A JOKE. And everyone knew Letterman meant Bristol not Willow. This is a ploy by the Palins to stay in the spotlight, and the RW media is helping.

[Chowlie]

478. I literally have a stick up my ass and I am OUTRAGED!

But seriously, yeah, this kind of verbal minefield some folks want to set up... I always thought the PC meme was phony until I started seeing some of the stuff posted here on DU. It makes all of us look bad.

[JVS]

507. LOL

[Nye Bevan]

269. If Letterman had only offered a full and gracious apology

the next day, we would all have forgotten about this by now. I'm sure Palin was overjoyed when Letterman made excuses and tried to justify himself instead of simply saying "sorry", as it enabled her to drag the controversy out for several more days.

[SeattleGirl]

271. We may have forgotten about it right away, but do you really think Palin

would just let it go?

She likes attention; doesn't matter what kind, she likes it. And she's use anything, including her own children, to get it.

[sellitman]

273. R We not Liberals?

It's the Conservatives who have no sense of humor.

Remember?

:argh:

[spiritual_gunfighter]

275. Sometimes I wonder

when I read posts like the OP and why is anyone wasting their time on this gigantic non-issue, there are bigger fish to fry at the moment.

[verges]

274. Can't YOU see

the differnce between a minor and an 18 yr old woman who voluntarily apppeared on the cover of People magazine and made the talk show circuit promoting abstinence?

Can't YOU see that Sarah Palin's sense of style is out of place for a potential Presidential candidate. (Slutty stewardess really is a good description.)

Can't YOU see that pointing out that Sarah's willingness to use her sexuality to achieve office shows what SHE IS like?

Can't YOU see that being a woman does not give a free pass to outrageous behavior?

[Nye Bevan]

293. "Slutty stewardess really is a good description"

I guess "slutty" because you think her clothes are too revealing? I have never actually thought that, but perhaps by Akron standards they are? But why "stewardess"? I know that Letterman has been pushing this one for months but I never really understood it.

[RaleighNCDUer]

498. How old are you?

Maybe you don't remember the '60s airlines commercials, with the stewardesses (not 'flight attendants'} and their short skirts and perky...hats saying 'Fly ME!'.

"Slutty stewardess" evokes a sexist image of a sexist time, which Sarah Palin emulates with her dress and her winks, playing up her looks - while trying to present herself as a 'real' politician.

"I'm the Governor of Alaska! Fly ME!"

[joeybee12]

277. I hadn't before, but I'm going to go recommend that Letterman Support Thread...n/t

[Rex]

278. Can't you see that your arguments are old and washed out.

The, 'if we do, then the Repukes will win' garbage is just that. Try again and thanks for playing. :hi:

Sometimes I wonder if this place isn't turning into the Rightous Nothings Underground. :eyes:

[Butch350]

283. You made your point.

[Butch350]

285. Dramma Queen...

[JuniperLea]

288. Yeah! Only Gov. Palin should be allowed to use her daughter in that way...

And she has, oh yes she has.

Had Palin not paraded her family around, Bristol (an adult, btw) wouldn't have been so easy to hit with the comedy fire.

That Palin is hell bent on lying about this, and trying to cause problems, is no surprise. It further illustrates her empty head. That some DUers don't get comedy is frightening. Seriously frightening. That Palin doesn't get comedy is a given; think Tina Fey.

I'm pretty sick of this whole thing and will commence hiding all Letterman/Palin threads right now!

[butterfly77]

290. Can't you see that,..

Palin is a fake hypocritical bitch. Yes, she can take up for her daughters but, she is milking it for all it is worth and blowing things out of proportion. Is our President a terrorist because she says it,is Letterman a pedophile as she states it. I don't think so..

[rainlillie]

292. David Letterman's joke about Palin's daughter was inappropriate...

regardless of which daughter he was talking about. The other night he came out and tried to clarify the intent of the joke and admitted that it was in bad taste. He went so far as to invite the Palin's on his show. Palin's response was far more offensive to me than what Letterman said. She implied in her response that Letterman is a pedophile. She said one of the reasons she wouldn't go on his show, is because she wanted to keep her 14-year old daughter away from him.

I watched her interview on the Today show and when Matt asked her about that part of the statement, she said "take it anyway you want."Why put it out there that David Letterman was implying statutory rape or that he is a pedophile? It seems to me that the Palin's are exploiting their children far more than the Letterman or anyone else. What kind of mother would send their teenage daughter who got pregnant at 17, out on an "Abstinence Tour?".

Teenagers respect authenticity, and if you're a poser they are going to see right through that. Why not send her out on a anti-choice tour, that would make more sense. What hardships has Bristol Palin faced by becoming a teen mom? She's on the cover of People magazine, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, she's making appearances on Faux news and the Today show. She has Candies shoe company sponsoring her. I doubt a poor teenage girl can relate to or will take advice from Bristol Palin.

Sarah loves the spotlight, and she'll do anything to keep it shining on her. Celebrity is addicting... Think about it, she was living the high- life when she was a candidate, after the election was over she had to return to a more quite less exciting life in Alaska. So now she's going to do whatever she can to keep her name and unfortunately her children's names in the news.

[ShortnFiery]

455. Yes, and without the $1000/hour make up artists and hair designers, she's looking "TV ugly" vice

drop-dead gorgeous super-mom that McCain's campaign made her up to play for the cameras.

Face it Sarah, when you're on the dark side of 40 something, winking at the camera and the "you betchas" don't play as well as when you're a shiny and spunky young woman. :shrug:

[TheCowsCameHome]

294. Don't like it? Then stay home, Sarah. Your family is a complete mess.

The biggest joke of all is Palin.

[SoCalDem]

295. and soooo "last week".. It just is what it is

Letterman made a tasteless "joke"
Palin is still an asshole/opportunist/wannabee/loser/idiot

[RetroLounge]

301. Well, thanks for your concern...

:eyes:

RL

[Brigid]

306. All this may be true.

But there is also such a thing as overreacting.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

307. This is funny ............

Not good enough to write for Letterman, but funny. The kind of funny that makes you say, "Wow, does that dude have his head up his ass, or what?"

[pasto76]

308. CANT YOU SEE YOU FELL FOR THE CONSERVATIVE CRAP!

THE FUCKING JOKE WAS ABOUT A-ROD FUCKING ANYTHING THAT GETS IN HIS WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[svpadgham]

310. The joke was a stinker. This is funnier.

I live in a nice little conservative city in Texas. I was in line at the grocery store a few hours ago, and some elderly woman was talking about this subject to the cashier. She actually accused Letterman of spreading lies and rumors about Palin's daughter. Can you believe that? There are people (ok, one person at least) that think a comedian on a comedy show was actually serious rather than joking about Alex Rodriguez impregnating Sara Palin's daughter DURING a baseball game. That's tragic comedy.

[SeattleGirl]

311. I'd ask if you were kidding, but having lived in Texas myself at one time,

I know you're not. (I was another liberal in a very red place -- Ft. Worth.)

[svpadgham]

319. Temple, TX here.

Land of churches and....damn, I can't think of anything else.

[SeattleGirl]

321. I know those little towns, too.

Though at the time I lived in Ft. Worth (in the 1970's), it was just a big ol' small town.

[svpadgham]

322. Temple has a population of about 50,000

it just seems like there's two churches for every person

[svpadgham]

320. How'd that joke go?

What does Dallas have that Ft. Worth doesn't?
A really cool neighboring town with a lot of stuff to do.

[Major Hogwash]

378. It ends with "and that's the way the balls bounce"

Maybe you've heard it before. Maybe not.

[nomaco-10]

317. Two big points. He wasn't referring to her 14 yr. old and....

HE DIDN'T call HER (palin) a slut or slutty. He said her wardrobe was slutty. Big difference to call someone a slut and critique an inanimate object such as clothing as slutty.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

324. Love David!

He makes me Laugh Out Loud!



oh and palin, who cares?


Don't like Letterman? Don't support his sponsors, don't watch his show.

Remember though, it's World Wide Pants. :P

[Politicub]

326. I didn't see it and don't really care that much about it

And I certainly don't feel the compunction to defend the Palins.

[AlexanderProgressive]

327. I think the joke was disrespectful to women

Even though I'm a man, I have an idea what it must feel to be told that one looks "slutty."

[unapatriciated]

398. palin is disrespectful to women

"even though" I'm a woman, I know what palin is and what she represents. It has nothing to do with womens rights or respect and more with palin 's need to be in the spotlight, she is a narcissists..

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

331. Dave addresses the controversy further, on his show, TONIGHT...

Letterman apologizes for joke, but Palin supporters vow to continue fight
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/06/under-fire-for-a-risque-joke-last-week-david-letterman-has-apologized-to-gov-sarah-palin-and-her-supporters-but-a-group-ur.html

<snip>
"I told a bad joke," Letterman told viewers at an afternoon taping. "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."

He concluded, "I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future."
<snip>

-------------------

There, Dave said he was sorry, again...End of story.

[6000eliot]

333. I wish he hadn't.

He had NOTHING to apologize for, and he just played into those creepy scumbags' hands.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

337. Although every time Sarah does media interviews, in response to Dave...

...she loses more potential voters by speaking like an idiot.

[6000eliot]

341. Mark my words.

She will only step up her attacks now that she believes she's having an effect. That's how she operates. It doesn't matter if you apologize or explain your actions. All that matters is that she gets another interview. I don't give a fuck about her. I only care about Dave selling out his principles for nothing.

[BrklynLiberal]

345. His writers should never have even mentioned her..and Dave should never have

wasted any air time discussing her...even in a joke.
I saw the show on the night of this joke...and I winced....only because I was disappointed that Letterman
gave Palin any degree of recognition at all. IT would have been much more effective to have totally ignored
her presence in/around NYC.

[6000eliot]

332. Let me take this opportunity to further applaud Letterman, then.

Go Dave!

[itsrobert]

334. Oh well.

And you answered your own question with your post.

[BrklynLiberal]

342. I do agree that the best weapon to use against people like Palin is to totally ignore her.

That was the main objection I had to the joke...why even bother to mention her at all??????? It was a waste in too many ways to enumerate.

[Texasgal]

344. It wasn't the "joke"

so much as it was the blatant misogyny.

And somehow this has turned into you the OP, defending Plain. :thud:

[aquart]

346. I don't expect the Obama girls to get knocked up as minors.

If they do, I WILL have questions about Michelle.

But I don't see Obama's kids being exploited beyond their own enthusiasm for the family's triumph. I'm NOT a member of the Obama fan club but so far I've been very pleased with Michelle and the amount of interaction she permits between her kids and the media. And the KIND of interaction.

The right is going to malign and accuse NO MATTER WHAT. So I see no need to tailor anything to fit their shifting and shifty specifications of morality.

As to peddling "family values" while your daughter is getting knocked up....and trying to pretend there isn't a joke in there? Oh, please.

[Dave From Canada]

347. Anyone who defends Letterman is a blind and ignorant ideologue, who is incapable of impartiality.n/t

[DontTreadOnMe]

352. Seriously...

you need a break. Your Faux Outrage is silly.

[Major Hogwash]

375. Sir, I am a member of the Blind and Ignorant Ideologue Society, and you have offended

one of the best societies I have ever been a member of because we are known for being incapable of impartiality - and that is one of our best traits!!

[scarletwoman]

348. Thank you! I wish I could recommend your OP 100 times. (nt)

[Warren Stupidity]

349. Just create 99 more accounts and go for it.

I am not sure exactly what that would accomplish, but you could have your dreams come true.

Me, I'm happy sitting here in my slutty airline hostess outfit channeling david carradine.

[mudplanet]

351. CAN'T YOU SEE that if the Palin daughters are "fair game"

1. Palin is a dangerous lunatic and almost anything that can be done to hound her out of office is probably defensible.
2. Nobody cares what David Letterman says. It was a bad joke. Why are we wasting our time on this?
3. Republicans, under deliberate guidance from Newt Gingrich, set the standard for this type of thing in the 1990s. Am I mistaken, but didn't Gingrich actually give workshops to his retarded colleagues on how to call democrats names? Labeling the opposition with names like terrorist sympathizer, communist or socialist,and heaping ridicule on their family members is SOP in the conservative handbook (dating back to Nixon's early "pinko" strategy and probably long before that)including referring to Bill Clinton's child as a dog.
4. I don't want to sink to their level either but a lot is at stake here and apparently the progressive's strategy of taking the high road just simply doesn't work with the voting public.
5. If you're feeling bad for the Palin family, do a little research into what's going on with the native population in Alaska and Palin's stance on it and you'll probably feel better.

[Brgotn]

366. #4

4. I don't want to sink to their level either but a lot is at stake here and apparently the progressive's strategy of taking the high road just simply doesn't work with the voting public.

Really? And do you think people will some how be attracted to this immoral behavior?

[Missy Vixen]

353. Considering the fact that Bristol Palin is now accepting media on her own

She's no longer "off limits". Sarah Palin can't have it both ways.

Furthermore, Palin's comment that her younger daughter "wouldn't be safe" around Letterman is much more offensive than ANY joke he made about that entire family. While Letterman's not a saint, I have to believe that cut him to the quick. He adores his little boy, and seems to take parenting very seriously. I'll never forget the look on his face when he told the studio audience Oprah Winfrey sent his son a basket of books after he was born; it was obvious it meant more to him than any other gesture anyone could have made. He lives quietly off-camera for the most part, and Palin's comment was uncalled-for.

:mad:

I don't give a shit about the "GOP talking points". What I do care about, though, is that Palin is using this to demonize a person that made a comment he'd probably like to take back. You're missing the entire point here. The only people who are helping Palin "gain more sympathy and support" are those who believe she's been so wronged. She hasn't been. If she wants to play on this field, she'd better toughen up.

[chrisau214]

357. Still Much Adieu About Nothing

For thirty year Johnny Carson made jokes about people in the news.

For over twenty-five years David Letterman has made jokes about people in the news.

For over fifteen years Conan O'Brien has made jokes about people int he news.

For who knows how many years all of the other myriad late night and daytime talk show hosts have made jokes about people in the news. All told we probably have a couple of centuries worth of television talk show host making jokes about people in the news.

In all of that time not one other person has chosen to make such an issue out of one of these jokes many of which were quite similar in nature to the jokes told by Letterman. Only the Queen of Alaska saw a silly joke as a means to create publicity for herself. It is the Queen of Alaska who is exploiting her daughters and it is she who is disgusting, offensive, and indefensible.

The Queen of Alaska is, sadly, a person in the news. The Queen of Alaska chose to use her pregnant daughter as a political prop to promote an abstinence platform. This same daughter chose to keep herself in the public eye after the election.

Bristol Palin is a public figure and has made the choice on her own to remain a public figure. As such she is fair game.

Aside from any of that the joke wasn't about Bristol Palin it was about the Queen's hypocrisy.




Chris

[AngryAmish]

358. 357 replies in, of course you can see it defended

Republican women with power should be called sluts, of course. It keeps them in their place.

[Balbus]

359. Nor was it funny. Everyone's a loser in this game.

[nolabels]

391. This is really is comedy, endless debate about a joke taking on a life of it's own

What realm of Dante's are we in now, jeebus, i must be some kind sinner :rofl:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

360. Do you want leno and Conan attacked, too?

They made the same kinds of jokes.

Only they're not open liberals and not being targeted by the right.

You're playing right into the right's framing of the debate.

Letterman apologized. His explanation makes sense.

What more do you want? A tar and feathering?

This is the right framing the debate and using it silence a man who has been openly critcal of conservatism.
Willow Palin is the excuse they're using to get what they've wanted for years.

[David Zephyr]

361. Bristol Palin is a "National Spokesperson" for a rightwing advocacy group.

She is fair game.

Bristol is hampering young women and girls from getting important reproductive education and she is not just a "child".

Moreover, she is a great hypocrite.

[pipi_k]

362. Hmmm...I would say it was way less offensive

than the "joke" Dubya made about the "missing WMDs". By that time, people...lots of them...had died.


David Letterman made a joke. Nobody died. Nobody even got a paper cut.


Know what I think is offensive? Sarah Palin hawking "abstinence only" while knowing her daughter is pregnant, then making it all seem so family friendly.

offensive and disgusting and an insult to thinking people everywhere

[madeline_con]

363. Here's where you're fucking up.

"... I don't accept the idea that anyone over the age of 18 is "fair game".

Anyone over 18 IS fair game, especially if they were paraded around as an example of the results of a solid "abstinence only" RW family values education. The daughter, failing to remain chaste, is "getting married". In a real self-respecting RW home, the shotgun wedding would have already taken place.

The bullshit factor of dragging the father around until the election was over, holding Bristol up as an example of sacred single motherhood, and discussing the "choice" Sarah made to carry Trig to term is off the chart.

If Sarah Palin's daughters have low self esteem, she has some gaul blaming David Letterman for it!

[EFerrari]

371. Good grief.

There is nothing too stupid to get 48 recs on this board. Who knew.

[IrishBuckeye]

372. The jokes were funny & against a public figure. Fuck those trying to control humor.

Once any Political figures children of legal age hit the public circuit and try to spread a political agenda they are fair game of late night show comedy hits. Give me a break!

[Brgotn]

380. So

Ombama should be fair game too???

Or have we become what we hate as another poster just mentioned??

Or maybe we are just blathering HYPOCRITS!

[IrishBuckeye]

383. Obama is always fair game, this isn't the Taliban. /nm

nm

[Brgotn]

397. You must

not have ready the many thread on this site flaming anybody who criticizes Obama. Telling a joke about Obama that is comparable to what Palin's daughters have been subjected to here would get them flammed and banned from this site.

[IrishBuckeye]

399. Mocking the President (any and all Presidents) should always be welcomed.

He's the President not a god.

[Brgotn]

404. You must be new

here. Rumor has it on DU that the Bible is being rewritten to replace Moses with Obama!

[RaleighNCDUer]

502. Well, maybe it should be -

Moses was an admitted murderer, and a genocidal warmonger who denied his people the right to worship as they pleased.

Hardly a good model for a democratic society.

[Major Hogwash]

373. Top 10 Reasons I Couldn't Care Less -

#10. The Economy

Make up the other 9 yourself!

[Highway61]

392. Amen

Thank you...the most intelligent response.

[judesedit]

376. Don't make me laugh. Palin incited death threats for the Obama's

consistently without a blink. She exploited her children, not even sending them to school, thinking they would help her win at whatever cost. She is a vindictive bitch who thinks she can say anything about anybody, but if someone says something about her or her family, she will not stop until they are fired or dead. Thank God she did NOT become VP of the U.S. What Letterman said was typical late night joke telling in this country. Leno remarked on her pregnant daughter before and she said nothing. Palin has zero credibility.

[TacticalPeek]

377. I admire your grit, and second your post.

None are so blind as those who will not see in themselves what they condemn in others.

I disapprove of misogyny and sexism in myself and in my friends not because of the target, but because of what it makes us. Kind of like torture - let it or make it happen and you become the thing you oppose.

[IrishBuckeye]

381. I disapprove of misogyny and sexism as well, but understand humor

Be it Letterman or Chris Rock, Sarah Palin or Bill Clinton jokes, it's humor not misogyny and sexism . But you don't get the joke.

[TacticalPeek]

415. You presume a ridiculous amount by claiming that I don't get the joke.

Sounds like you know it all, including the varieties of other people's experience of humor.

Pardon me please if I'm not overwhelmed by your masterful rhetoric.

Dismissed you are.

[IrishBuckeye]

444. Sure thing Yoda. /nm

nm

[Regret My New Name]

379. As with most things like this (on whatever side), I think people need thicker skin...

He's a comedian who at worst made a distasteful joke... I'm not hypocritical either, I tend to take this stance in most situations like this.

[customerserviceguy]

385. Thank you

and I agree. There are plenty of things to make fun of in this world (including Caribou Barbie herself) without having to pick on a teenager who made a mistake about who to have sex with.

[slackmaster]

386. I love stumbling into DU after a busy day of physical activity and finding people railing...

...about something that happened on TV, and I have no freaking clue what they're going on about, and the OP doesn't even have a link to something that explains the topic.

:D

[saltpoint]

389. Some of my best friends are liberal elites, actually. And we savaged Sarah

Palin like nobody's business during the 2008 campaign.

The Governor of Alaska stood in front of a stomping, slobbering convention hall of halfwits, secessionists, racists, fools, and thieves, in about equal percentages, and ridiculed Obama's early work as a community organizer.

If she didn't want return fire, she shouldn't have fired the first shot. If she can't handle it, she needs to get the hell out of politics. I have no sympathy for Sarah Palin's feelings. She has none for anyone else, including her own kids.

[doc03]

390. I agree Letterman's joke was disgusting, offensive,

wrong and indefensible. Worse yet it was just a bad joke. But I don't think Letterman should be fired, he apologized for it. I don't think Don Imus should have been fired either. I don't think Jimmy The Greek should have lost his job either. This bullshit PC stuff is ridiculous, if we insist on a person on the right being fired for a bad joke we should expect the same. What goes around comes around.

[Johnnyheadstone]

393. This really pisses me off

I posted a reply on another thread explaining the context of this joke, but then I realized after reading some replies here....

EVERY MINUTE WE SPEND ON THIS POINT IS ANOTHER MINUTE WE FAIL TO DISCUSS HOW TO END 2 WARS

EVERY MINUTE WE SPEND ON ON THIS POINT IS ANOTHER MINUTE PEOPLE GO WITHOUT HEALTHCARE AND WE DON'T EVEN DISCUSS IT

EVERY MINUTE WE SPEND ON THIS POINT IS ANOTHER MINUTE PEOPLE ARE HOMELESS AND WE ARE SILENT ABOUT IT

EVERY MINUTE WE SPEND ON THIS POINT IS ANOTHER MINUTE WHERE THE PLANET IS DYING AND WE ARE SAYING NOTHING

EVERY MINUTE WE SPEND ON THIS POINT IS ANOTHER MINUTE OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM REMAINS FLAWED

Who gives a shit? Sorry, but if you think the joke was offensive you have that right, be offended don't watch Letterman whatever, but please don't lose sight of the fact that this is distracting from the real issues that we are facing, the issues that are hurting us all that no one seems to give a crap about

Seriously who cares, focus on what matters, not some pissing contest between 2 millionaires....

[IrishBuckeye]

396. That other shit is to heavy man, we need some sidehows

All the topics you listed are in great need of discussion but come on? Afterwork people want lighter garbage to argue about, like offensive jokes (they are the best kind so often). When issues you listed starts effecting their lives personally then they will talk about those issues. We're a reactionary society, not a pro-active one.

[stevietheman]

400. Thanks for reminding me to give the Letterman support thread my recommendation n/t

n/t

[wisteria]

406. Can we move on and let this die if I say I didn't like Letterman's joke either?

This entire story is way past its 15 minutes. Letterman's joke was bad, but what's her name made way to much out of it. He has apologized twice and old what's her name- like most Repubs- doesn't want to accept the apology. This is so that she can use it when she runs again for whatever it is she wants to run for.

[earth mom]

408. Sorry, but someone has got to point what a hypocritical lying piss o'crap Palin is.

Do you SERIOUSLY think sexism is going to ever stop in this country?

Especially with all the porn, strip clubs and mens magazines out there that degrade women a helluva lot more than anything Letterman said or would ever say. Puhleeze. :eyes:

If Palin wants to be respected she needs to get her shit together and stop looking and acting like a skanky hypocritical lying idiot.

[Puckster]

409. Are you sure you don't belong over on freerepublic.com?

Dummy Underground? Puhleeze. This woman pimped her children out during her whole campaign. Letterman makes a joke about her inability to manage her own family, let alone the whole country, specifically her ADULT, knocked-up daughter, and you find fault with him. Palin turns around and insinuates that he's a pervert after her 14-year-old, and you don't have a problem with that. Seriously, I don't know you, but this sounds like freeper talk.

[National Steel 27]

410. Brilliant. A joke about a joke.

The whole Palin thing is a collective joke.

Or a really bad fucking dream.

[OmahaBlueDog]

411. I agree about 25% with what you are saying

Bristol made herself fair game. She is a public figure; has gone and done talk shows; and being 18 now, she's a grown woman.

I'll agree that the 14 year old should have been left out of this.

That said, I have a helluva time sympathizing with the Palins. Todd Palin has known ties to a secessionist organization, and Sarah had no problem mouthing off about our President "paling around with terrorists."

Letterman has apologized. The Palins will still fume because it is politically expedient to do so (liberal media and all that). Meanwhile, Limbaugh, Savage, Boorts, and Beck say crap like this every day and get a free pass.

[pitchforksandtorches]

416. May Sarah and her family rest in pieces

[johnaries]

419. I STRONGLY disagree. Can't you see that by defending her

you are empowering her whiny "I only did poorly in the media because the media is out to get me" meme?

STOP IT!

Sarah Palin believes in personal responsibility. Yet, she can't take any personal responsibility for her own poor performance. And yet, here you are defending her. YOU are part of the problem. Get the FUCK out of the way and let us expose her for the FRAUD that she is!

[urgk]

452. Agreed. n/t

[Autonomy]

420. I CAN'T SEE!!!

any of that. Your post seems shrill to me, but I don't live in the complaint-fest that a lot of you do. Live and let whine, I say.

[Kitty Herder]

423. I agree with you. The joke was inappropriate. But...

Comedians are constantly telling sexist jokes without a peep of protest from anybody. Why is it suddenly a big deal when it involves the Palins? This seems more like a political ploy to get sympathy for a woman who stands against women's rights than a genuine call for comedians to respect women.

[DailyGrind51]

424. Palin's canidacy for VP was "...wrong and indefensible" in the first place!

[Grinchie]

428. "Comedy is Cruel" - Jerry Seinfeld

If people are so thin skinned about a little comedy, than maybe War with Iraq and Iran is OK.

Their are libraries full of Droll comedy dating back to the 1600's. Unfortunately, people don't read anymore, and are inflamed by PR people to emotionally react to absolutely nothing.

Who gives a flying shit if Plain, the fundamentalist Idiot gains support? It's about as rigid as foam rubber, mixed with cheesey puffs, and is just as meaningless.

Spot the looney indeed.

[JeffR]

432. No, it was just a really lousy and poorly delivered monologue joke.

If you want to assist the right-driven apotheosis of it into something way bigger than it deserves to be, that's your business. Good luck.

Viva American political discourse circa 2009. Have you noticed that the house is burning the hell down, or were you too distracted by something a late-night talk show host said?

In case you didn't notice, the house is burning down. You might want to check on that.

[Richard Steele]

435. Thanks for your CONCERN, non-donor.

nm

[bleever]

436. Kilroy was here.

[sojourner]

437. i disagree. he is a late night comic whose material is and always has been "in poor taste"

if you don't like his show don't watch it --- it's nowhere close to the kind of hatred spewed by Ms Palin herself when she got a crowd at a political rally to start shouting (about Obama) "Kill Him!" which to my mind is actual "hate speech" while letterman was getting jokes on a comedy show. people need to get a grip on reality.

comedy shows are about jokes. not all of which are in good taste or even seen as funny.

politicians are people who put themselves out there for good or for ill, and they attract attention. i don't really care if they DO tell jokes about obama or sasha or michelle --- as long as it's jokes and not political agenda setting.

[mackerel]

439. 2 out of 10 are bad jokes but the jokes feel as though

it were an honour to be told.

[sojourner]

440. granted that........

:)

[jobycom]

441. NATHAN HALE: I regret that I have but one Recommend to give for this thread. nt

[emilyg]

443. Apollo - I salute you.

Wish there were more men like you.

[Trocadero]

446. wow - Sarah Palin has a DU account!

[urgk]

447. Bristol is an adult who gets paid to push damaging, ineffective religious doctrine as "education."

As such, she is open to whatever ridicule she brings down.

If the Obama girls, heaven forbid, were over 18 and made money increasing the chances that other people's children were exposed to STDs and unwanted pregnancies, they'd be fair game for jokes about promiscuity as well.

[bowens43]

448. blah blah blah blah nt

[Mrspeeker]

457. OMG THIS IS SO LAST WEEK!!!

whatever!

[dotymed]

459. YOU LYING FASCIST'S

I Have spent the last 8 years watching you disgusting
HYPOCRITES twist the truth for your own perverse causes. My
God, I wish you fucked up, insane lemmings would follow your
own stinking asses off a cliff and make our world a much
better one. YOU ARE THE AMERICAN TALIBAN. Everyone who thinks,
knows Letterman was talking about the tramp called Bristol.
What a sick family that Palin bunch is, to lie and put their
14 in the spotlight for their own gain. 8 years is enough, you
Dittohead idiots, The Palins are showing what media whores
they all are. You fools waste your time, just like your
masters want, trying to make a "moral stand" against
a lie instead of putting your energy into doing something
constructive, like demanding universal health care or public
financed elections so that we can make our govt. represent us
instead of the corporations. You are the most obviously
brainwashed fools in the world, except maybe your Taliban
brothers in other countries. Quit expending your energy on non
issues and fight for a real democracy.

[Burma Jones]

462. What he said.........

[Apollo11]

473. Did you take your medication this morning?

More than 100 DUers have recommended threads (at least 2 that I saw) defending Letterman and the so-called "joke" he told on CBS one week ago, suggesting that the Palin family are "fair game" and deserve whatever comes their way.

But now it turns out that Letterman agrees with me that the joke "cannot be defended".

I think Dave did the right thing by making a second apology - much more sincere than his first attempt.

I am pleased to see that Governor Palin has accepted the apology.

I am also pleased that 60 folks took the trouble to recommend my OP.

Here you can watch Letterman's latest apology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap6AbP8z0OY

[MrMickeysMom]

474. Okay dotymed...

You're right... grammatically incorrect at times, but you're a busy guy, and I can overlook how you said it, and agree with WHAT you said!

I would call some of the topics here a little differently than you might. Lemmings... yeah, some discussion here certainly show evidence of that.

I'd say our progress as a nation of dumbed down lemmings is right on schedule, wouldn't you?

Pity, isn't it?

[Vinca]

460. The joke was offensive, but not the end of the world.

Personally, I think Letterman should have let it drop. His second apology keeps it going and going and going and going. I'm sure Sarah Palin is happy as a clam.

[GivePeaceAchance]

461. ...

...

[B Calm]

469. Much ado about nothing. . . . . .

[twitomy]

470. I'm with you Apollo...

The hyprocisy here is unbelievable..

Perhaps DU needs to learn the Golden Rule:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Imagine how many of the worlds problems would be solved by following that simple phrase.

[MrMickeysMom]

471. You know, I wish posts drawing this much comment were of worthy commentary

... instead of this shit.

Talk about Dummy Underground!

[Apollo11]

475. Thanks to the 60 good folks who recommended the OP!

More than 100 DUers have recommended threads (at least 2 that I saw) defending Letterman and the so-called "joke" he told on CBS one week ago, suggesting that the Palin family are "fair game" and deserve whatever comes their way.

But now it turns out that Letterman agrees with me that the joke "cannot be defended".

I think Dave did the right thing by making a second apology - much more sincere than his first attempt.

Here you can watch Letterman's latest apology on YouTube.

I am pleased to see that Governor Palin has now accepted Letterman's apology.

I am also pleased that 60 folks agreed with me enough to recommend the OP! :hi:

As far as I am concerned this issue is now closed and I will not make any more posts on this subject.

- Apollo11

[urgk]

People who agree with you are "good," those who don't, you label "dummy."

Seems a little bit like the "if you're not with us, you're against us" rhetoric I've heard elsewhere.

As far as I'm concerned, you and other short-sighted Democrats gave the Republicans a little moral high ground they didn't deserve.

[Chowlie]

483. Good to see the neocons have defenders here.

Maybe you can campaign for her in 2012. Or at least help her publicity machine like you've done here.

[gauguin57]

485. Keep in mind that Letterman made it clear in his apology that his meaning was bastardized by Palins.

He was basically saying the meaning of his admittedly-tacky joke had been obscured and perverted by Sarah and her Right Wing gang of idiots in the punditocracy.

To me, he was saying he was sorry they "misunderstood" the joke(which we all know means "made up a meaning for the joke that had no basis in reality, and made it up for their own purposes -- keeping Sarah's puss on TeeVee, etc.).

I heard a little undercurrent of "I'm sorry you're such a bunch of morons" in Dave's apology.

[MrMickeysMom]

495. Best idea ...

As far as I am concerned this issue is now closed and I will not make any more posts on this subject.

- Apollo11

Ain't we lucky! :hi:

[dorkulon]

476. Can't we all just get together and focus on the fact that Palin is a total idiot?

Her looks, her family--all unimportant. The fact is that she is a dolt, and ignoramus, who can barely speak one language and doesn't seem to know how to end a sentence. That's not sexist, is it?

[MrMickeysMom]

496. Okay, so if it's unimportant...

... I'm hoping we can move on to more important things!

1) Holding our members of Congress to what WE want in health care and the national solvency, not corporations who have them in their pocket

2) Campaign finance reform so that we no longer have to fight tooth and nail over #1

[dorkulon]

497. Sounds good to me.

I certainly don't have a problem with that. Good luck getting congress to vote away their bribe money, though.

[MrMickeysMom]

517. In process!

Never give up!

[DailyGrind51]

477. Palin's own attitude of moral superiority is her problem!

Palin's "half-sister-in-law" is a burglar.

"Diana Palin, 35, entered a home near Wasilla’s Multi-Use Sports Complex and attempted to steal cash from the owner’s bedroom, police said.

She also broke into the same house on Tuesday and stole $400, they said.

She was arrested Thursday morning on felony charges of first-degree burglary and misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and theft, police said. Friday morning, she remained jailed at Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer in lieu of $10,000 bail and court-approved third party custodian..."
http://community.adn.com/node/140107

Bristol's "ex-future-mother-in-law" busted for drug-dealing.

Ms. Johnston, the mother of Levi Johnston, who was launched into the spotlight at the Republican National Convention last September, was arrested yesterday afternoon “at the conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation,” according to an Alaska State Trooper report.

Johnston has since been released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.

No comment

Governor Palin’s reaction? She’s not discussing it, yet.
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/12/19/bristol-palins-future-mother-in-law-arrested-on-drug-charges/

The Palins are "white-trash with hard cash", no better, no worse than Brittney Spears.

[PatrynXX]

479. Bristol is an adult. the Obama girls are not.

duh.. Now how many presidents or former presidents daughters or sons have either gotten drunk, gone topless in a hotel (hmmm there goes the Bush girls) posed in Playboy. It's been alot worse Palin.

Lets see what happens when Bristol is caught with a fake ID. ??? (no I'm not bringing the underage daughter up here. thats palin's fault. joke had nothing to do with her.)

[gauguin57]

480. Yes, the joke was tasteless. But he made the joke about a SELF-MADE "public figure" ...

NOT about a "candidate's daughter." Bristol Palin put herself (or her mom did) on the cover of People magazine, in her high school cap and gown, holding her baby, celebrating the event. Yeah, congrats, Bristol, but I'm not thrilled that you're communicating to the whole country that it's just hunky dory to have a baby before you graduate from high school! And Bristol's been on the whole "Abstinence Education Sucks Oops I Meant Abstinence Education is Fabulous" tour.

If something similar were to happen to Malia or Sasha, and Barack and Michelle pushed them onto the cover of People magazine and had them talking to the media about abstinence education (with her baby on her knee :eyes:) ... well, then frankly I don't think any of us would have reason to complain.

Letterman is a comedian. A comedian. Kathy Griffin is a comedian. She is far more offensive six ways to Sunday than Letterman. Do you expect her to apologize to everyone she's joked about? She got fired rather than apologize for the whole Dakota Fanning drug rehab bit. She always talks about how she stands by her bit when she knows it's funny.

Now, we all know that the Letterman joke wasn't funny. It was cringeworthy. But now that he's apologized, every time a comedian makes a joke, and the Right Wing states, "Oh, I know he wasn't saying this, he was saying THAT" -- even though there's no evidence he was saying "THAT" -- the wingers will know that all they have to do is spread the lie and spread the lie and spread the lie ... and they can force them to apologize.

[gauguin57]

482. It's the Rachel Ray-Michelle Malkin-terrorist scarf scenario all over again.

Michelle Malkin says RACHEL RAY IS WEARING A TERRORIST SCARF IN THE DUNKIN DONUTS AD, and Dunkin Donuts caves to her and pulls the ad (which is why I will never set foot in a fucking Dunkin Donuts again). Now, Michelle Malkin knows all she has to do is make up a story and give it traction in the media, and she can make anyone do anything.

[cboy4]

484. Loved the joke!

:thumbsup:

[RetroLounge]

486. Love Dave! Love the joke!

The slutty mother and her bimbo daughter not so much.

Fuck 'em, and fuck anyone stupid enough to defend them.

RL

[gbate]

487. Hypocrisy is certainly not limited to conservatives, it seems.

[jeremyfive]

488. Obama's Daughter Wasn't Knocked Up--Palin's Was

and it was LATE NIGHT comedy--typically edgier, which is what the audiences demand.

I personally find David Letterman kinder and more sympathetic than most working in that genre--it was a quick joke that fell flat, not a major speech to the nation.

I firmly believe this is "payback" for Letterman's exposure of John McCain for the lying fraud he was.

Palin is so completely out of her league.

So glad I'm not in Alaska where she is in full force murdering threatened wildlife and banning books ("Catch 22", "Pastor I am Gay", etc--NOT "Harry Potter" which was a false red herring that was planted to disguise her dispicable behavior.)

Which of her daughters WAS knocked up? Willow? Twig? Droplet? Spore? Mushroom?

Can't keep 'em straight.

[mhatrw]

489. The joke was pretty funny as well as pretty harmless.

[kegler14]

501. The "joke" was awful. Nothing funny at all.

[mainer]

509. Well I laughed. And I'm a mom.

So it was funny to some people. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

[kegler14]

515. I'm a dad. Wouldn't find a joke like that about my daughter funny.

In fact, I'd be tempted to slug the guy. And I'm not a violent person.

[MadBadger]

533. So would I, but the kid isnt my daughter

So I laughed.

[prayin4rain]

534. Every woman is somebody's daughter. n/t

[TankLV]

493. CAN'T YOU SEE what a fucking HYPOCRIT and PUBLIC SPOKESPERSON for that HYPOCRICY

that SLUT is?!!!

CAN'T YOU SEE that that self same SPOKESPERSON and MODEL is NOW GOING AROUND TELLING THE REST OF US WHAT TO DO and PREACHING ABSTINENCE when SHE HERSELF IS STILL FUCKING AROUND LIKE A RABBIT USING UNPROTECTED SEX?!!!

good goddamn...

[kegler14]

500. So let's see, you know she's still screwing around how? Are u doing her?

[mainer]

504. SARAH was the one who dragged Willow into the conversation. Lousy mom.

When I heard Dave tell the joke about the daughter getting knocked up, I -- and everyone in Dave's audience -- assumed he was talking about Bristol, who had, after all, gotten herself knocked up. NO ONE was thinking about Willow. NO ONE even knew that Willow was the one who'd gone to the baseball game. Where are the photos or the news coverage telling the public that Willow was in the stands?

No, it had to be the Palins themselves who dragged Willow into the spotlight with their faux rage about rapes of 14-year-olds. THEY are the ones who've embarrassed their own daughter by bringing up her name and blasting it all over the airwaves as the girl Dave wants to rape. Don't they have any sensitivity toward their own daughter? Why do they keep bringing up her name so the world can focus on her? Dave never mentioned Willow's name -- but the Palins did.

[George II]

505. Bull!!!

First, he made a one-liner about Palin's 18 year old daughter - the only untrue part of it was the perpetrator - SHE WAS KNOCKED UP, but by Levi Johnston, not Alex Rodriguez.

As far as your "can't you see" statements:

Chelsea Clinton was fair game to neocons, Rush, et. al. for more than a decade, and they were nasty and personal! If one of Obama's daughters gets "knocked up", I'm sure we'll hear about it, but that will never happen because the Obamas know how to raise their children, unlike ths Palins.

NOTHING Letterman said was "sexist"! "Knocked up"? That's not sexist.

Palin hasn't gotten any "sympathy and support" out of this - all she's done is make a fool of herself and dragged this whole incident on for more than a week.

Palin capitalized on the pregnancy by parading her KNOCKED UP daughter all over the media in a vain attempt for sympathy and votes.

Your entire lecture should have been posted on Free Republic, substitution Clinton for Palin.

Enough said.

[liberation]

516. Yawn... it is clear that the concept of "humor" is as foreign to you as the meaning of "sexism"

If you do not like a joke, change the f*cking channel. Not a hard concept to grasp, eh?

And please, do not try to turn an off color joke about a family of degenerates, like the Palins, into an accusation of sexism. By using the term off context, you diffuse its meaning, and thus providing a disservice to the victims of real sexism. What I find it quite telling is, that with all the more important news and issues going in on in this country AND the world right now, some of the posters in this forum seem mighty interested in making sure the "sensibilities" of the right are not offended.

Talk about having priorities out of whack...

[backscatter712]

520. Anyone still spouting "outrage" over the Letterman joke at this late date is a fucking tool. n/t

[subcomhd]

523. let's review

1). Bristol Palin is a public figure (spokeswoman for - though not practitioner of - teen abstinance)

2) Bristol Palin is an adult.

3) Bristol Palin is also well known for getting pregnant (knocked up, if you will)while underage and unwed.

4). Bristol Palin is the daughter of a famous politician who also likes to moralize to the rest of the country, despite her family's Springeresque behavior (teen pregnancy, drug busts, public feuding for attention and on and on)

5). David Letterman is way out of line for making a joke about her.

I wonder what people who are sooooo offended by this joke would think if the saw a real comedian.


"I hope Dick Cheney's faggot daughter has a faggot baby." - Zach Galifianakis.

So is Zach homophobic?

[redqueen]

525. Wow, this is still going?

[MadBadger]

532. Bristol Palin isnt hiding from the media. She's on magazine covers, doing interviews, etc.

If she were in the background, Id agree that she is off limits like candiates children often are. I also understand that she was brought into the spotlight by mommy dearest. However, since then, she has put herself out there herself, including starting her whole little abstinence campaign (which Im pretty sure even she thinks is bullshit).

Also, I'm not quite sure how the jokes about Bristol were sexist. It appeared to me that he was ragging on Alex Rodriguez and Eliot Spitzer.

Finally, it does make a difference which daughter he was talking about...one is 14, the other is 18. That makes a HUGE difference.

[prayin4rain]

535. If he'd made the same joke about Paris Hilton then nobody would care.

Bristol is in magazines, giving interviews... this is life in the public eye. She is a young woman who did get "knocked up" and who does run around talking about it. Big deal he made a tasteless joke... he makes tons of tasteless jokes!! So what?

[baldguy]

536. Can we FINALLY kill this thread about stupid people offended by a stupid joke about a stupid woman?

Its stupid.