Letterman "hides behind jokes"
- Thread starter shagdrum
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JohnnyBz00LS
Dedicated LVC Member
PLEASE. Letterman wasn't the one who paraded Palin's pregnant daughter on stage during the campaign. Letterman wasn't the one who put her un-wed-mother of a daughter up in front of the cameras to be the voice of "abstinance only sex ed". NOW she has a problem w/ her daughter being the target of jokes?? :bsflag:
An any attempt to argue that Letterman was even remotely suggesting "statuatory rape" was OK has a screw loose and is puropsely mischaracterizing the "joke".
Thank GOD this country dodged THAT bullet and that clown didn't get into office.
An any attempt to argue that Letterman was even remotely suggesting "statuatory rape" was OK has a screw loose and is puropsely mischaracterizing the "joke".
Thank GOD this country dodged THAT bullet and that clown didn't get into office.
First, you're failing to note that Bristol Palin WAS NOT in New York or accompany her mother to Yankee Stadium. It was her FOURTEEN year old daughter who was there.
Are you suggesting that the family should have hidden the daughter away during that period? Are you also suggesting that would have kept the media jackles who were intent upon destroying this women away from the daughter? Because I'd disagree with you on that point.
Do you remember the media speculation PRIOR to the announcement that the daughter was pregnant? The MSM reporters going live with rumors that were being posted on leftist blogs like Kos and DU?
Or the slanderous "comedy" routines about the Palin family on SNL?
I know... it was only a joke.
This is another leftist double standard. Because it's convenient for you, it's acceptable to attack and intimidate the Palin family in anyway possible in the group effort to destroy her.
She has not invited the attacks on her family. She has not put her family forward in a position to be relentlessly assaulted in the public. And why is Letterman attacking the governor of the state of Alaska? Is he going to launch into an equally unfunny and nasty riff on Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii next week?
Regardless, and even if it had been ignorantly about the adult daughter and not the 14 year old one, you still think that Letterman's jokes were appropriate?
Sometimes mean or inappropriate comments can be dismissed because at least they are clever or funny. This isn't the case here. It was just a hateful attack.
No, Obama won the election. We're under fire as we speak.
Actually, it was the media that did that, not the Palins.
Are you suggesting that the family should have hidden the daughter away during that period? Are you also suggesting that would have kept the media jackles who were intent upon destroying this women away from the daughter? Because I'd disagree with you on that point.
Do you remember the media speculation PRIOR to the announcement that the daughter was pregnant? The MSM reporters going live with rumors that were being posted on leftist blogs like Kos and DU?
Or the slanderous "comedy" routines about the Palin family on SNL?
I know... it was only a joke.
This is another leftist double standard. Because it's convenient for you, it's acceptable to attack and intimidate the Palin family in anyway possible in the group effort to destroy her.
She has not invited the attacks on her family. She has not put her family forward in a position to be relentlessly assaulted in the public. And why is Letterman attacking the governor of the state of Alaska? Is he going to launch into an equally unfunny and nasty riff on Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii next week?
Again, the media thrust her family, and her private family problems, in front of the public in a salacious way. You are fully aware of that.
Regardless, and even if it had been ignorantly about the adult daughter and not the 14 year old one, you still think that Letterman's jokes were appropriate?
Sometimes mean or inappropriate comments can be dismissed because at least they are clever or funny. This isn't the case here. It was just a hateful attack.
No one is saying he was saying that statutory rape was o.k. However, he made a joke that implicated a 14 year old girl. Whether he was completely ignorant of the events and just trying to be mean, hateful, and destructive towards an 18 year old single mother or he had extended his swash of mindless hatred to include the younger daughter is something he hasn't clarified.
No, Obama won the election. We're under fire as we speak.
From CNN...
From ABC News...
Wow - that backfired - Letterman is expected to pass Colin this past week, the first time that has happened in 4 years... The bigger of a deal you make about something the more press - and the more interest you cause. The Palin's would have been much better off with a simple 'no comment'. With Sarah Palin attacking Letterman she just basically said - 'watch him'.
In an issued statement, Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said: "The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."
From ABC News...
Sarah Palin would no doubt be horrified by the idea, but there's a chance she could become the same boon to David Letterman's career that Hugh Grant was to Jay Leno's.
Wow - that backfired - Letterman is expected to pass Colin this past week, the first time that has happened in 4 years... The bigger of a deal you make about something the more press - and the more interest you cause. The Palin's would have been much better off with a simple 'no comment'. With Sarah Palin attacking Letterman she just basically said - 'watch him'.
CONAN has only been on the air for a week, so you're observation is with little merit. Letterman has been unable to beat LENO for years and that's widely considered to be because Letterman doesn't connect with the majority of the country and he's devolved into a snarky, bitter little New York liberal.
Letterman did luck out in that this attention to his show helped overshadow the launch of the NEW Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. But in the long term, the results will be different. This won't work out for Letterman. His comments were distasteful, disrespectful, and unfunny. The "jokes" and his response reflect poorly on him and in the long run it will only cause more viewers to avoid his show. I'm through watching Letterman and I'm not alone in that sentiment. At one time, I did enjoy his show.. but that was quite a long time ago. I'm done with him, regardless the guest.
His standing in the social circles of NY City won't change, but the public perception of him in the middle of the country has been hurt.
And the Palin people are right, if she were to go on the show, it's be a win/win situation for Letterman and a loose/loose for Palin. She'd subject hereself to the catty and snide mockery from Letterman (much like McCain did) and she WOULD provide a ratings boost to Letterman.
Doesn't get in the way of your talking point though, does it?
HOW LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SLIPPED INTO THE SAME, SMUG ROUTINE
By JAMES LILEKS
Monday night, David Letterman compared Sarah Palin to a slut and joked that, at the Yankees game she attended, "There was one awkward moment during the seventh inning stretch. Her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."
Palin was outraged. Letterman lamely explained himself, saying he didn't realize the daughter at the baseball game was 14-year-old Willow, not 18-year-old Bristol. The Alaska governor called the explanation "convenient," wondered why the Obama daughters were off-limits but hers were not. Letterman suggested she couldn't take a joke. And on it went.
Unless Letterman makes a joke tomorrow that blends Baby Palin and Hugh Hefner, the flap is probably over. But it's a sign of the times that the argument came down to which teenaged daughter he smeared for a rim-shot. In the spirit of the age, let us consider what we've learned.
1. Not much. The parade went exactly as expected. Conservatives wondered why a women could be described as a "slutty flight attendant" without a hail of brickbats from high-minded progressives, but they knew full well the reason: To the left, Palin is a non-woman thing in heels, a female manque who will only be accepted when she tearfully tells Oprah she wishes she'd had an abortion. Maybe two.
Liberals pointed out that conservatives have failed to be outraged -- outraged, I say! -- by similar situations, such as the remark by Emperor Claudius that the Consul's wife was ugly enough to be one of Caligula's equine Senatorial appointments. Where was the outrage then? Hypocrites. (Nothing inflames the adolescent sense of righteousness like hypocrisy.) People who care little for politics but marinate daily in the shock-jock gutter broth just figured it was a tame gag, part of the game -- c'mon, lighten up. Finally, representatives of the Comedian-American Community reminded us that comics are supposed to be edgy. To push the envelope. As if the current envelope didn't consist of a few microscopic remains displayed at the Smithsonian.
As it turned out, some liberals did object; NOW put Dave in their Media Hall of Shame, whatever that is. Dave apologized, sort of: "These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl. I mean, look at my record. It has never happened. I don't think it's funny. I would never think it was funny. I wouldn't put it in a joke."
Add 200 weeks to the girl's age, though, and it's boffo.
2. Something. Even if the routine was unfunny and pathetic, it shows where the line is -- for now, anyway. If a mainstream comic felt comfy with the jape, it'll be back. Jokes that won't fly today will be cheerfully deployed down the road, because we get bored of being pious. We're appropriately solemn about a Bad Thing at first, but after a while, everything's fair game. Let someone twitter a rude remark, let Gawker test the ice, then it's monologue material. The next Republican First Daughter will have her entire puberty charted through late night monologues.
How did we get here? Blame Dave. When he came on the air, he was utterly new, and hilarious. He may have invented the posture of Nerd Cool, an aspect so familiar to anyone who reads Internet message boards -- the skill at deflating enthusiasm, puncturing passion with a hatpin lobbed from a safe distance.
Now he's about as edgy as a soccer ball, and exists to ladle out rations of Wryness and Irony. With those shields we can never grow old, you know. We'll always be as sharp and perceptive as we were when we were sitting on a cast-off sofa in college, working through a midweek buzz.
Compare him to his predecessors: Carson was all Midwestern charm, with mannerly reserve; Steve Allen was show-off smart but cheerful; Parr was a nattering nutball covered with a rich creamy nougat of ego, but he was engaging. Letterman compares Sarah Palin to an Olive Garden hostess, thereby sneering at all the ghastly rubes who pullulate beyond the Hudson -- while making you wonder when he hits the OG. It's possible he built a replica at home, and hires people to behave just as stupidly as he believes they must be.
If Letterman was the father of modern smirk-comedy, his children by various muses are everywhere, from Jon Stewart -- not a real journalist, and therefore somehow a more really real journalist -- to Colbert, Conan, et. al. (Conan got a good start on winning over middle America last week, when he said half of Wisconsinites hadn't seen a black man, and half hadn't seen a thin person. Context? We don't need no stinking context!) They all skew left, but that's not the problem. It's that everyone else they know has the same ideas. Bush = teh evil, Palin is stoopid. At this point it's about as fresh as Mort Sahl doing a Khrushchev routine in 1976.
Yet reserve some sympathy. Money aside, it can't be fun to deal flat, rote A-Rod jokes night after night and hear laughter you know the joke didn't earn. Of course, $32 million buys many comforts, including insulation from both the people you mock, and the yo polloi who huff hardy-har at your mocking. But then there's those days where you have to clarify that you meant to suggest that the older daughter was having sex, not the underage ones. It wears on a man, no doubt.
Comedy is hard. Those envelopes don't push themselves, you know.
By JAMES LILEKS
Monday night, David Letterman compared Sarah Palin to a slut and joked that, at the Yankees game she attended, "There was one awkward moment during the seventh inning stretch. Her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."
Palin was outraged. Letterman lamely explained himself, saying he didn't realize the daughter at the baseball game was 14-year-old Willow, not 18-year-old Bristol. The Alaska governor called the explanation "convenient," wondered why the Obama daughters were off-limits but hers were not. Letterman suggested she couldn't take a joke. And on it went.
Unless Letterman makes a joke tomorrow that blends Baby Palin and Hugh Hefner, the flap is probably over. But it's a sign of the times that the argument came down to which teenaged daughter he smeared for a rim-shot. In the spirit of the age, let us consider what we've learned.
1. Not much. The parade went exactly as expected. Conservatives wondered why a women could be described as a "slutty flight attendant" without a hail of brickbats from high-minded progressives, but they knew full well the reason: To the left, Palin is a non-woman thing in heels, a female manque who will only be accepted when she tearfully tells Oprah she wishes she'd had an abortion. Maybe two.
Liberals pointed out that conservatives have failed to be outraged -- outraged, I say! -- by similar situations, such as the remark by Emperor Claudius that the Consul's wife was ugly enough to be one of Caligula's equine Senatorial appointments. Where was the outrage then? Hypocrites. (Nothing inflames the adolescent sense of righteousness like hypocrisy.) People who care little for politics but marinate daily in the shock-jock gutter broth just figured it was a tame gag, part of the game -- c'mon, lighten up. Finally, representatives of the Comedian-American Community reminded us that comics are supposed to be edgy. To push the envelope. As if the current envelope didn't consist of a few microscopic remains displayed at the Smithsonian.
As it turned out, some liberals did object; NOW put Dave in their Media Hall of Shame, whatever that is. Dave apologized, sort of: "These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl. I mean, look at my record. It has never happened. I don't think it's funny. I would never think it was funny. I wouldn't put it in a joke."
Add 200 weeks to the girl's age, though, and it's boffo.
2. Something. Even if the routine was unfunny and pathetic, it shows where the line is -- for now, anyway. If a mainstream comic felt comfy with the jape, it'll be back. Jokes that won't fly today will be cheerfully deployed down the road, because we get bored of being pious. We're appropriately solemn about a Bad Thing at first, but after a while, everything's fair game. Let someone twitter a rude remark, let Gawker test the ice, then it's monologue material. The next Republican First Daughter will have her entire puberty charted through late night monologues.
How did we get here? Blame Dave. When he came on the air, he was utterly new, and hilarious. He may have invented the posture of Nerd Cool, an aspect so familiar to anyone who reads Internet message boards -- the skill at deflating enthusiasm, puncturing passion with a hatpin lobbed from a safe distance.
Now he's about as edgy as a soccer ball, and exists to ladle out rations of Wryness and Irony. With those shields we can never grow old, you know. We'll always be as sharp and perceptive as we were when we were sitting on a cast-off sofa in college, working through a midweek buzz.
Compare him to his predecessors: Carson was all Midwestern charm, with mannerly reserve; Steve Allen was show-off smart but cheerful; Parr was a nattering nutball covered with a rich creamy nougat of ego, but he was engaging. Letterman compares Sarah Palin to an Olive Garden hostess, thereby sneering at all the ghastly rubes who pullulate beyond the Hudson -- while making you wonder when he hits the OG. It's possible he built a replica at home, and hires people to behave just as stupidly as he believes they must be.
If Letterman was the father of modern smirk-comedy, his children by various muses are everywhere, from Jon Stewart -- not a real journalist, and therefore somehow a more really real journalist -- to Colbert, Conan, et. al. (Conan got a good start on winning over middle America last week, when he said half of Wisconsinites hadn't seen a black man, and half hadn't seen a thin person. Context? We don't need no stinking context!) They all skew left, but that's not the problem. It's that everyone else they know has the same ideas. Bush = teh evil, Palin is stoopid. At this point it's about as fresh as Mort Sahl doing a Khrushchev routine in 1976.
Yet reserve some sympathy. Money aside, it can't be fun to deal flat, rote A-Rod jokes night after night and hear laughter you know the joke didn't earn. Of course, $32 million buys many comforts, including insulation from both the people you mock, and the yo polloi who huff hardy-har at your mocking. But then there's those days where you have to clarify that you meant to suggest that the older daughter was having sex, not the underage ones. It wears on a man, no doubt.
Comedy is hard. Those envelopes don't push themselves, you know.
Nope - I do watch ratings though, and catch things on Hulu or youtube when I see them referenced in the news...... And don't you think Sarah Palin's comments caused a ratings bump? That is far more interesting - the bump. Does Letterman continue down this road? This type of humor has increased his ratings in the past - and at the end of the hour, it is about ratings...
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
Jordan shoots, he scores! *owned*
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
Yes, the ratings of a has-been jerkoff late night talk show host are far more interesting and important than whether or not he advocated a teenage girl being raped at Yankee Stadium. Thanks for articulating your lefty standards for us yet again.
And thanks for proving my point that fighting against a 'joke,' no matter the lack of taste involved, is a no win situation foss...
And ratings are interesting - it is what drives what most of America sees on their TVs every night, it is what creates mass media...
And ratings are interesting - it is what drives what most of America sees on their TVs every night, it is what creates mass media...
JohnnyBz00LS
Dedicated LVC Member
You missed the point, LETTERMAN obviously failed to note that and ended up w/ his foot in his mouth because of it. Palin could've displayed some class and accepted Dave's initial apology, even rubbed his nose in it a little. But instead, SHE took the trailer park route and insinuated Dave was not only advocating statuatory RAPE, but also that he could not be trusted around under-age girls. Well, if she's going to go down THAT gutter, it's only fair that the gloves can come off.
BALONEY, I can count on one hand the number of campaign events Sarah was on stage WITHOUT her daughters / hubby wearing them like fashion jewlery. You expect me to believe the MEDIA grabbed their hands and forced them on stage? Please. And I'm not suggesting she should've "hidden them away", seeing the family is usually a GOOD thing to let the public get to know you. But it doesn't have to be done ALL THE TIME.
And that doesn't change the fact the PALINS / RNC made her daughter into the voice of "abstinance only sex ed". THAT ALONE puts a target on Bristol Palin's back for making jokes like what Dave was trying to make.
Cry me a river. I'm sure Hillary and Mrs. Edwards gives a crap.
NO, I don't think Dave's joke was appropriate, even for her 18 y/o daughter. BUT he figured that out after the fact and apologized, profusely, within 3 hours of it being recorded. That should've been the end of it, but NOOOOoooooo, trailer-trash Sarah had to take it to the gutter and insinuate Dave likes to rape underage girls. SCREW HER, the gloves can come off now. This would've been old news by now had Palin NOT kept milking this for air time. You can't blame the media for Palin's stupidity.
So now you're calling her "trailer trash?"
You're very hostile towards the governor of Alaska, aren't you? Why is that?
And then you said the "gloves came off" after she responded to the questions about Letterman? The implication there being the gloves "were on" when he was making jokes equating her and any of her children to sluts?
Why such personal and sexist attacks?
And why are they o.k. against Sarah Palin?
Now, in your emotional, irrational, rage, you're contradicting yourself. She shouldn't have her family along with her at events, but she shouldn't hide them away?
Of course, you're simply wrong. She certainly had her family at high profile events like the convention, but they weren't constantly on display.
Would it be o.k. if I started calling the Obama girls sluts since they've been featured far more prominently in his campaigning? Of course not.
No. This would be incorrect too.
The media attacked Bristol Palin because they perceived her mother as supporting abstinence programs. They were besides themselves over the opportunity to try to paint another conservative as a "hypocrite."
When interviewed, Bristol Palin has answered questions on the subject, but she's not the spokesperson for anything.
Is there anything else you'd like me to correct you on?
Cry me a river. I'm sure Hillary and Mrs. Edwards gives a crap.
NO, I don't think Dave's joke was appropriate, even for her 18 y/o daughter. BUT he figured that out after the fact and apologized, profusely, within 3 hours of it being recorded. That should've been the end of it, but NOOOOoooooo, trailer-trash Sarah had to take it to the gutter and insinuate Dave likes to rape underage girls. SCREW HER, the gloves can come off now. This would've been old news by now had Palin NOT kept milking this for air time. You can't blame the media for Palin's stupidity.[/QUOTE]
actually, the one in the video has nothing to do with anyone being raped. no sex, nothing. the one here has a few second quip about her buying make up for a slutty flight attendant look.
nothing to do with her daughters.
and how did the media pull that off without complicity. i know, trick camera work. they were all in different places held against thier will.
like it's never been done to celebrities or other public officials. i remember the one of gulliani and his son when chris farley was still alive.
incorrect
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/05/bristol-palin-candies-fou_n_196838.html
and as for sarah herself,
so, obviously there was no PERCEPTION about it. she did support abstinence only programs. and now her daughter is the failed poster child of abstinence only programs. kinda ironic.
and being a spokesperson for abstinence only, i like this part of the story. a quote from her in february.
nothing to do with her daughters.
and how did the media pull that off without complicity. i know, trick camera work. they were all in different places held against thier will.
like it's never been done to celebrities or other public officials. i remember the one of gulliani and his son when chris farley was still alive.
again, that's not in the video shag posted.
incorrect
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/05/bristol-palin-candies-fou_n_196838.html
she has been involved in abstinence only.
and as for sarah herself,
so, obviously there was no PERCEPTION about it. she did support abstinence only programs. and now her daughter is the failed poster child of abstinence only programs. kinda ironic.
and being a spokesperson for abstinence only, i like this part of the story. a quote from her in february.
so she doesn't even believe what she's promoting.
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
M-hm. Tell Don Imus that.
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
Huh. Johnny thinks Sarah is trailer trash. Sounds like jealousy to me. I'll bet Johnny finds Guy Cimbalo inspiring.
lincolnx2
Dedicated LVC Member
Don Imus made a racial joke. For centuries black women have benn called "nappy headed hoes", if Letterman said the same thing about a black teenage girl, would you guys take the same stance.
did you see his ratings? They were tanking -
TheDude
Dedicated LVC Member
If you believe the whispers, she's setting up to run next election. Gun's being cocked again.
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
Yeah, because the current VP isn't the dumbest one we've EVER had.
Hear that laughter? That's me laughing at you morons who voted for those incompetent fools who are flushing this country down the drain.
TheDude
Dedicated LVC Member
Yeah, because the current VP isn't the dumbest one we've EVER had.
Hear that laughter? That's me laughing at you morons who voted for those incompetent fools who are flushing this country down the drain.
So the proper course of action is to elect another idiot next election?
No, can you turn it up, maybe to 11? "You people"? TheDude voted independent, TheDude voted for Barr.
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
First of all, thanks for admitting Obama is an idiot.
Second of all, Obama's intelligence and capability pales in comparison to Palin's. She would do a far better job.
Third, I'm impressed that you voted for Barr. I now have to reassess some of the things I've concluded about you. Mind telling me why you voted for him?
TheDude
Dedicated LVC Member
Weren't you talking about the VP, ie Joe Biden?
Subjective.
Couple of reasons:
Had the luxury(or curse?) of living in a state that had little to no chance of turning or even going purple, so my vote didn't matter all that much, either way.
This two party system is sh!t, The Dems and Reps know that a large portion of the populace is going to vote for them no matter what, they can put a monkey with a suit on and he'll garner 'X' amount of votes just because he has an 'R' or 'D' next to his name, political stances be damned.
Having a strong third party should [in theory] force both the Reps and Dems to stick to their promises or risk losing votes to that 3rd party.
fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
There will never be a strong third party. Such talk is a Democrat creation. You don't see the Kos Kids or the DUmmies talking about forming a Leftist Party. They understand what keeping power centralized means.