David Letterman apologizes for "flawed" Palin joke

[kskiska]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - David Letterman apologized on Monday for making a sexually charged joke about one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughters, as a group of Palin supporters planned a rally demanding the late-night TV show host be fired.

"I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception" of the joke by viewers, he said during Monday's taping of "Late Night with David Letterman," according to a transcript given to Reuters.

"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," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault."

(snip)

I would like to apologize especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future," he said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSTRE55F0E320090616

[bif]

1. Didn't he do this about a week ago?

[customerserviceguy]

13. It was a non-apology apology

something that comedians do all the time. If he had offered a genuine apology back on Tuesday or Wednesday, it wouldn't have festered over the weekend. I'm sure the company brass took him to the woodshed over this, and it was appropriate for them to do so.

Attack Caribou Barbie all you want, but leave the teenagers out of it. That's the message they gave him.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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

[customerserviceguy]

26. Tease her about her choice of that clueless jock, Levi

but putting ARod in there just made it wrong. I'm happy to see that Dave apologized formally tonight.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

2. That should do it.

[ixion]

3. no, Dave, it's NOT your fault

It's most definitely the fault of Mrs. Moosey McTongue Speaker, and the fact that shes bat-shit crazy.

[CoffeeCat]

4. Oh no...

...how will the Hillbilly narcissist from Alaska more air time now?

Dave has taken the wind out of her sails. God knows she didn't want an apology.

She just wants to listen to the sound of her voice appealing to her lunatic base.

[regnaD kciN]

25. Simple...she just won't accept it...

...and continue charging Letterman with deliberately targeting Willow with rape jokes "because he's a pervert." and demanding he be fired.

If a) Craig Ferguson was ready to take over at 11:35 and b) NBC wasn't just in a major transition, she'd almost certainly get it, too. She still might. (Ask Dan Rather about Letterman's odds from here on out.) Conan O'Brien might turn out to be the luckiest man in the history of television, being essentially handed a late-night network monopoly.

[madfloridian]

5. Everyone must apologize to the right wing. Over and over and Over.

.

[Stellabella]

16. Yes, it's just ridiculous.

Letterman keeps apologizing, and they will keep demanding an apology.

The repukes are just like three-year-olds with their fingers in their ears, chanting 'I can't hear you!'.

Effing brats.

[primavera]

31. Can you imagine O'Liely or Limpballs ever apologizing for anything?

No matter how egregious their statements were?

[Stellabella]

38. Yeah, never has happened, never will happen. And they skate.

It just makes me sick.

[Hissyspit]

6. Sarah Palin's sense of humor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_23HhsKOQQ

[tj2001]

7. Rush demands an apology too

and so does Dick Cheney

[Thrill]

8. Oh well

.

[Hissyspit]

9. Sarah Palin is anti-woman:

http://www.thecollegianur.com/2008/09/18/sarah-palin-anti-woman-feminist

One of her most blatant insults to women happened during her time as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Police Chief Charlie Fannon, hand-picked by then-Mayor Palin, had the Wasilla Police Office charge rape victims or their insurance companies for the cost of a rape kit. This $500 to $1,200 test is used to collect and process evidence from a rape or sexual assault, including DNA of the attacker.

The state government of Alaska had to pass a bill making it illegal to charge a victim for the costs of collecting evidence in a sexual assault case according to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (Wasilla, Alaska). As then-Governor Tony Knowles put it, “We would never bill the victim of a burglary for fingerprinting and photographing the crime scene, or for the cost of gathering other evidence … Nor should we bill rape victims just because the crime scene happens to be their bodies.”

Palin’s choice of a man who would sacrifice the already-battered dignity of a rape victim to save “any more burden put on the taxpayer” shows that Palin cares little for hurting women.

Another major blow to women is Palin’s stance on reproductive rights. She is virulently anti-abortion to the point that, hypothetically, if her daughter were raped, Palin would force her daughter to carry and give birth to the child of her attacker.

- snip -

Palin claims to be pro-contraception, yet opposes comprehensive sexual education. How the governor expects women to learn about contraception is beyond me. Clearly, she doesn’t expect parents to teach their children how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and unexpected pregnancies — she didn’t feel the need to teach Bristol how to avoid becoming a teen mother.

Palin claims to be a member of Feminists for Life, but nothing that she has done has suggested that she is a feminist. She has consistently worked against women’s rights to be treated as equals and against women’s right to be in charge of their reproductive health. If only the choice of Sarah Palin was a sketch on Chappelle’s Show — then I could change the channel.


http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i191/hissyspit

http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

[shanti]

10. omg, make it STOP!

:banghead: i'm so sick of this story.

[slackmaster]

15. I haven't even heard the jokes yet and I'm sick of the story too

:nuke:

[blueclown]

11. Just once I wish somebody would shove a right-wing apology back in their face.

"I'm sorry you were offended Mrs. Palin, but fuck off."

[sisters6]

23. So, would you like to have jokes such as the

ones told by Letterman directed at your daughters? Letterman was shameful. Simple as that.

[blueclown]

27. Palin has made her daughters a topic by parading them around like trophies.

P.S. I'm thinking you won't be around very long defending Palin.

[sisters6]

32. PS..

You are not too smart if you think I am defending Palin. The topic is about a well known tv star engaging in demeaning misogyny which affects ALL women.

[mainer]

49. And no even thought about Willow until the Palins dragged her out.

Everyone who heard the joke thought it was about Bristol. The Palins were the ones who started blabbing about Willow being raped. Now it's all about Willow, Willow, Willow. Thanks a lot mom and dad, for smearing her name across national TV.

[Zhade]

35. Fuck off, freeper.

NT!

[Blandocyte]

40. I missed the controversial joke because

I was cutting brush on my ranch since I'm too stingy with my inherited millions to hire someone who actually needs work. But from what I understand, it was a flop of a joke and not even near funny. There are so many funny things about Palin he could've used rather than using her underage daughter in a sexually-tinged "joke."

[Tempest]

47. What about the joke SNL made and Palin appeared on the show the next week?

SNL made a joke that Todd Palin was having sex with his daughters.

Instead of outrage, Sarah appeared on SNL the next week.


This is blowing up on Palin's face and she's too goddamn stupid to realize it.

[24601]

51. No, it wasn't shameful; however it was bad research before

the joke. He assumed the 18-year old was at the game and made the joke about her. Upon learning the 18 year old was not and only the 14-year old was, he should have pulled a House, said "Oops, my bad - sorry" and it would have been over. But no, he had to drag it out and try to rationalize and explain. Bad move - say it and MOVE ON.

[Nye Bevan]

12. Good

If he had apologized properly a week ago everyone would have forgotten about this whole thing by now. I am sure that Palin was thrilled that he didn't, so she could keep this whole circus alive for several days.

[6000eliot]

14. The joke wasn't about the daughters.

It was about that creep being a bad mother, which she is.

[24601]

52. Then you must not have heard it - mothers don't knock-up

daughters, even with advanced medical facilities. Minors having sex knocks them up.

[6000eliot]

54. Good mothers don't withhold information about protection from preganacy and disease

from their children. Period. Ergo, she's a bad mother who let her daughter get knocked up and now tries to use her to promote abstinence.

[Debi]

18. What happened? Did the RW Nutcases call all Letterman's advertisers?

I wish he would have just ignored the woman :eyes:

[oldnslo]

19. NOW he can rip and gore Sarah's ass off every night for a year...

[mitchum]

21. Only if he pays the First Dude...I hear that's the standard arrangement

[mitchum]

20. Good...he needs to quit picking on unwed teen mothers and their grifter parents

[snooper2]

22. And people say the 2% never win

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

[regnaD kciN]

24. Palin 1, Letterman 0...

CBS has a track record of caving to conservative pressure. Remember what ended Dan Rather's career?

:-(

[Old and In the Way]

28. But it's only the top of the first inning.

Dave has cleared the deck with this apology. But Sarah's gonna be in politics for a long time. I think she's gonna rue the day she played the victim card. I certainly wouldn't want Dave's biting wit focused on me.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

45. Yup, Palin's going to be in the Letterman writers' sights from here on out ...

... and while the Tonight Show spent eight years doing jokes about folksy small town headlines and how the president talked with a drawl, the Letterman writers and Letterman were laying into Bush every night, pointing out just what an idiot he is and questioning the election. Letterman and his writer's are intellectually light years ahead of Palin and her people - they'll never even realize it (hell, many of them think "The Colbert Report" is a real news show and some even think he's on their side).

This just may be the thing to get Letterman back to his "A" game (although, IMO, even his "C" game was far more watchable and thoughtful than the competition). The writers and Letterman fumbled on this one, but I doubt they will again and get very competitive about it. Gonna be some good television.

[Cha]

30. I don't look at it that way..DAve

is way too smart for them. Revenge is best served ice cold.

Now the attentionwhore stops getting attention.

[Wednesdays]

29. What? Oh...silly me, this is Story of the Year 2009

and 2010...and 2011...

[Ztarbod]

33. I would like to see an actual apology

Telling me that he is sorry I misunderstood his inappropriate 'joke', is not an apology. I didn't misunderstand the 'joke' and I don't think other folks did.

[Paladin]

50. Palin Got A More-Than-Adequate Apology

Requiring any further groveling from Letterman over this stupid little incident speaks volumes about the sort of person you are, and the sort of political agenda you're advocating......

[New Dawn]

34. Pathetic cave in.

[InfiniteThoughts]

36. the full transcript ...

"All right, here - I've been thinking about this situation with Governor Palin and her family now for about a week - it was a week ago tonight, and maybe you know about it, maybe you don't know about it. But there was a joke that I told, and I thought I was telling it about the older daughter being at Yankee Stadium. And it was kind of a coarse joke. There's no getting around it, but I never thought it was anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure in fact that she is of legal age, 18. Yeah. But the joke really, in and of itself, can't be defended. The next day, people are outraged. They're angry at me because they said, 'How could you make a lousy joke like that about the 14-year-old girl who was at the ball game?' And I had, honestly, no idea that the 14-year-old girl, I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the Governor and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani...And I really should have made the joke about Rudy..." (audience applauds) "But I didn't, and now people are getting angry and they're saying, 'Well, how can you say something like that about a 14-year-old girl, and does that make you feel good to make those horrible jokes about a kid who's completely innocent, minding her own business,' and, turns out, she was at the ball game. I had no idea she was there. So she's now at the ball game and people think that I made the joke about her. And, but still, I'm wondering, 'Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?' I've never made jokes like this as long as we've been on the air, 30 long years, and you can't really be doing jokes like that. And I understand, of course, why people are upset. I would be upset myself.

"And then I was watching the Jim Lehrer 'Newshour' - this commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl, and I thought, 'Oh, boy, now I'm beginning to understand what the problem is here. It's the perception rather than the intent.' It doesn't make any difference what my intent was, it's the perception. And, as they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it's not a very good joke. And I'm certainly - " (audience applause) "- thank you. Well, my responsibility - I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. 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. That it was misunderstood." (audience applauds) "Thank you. So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much." (audience applause)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/15/letterman-apologizes-to-p_n_215927.html
======================================

i think that the apology is good enough. He explained his mistake, owed up to his part and addressed the Palin family directly in his apology. The only way it could be better was if it came a week ago. But bygones are bygones.

Palin should accept it with grace and move on (which i doubt will ever happen given the history with the Alaska Gov!)

[oedura]

37. Fuck Sarah Palin and her daughters...

...and fuck all of the idiots who are making a lame joke that Letterman probably didn't even write into a major end-of-the-fucking-world issue.

I'm sick and tired of all the fake outrage that the people in this country vomit out every time somebody cuts a fart in their direction.

[24601]

53. I don't care whether you like their politics or not - fucking the kids

is not a joke unless you accept the freepers fucking the DU daughters - and mine's 13 so keep the fuck away from her - and that means EVERYBODY.

[robcon]

39. Better late than never

A sincere apology was warranted - and finally given.

[Gman2]

41. Instead of being gracious, the wingers are using it as PROOF

that he is a lecherous pedophile, and pushing to have him fired. Then, he will stand as a testament to what happens to those that ridicule the right. Their real target is Stewart and Clobert. They are going after the money, and all the lessers will get the message. The right wingers have been talking about two targets. Education, and media. They intend to put a chill into both. They feel that is where they are getting killed.

[Old Hob]

42. should be good for a small ratings boost. nt

[bigworld]

43. They're having an anti-Letterman protest today in NYC!

Led by famous media whore John Ziegler...

http://firedavidletterman.com/

[dipsydoodle]

44. I'm out of touch with what went on.

Did he say "The only thing wrong with your tits is that they're not in my mouth" whatever ?

[cslinger59]

46. I don't have a problem with the Palin's but.....

and I am not exactly a Letterman fan, but Jeebus, can nobody take a joke these days.

[marshall]

48. It doesn't appear that Letterman or Imus can

We've become a very sensitive society.