[digg-reddit-me]As I’m not sure how much attention this has already gotten, let me start with a brief overview of the Palin-Letterman feud that apparently got going a few days ago.
Letterman, after joking that Sarah Palin herself “Bought makeup from Bloomingdale’s to update her ‘slutty flight attendant’ look,” then went after her family’s famous fecundity:
One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.
Given Bristol Palin’s public figure, I think it’s well within the bounds of taste for a late-night humorist to go after her. I mean it’s undeniable that she cuts a bit of a ridiculous figure, as a self-appointed role model for abstinence and single mother. The 14 year old daughter – on the other hand – doesn’t deserve to be so ridiculed.
The Palin family then made the assumption that Letterman was referring to their younger daughter – and furiously, Todd Palin responded:
Any ‘jokes’ about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too.
And Sarah Palin decided to go with a more political response – calling on the familiar Nixonian contrast between Hollywood/NY and “real Americans” like her:
Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands – that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone’s daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.
Letterman seeming a bit shocked by all this replied:
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…. Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes.
But the Palins apparently have no use for apologies – and ignore Letterman’s assertion that they had made the wrong assumption about who he was referring to. Rather than seeing this as closed, and protecting their daughter’s privacy by letting it go, they instead make their 14-year old daughter the punch line in a zinger designed to keep this story in the news. They insinuate David Letterman is a child rapist, rejecting Letterman’s offer to appear on his show by saying:
[I]t would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman.
Even if David Letterman were referring to Willow – which he denies and which the joke was not clear about – what possible purpose, aside from political advantage and publicity, does it serve for the Palins to keep this going? The whole reason the outrage over Letterman’s joke hits a nerve is that even bringing up an older man taking advantage of an underage girl is taboo – especially if one is referring to a particular girl. Even bringing it up is dangerous. And this is precisely what the Palins are now doing – repeatedly – for no other reason than to advance Sarah Palin’s career. They’re using insinuations of child rape as a political weapon, as zingers. This is not a subject to be trifled with – or politicized. It’s wrong. Period. This isn’t a Hollywood versus the heartland issue. This is something we all agree on.
But unfortunately, when the Palins see an opportunity to divide Americans and demonize millions Americans, they apparently cannot let the chance slip by – even if it is in the best interest of their daughter.
4 replies on “Stay Classy, Sarah Palin: Palin Insinuates David Letterman is a Child Rapist”
Chip, you do not get it, but Americans do not make fun of family tragedies.
Also, Letterman was talking about A-Rod impregnating a 14-year old. That would be rape just about anywhere except Liberalia, Mass. It doesnt matter what he meant; he identified Palin’s daughter at the baseball game as getting “knocked up”. If he had made a mistake and actually named the 14 year old by accident, it would be the same.
Will you contend that he intended to mock the older daugther instead? David Letterman is a typical social liberal who hates the Palins because they are against abortion and homosexuality, and yeah, premarital sex, which for many of us is difficult to struggle against. Palin’s daughter was not successful in the struggle, she got pregant, she had a baby, she was 17. Not funny.
Where do these inhumane liberals come from? Maybe they came from the moon when we landed in 1969 and started substituting their kind for humans, and now there are sure a lot of them. .
Did Letterman know that Palin was at the Yankees game with her 14-year-old daughter? Who knows? I doubt it and think that he assumed that she was there with Bristol. That being said, he should have done his due diligence and should never have told the joke in the first place.
The problem with Todd & Sarah Palin’s approach is that they’re taking a holier-than-thou stance. He apologized and tried to make amends, but the Palins won’t have any part in it. Does that sound like the Christian thing to do? In addition, the Palins are now user their daughter, Willow, to push Sarah Palin’s political career.
Shame on Letterman for his joke. Kudos to him for apologizing. Shame on Sarah Palin for using her daughter. Shame on her for not showing forgiveness.
@Brian Mort –
I generally agree with what you said. Except the “Shame on Letterman.” He should have done his due diligence – but I hate it when I start to call out everyone just so I can explain what I’m actually thinking.
@”Zbigniew”:
You make a fool of yourself when you pronounce on what other people are thinking with authority – especially when your insight into what they are thinking comes from your own emotional response.
You clearly do not understand liberalism or liberals. As a rule, we do not hate those who are against abortion, homosexuality, or premarital sex. That would be uncharitable – and for the many of us who are Christian, un-Christian. Rather, we disagree with them.
I freely admit that I look on Sarah Palin and her constant family dramas. But it is not her positions which I disdain. I can respect them. But her persona, her incredible (and seemingly amoral) opportunism, and most importantly her demonization of her opponents – these I disdain. She represents – in these ways – the worst America has to offer.
As far as I can tell, Palin seems to have been true to her principles in her personal life – but her political life is defined by her constant lies, her anti-Christian and plain ignorant approach to politics, and her blatant attempts to manipulate the public.
[…] when a comedian made a joke that she saw she could exploit, she talked used this as her excuse to rail against the “Hollywood/NY” elites who did not understand real American values. Again and again she invoked the same, old tired class warfare […]