Dave Letterman and Sarah Palin

[il Padrino Ute]

Simple rule about politics: use kids as props, open them up for criticism.

Don't whore your kids out to the media and the media generally respects the privacy of the children.

That's a fair point.

I'd love to hear someone now go after Obama's kids to see if there is the same "oh well" attitude.

[Babs]

As a moderate Republican, I couldn't be happier with this. The sooner Sarah Palin convinces the rest of the Republican Party that she's not fit for national leadership, the better.

No doubt. Please, keep her in the spotlight. And make sure she talks a lot.

[Babs]

That's a fair point.

I'd love to hear someone now go after Obama's kids to see if there is the same "oh well" attitude.

Obama's daughters are in elementary school. Bristol is an adult who has accepted a pseudo-political paid position as a national spokesperson.

[il Padrino Ute]

Obama's daughters are in elementary school. Bristol is an adult who has accepted a pseudo-political paid position as a national spokesperson.

Children are children, no?

[TripletDaddy]

That's a fair point.

I'd love to hear someone now go after Obama's kids to see if there is the same "oh well" attitude.

Well, my guess is if either of his daughters get knocked up, we will all read about it. Esp if their father happens to be promoting a morals/family values platform at the time.

[Babs]

Children are children, no?

yes. and adults are adults.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

That's where the confusion is on my part. I thought it was about the younger one.

The Palins themselves created the confusion. They made the assertion that Letterman was talking about their 14 year-old daughter and that his humor was "sick" and "perverted."

Either they're incredibly stupid and think a guy who has been a late night talk show host for 30 years would make a joke about A-Rod raping a 14 year-old girl and effectively end his career, or they're intentionally misconstruing things. Quite honestly, I don't know if the former or latter is true. Any reasonable and moderately intelligent person watching the show would know that Letterman is talking about Bristol who very publicly, well, got knocked up.

The fact that Willow was the actual daughter who attended the Yankees game, was beside the point. The Palins are either too stupid to have understood that Letterman was talking about Bristol, or they're hell bent on trying to get revenge on Dave Letterman.

How many people watch Dave Letterman every night? Three or four million? How many more people know about this joke now because the Palins chose to make it a big deal?

[il Padrino Ute]

yes. and adults are adults.

I'm just pointing out the inconsistency that exists in the world of politics and media. Palin's daughter was under fire before she was an adult.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

That's a fair point.

I'd love to hear someone now go after Obama's kids to see if there is the same "oh well" attitude.

The difference is that Obama's daughters are significantly younger. And there was, unfortunately, no shortage of jokes floating around about Chelsea Clinton back in the day.

I thought the media was mostly hands off on the Bush twins, with the very limited exception of making a few jokes when they got caught partying a few times. The Bush twins also mostly kept to themselves, Bristol not so much.

[TripletDaddy]

How many people watch Dave Letterman every night? Three or four million? How many more people know about this joke now because the Palins chose to make it a big deal?

Take the number of Conan viewers and add 13%!

[il Padrino Ute]

The Palins themselves created the confusion. They made the assertion that Letterman was talking about their 14 year-old daughter and that his humor was "sick" and "perverted."

Either they're incredibly stupid and think a guy who has been a late night talk show host for 30 years would make a joke about A-Rod raping a 14 year-old girl and effectively end his career, or they're intentionally misconstruing things. Quite honestly, I don't know if the former or latter is true. Any reasonable and moderately intelligent person watching the show would know that Letterman is talking about Bristol who very publicly, well, got knocked up.

The fact that Willow was the actual daughter who attended the Yankees game, was beside the point. The Palins are either too stupid to have understood that Letterman was talking about Bristol, or they're hell bent on trying to get revenge on Dave Letterman.

How many people watch Dave Letterman every night? Three or four million? How many more people know about this joke now because the Palins chose to make it a big deal?

Personally, I heard about it because of neither Letterman or Palin. I read about it on another sports message board that had linked a clip of the Letterman joke. From what I saw, I thought Letterman was talking about the younger daughter, so count me as one of the stupid ones. (I won't argue against that).

Letterman has been a liberal hack since the last year of Clinton's 2nd term, so that he makes tasteless jokes at the expense of a non-liberal is no surprise to me. But he shouldn't be let off the hook just because he didn't make it clear what he was saying.

[il Padrino Ute]

The difference is that Obama's daughters are significantly younger. And there was, unfortunately, no shortage of jokes floating around about Chelsea Clinton back in the day.

I thought the media was mostly hands off on the Bush twins, with the very limited exception of making a few jokes when they got caught partying a few times. The Bush twins also mostly kept to themselves, Bristol not so much.

As I mentioned to Barbara, I only bring it up because of the liberal bias in the media. I would never say anything about Obama's kids personally, but the fact is, it's ok to target conservatives, but not liberals.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Personally, I heard about it because of neither Letterman or Palin. I read about it on another sports message board that had linked a clip of the Letterman joke. From what I saw, I thought Letterman was talking about the younger daughter, so count me as one of the stupid ones. (I won't argue against that).

Letterman has been a liberal hack since the last year of Clinton's 2nd term, so that he makes tasteless jokes at the expense of a non-liberal is no surprise to me. But he shouldn't be let off the hook just because he didn't make it clear what he was saying.

You probably thought that because the Palins had already made that assertion. I'm paraphrasing their own words, but they said Letterman made a joke about A-Rod raping their 14 year old daughter. The first I ever heard about the joke was a story about the Palins' comments and I, without seeing the joke, made the assumption that the joke was about A-Rod having sex with 14 year-old Willow. So, you viewed the joke for the first time after hearing about the Palins' comments.

If I had been watching Letterman that night, I would have immediately assumed the joke was about Bristol. You probably would have also. Why would anyone assume the joke was about Willow?

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Take the number of Conan viewers and add 13%!

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/06/conan-obrien-regains-lead-palin-letterman.html

Not according to last night's ratings.

[il Padrino Ute]

You probably thought that because the Palins had already made that assertion. I'm paraphrasing their own words, but they said Letterman made a joke about A-Rod raping their 14 year old daughter. The first I ever heard about the joke was a story about the Palins' comments and I, without seeing the joke, made the assumption that the joke was about A-Rod having sex with 14 year-old Willow. So, you viewed the joke for the first time after hearing about the Palins' comments.

If I had been watching Letterman that night, I would have immediately assumed the joke was about Bristol. You probably would have also. Why would anyone assume the joke was about Willow?

I hadn't heard the Palins' comments until you paraphrased them in this thread. What I saw was a clip on youtube the day after Letterman's joke.