Bill Maher responded to his royal treatment on The View yesterday. It is so typical of Maher to relate one story, and in the process of doing that say something even more offensive. The joke regarding Penn State was not funny on any level. Maher is despicable and he is nobody’s victim, but Hasselbeck succeeded in making him look like one yesterday.
Last week when the David Letterman scandal broke everyone said that Letterman’s response was brilliant. He got out ahead of the story and successfully shaped the message. The idea of someone blackmailing anyone for profit is reprehensible. So if this is the case there are no gray areas the guy was wrong, but let’s not make Letterman a hero. He is now being hailed as being masterful in how he handled this situation from a public relations point of view. Letterman is a man with considerable power in the entertainment industry. It just makes me a little uncomfortable to hear the head of a corporation admit he has had sex with female employees. At this point no one has accused Letterman of sexual harassment, but please let’s put away the confetti this guy does not deserve a parade because he is no hero.
Last Thursday David Letterman shared some of his personal business with the world. He told the studio audience and the rest of us how he had been the victim of an extortion plot. He told us that he had had sex with members of his staff. The audience listened and laughed nervously during this painful confession. Tonight he apologized to his wife in front of the world, but is this the place for this kind of confession. Is his show becoming his own confessional? Is it fair to the audience? We can assume he has been with his wife this past weekend. Hopefully he had the opportunity to apologize to her in person. Letterman is supposed to be funny, and humor is not supposed to be uncomfortable and that is what this is becoming. What’s next? Are some of the women he had relationships with going to appear on the show to say the sex was consensual? When will this stop? Hopefully tonight.
David Letterman admitted last night that he engaged in sex with women who worked for him. When Letterman shared the information with the audience he said he had a “little story” to share with the audience. A CBS employee tried to exhort $2 million dollars from Letterman to keep quiet about the affairs. The man said that if he did not pay he would put Letterman’s business in a book or a screenplay. Letterman actually set up a “mini” sting which included his lawyer and the exhorter. Letterman gave the guy a phony check and turned the matter over to law enforcement. The bigger issue here is not the extortion which is clearly illegal and the employee will be dealt with, but the real question is did Letterman abuse his power. Letterman’s sex life is not our business, but abuse of power is. If these women willingly had sex with him this is not a story, but if they felt pressured because he was there boss this is an issue. CBS must aggressively investigate and not shrug this off as a “little story”.
This was one of the funny things that the president said last night on David Letterman’s show. It is true he was a black man and he still is a black man. President Obama said this while addressing the racism issue that former President Jimmy Carter brought to center stage last week. Some including me have suggested that the president speak out on the issue but I have to admit I have changed my mind. He is doing what he should. He is taking the high road and often that is the road less travelled. There are plenty of people that are completely qualified and ready to speak on issues of race and the president should do what he is doing let them speak.
Over the past week we have seen Sarah Palin appear on all the news networks expressing her outrage at the David Letterman joke. Her outrage was justified and last night Letterman issued an official apology. It was a long time in coming, but it finally came. This really should be the end of this episode. There is an old saying that when you live in glass houses you should not throw stones. So hopefully Palin will now step away from the microphone. On September 22, 2008, SNL did a skit in which they joked about Todd Palin having sex with his daughters. This was deplorable, but we never saw Sarah Palin making the rounds expressing her outrage. What we did see was Palin appearing on SNL October 18, 2008 at the height of the election season. So let’s give Letterman a little slack here. He should have apologized and now he has, but he should not be fired. It was a bad joke, it was a horrible joke, but he who is without sin should throw the first stone, and right now there are no clean hands.
Over the past few days I have seen the pundits talk about the David Letterman joke. This discussion has led to the question if he had said something off-color about the Obama girls would the media be calling for his head? Is there really a double standard? I am a former Chicagoan and I loved Michael Jordan. During his heyday I was a cheering fanatic, but he had critics including those who played with him that said the referees favored him. He committed numerous fouls but he rarely fouled out of a game. I just said they were jealous, but now when I watch Kobe Bryant a player that is not a member of my home team I believe he gets preferential treatment and it bugs me. What I realize is the double standard does not bother you until you are not receiving the benefits. The media does treat the Palin family differently. It really did not bother me before this controversy because she was not my candidate and she did not represent my interests, but as a mother the joke bothered me and this controversy should not be future fodder for the Letterman show. She is outraged and rightfully so. I do not believe Letterman was talking about her underage daughter, but even if he wasn’t what he said should offend any woman. I wrote a post on this earlier this week and defended the Palins, but I injected a snide comment into that post. One of the readers commented and said could I just defend her without the snideness and that is what I am doing now. When you insult one woman you insult all women. When rap singers call women the b-word and women dance to it and say he is not talking about me they miss the point. It is disrespect and that can not be tolerated or laughed at. It simply is not funny.
This morning Gov. Sarah Palin appeared on the Today Show. Lauer asked her did she really think that Letterman was talking about her underage daughter when he made his infamous joke. She kept saying Letterman was encouraging statutory rape. Palin has said in a statement that she would keep “Willow away from David Letterman.” Lauer challenged her and asked did she really think Letterman was a danger to her daughter, and she responded take the statement anyway you want. The fact is what Letterman said was wrong, but her contention that he manufactured an excuse after the fact is unfair. Her two daughters Bristol and Willow bear a striking resemblance. When they were on the campaign trail with her it was hard to tell them apart until Bristol’s pregnancy became the distinction. So he could have mistakenly thought Bristol was the one with her family at the Yankee’s game. Palin seems to want to use this situation to define the media. She seems bent on keeping this issue alive as an illustrive example of how she and her family are unfairly treated by the media. This should be looked at what it is—an unfortunate incident. A joke gone terribly bad, but let’s not take it to another level. David Letterman is a comedian not a pedophile, and there is no need to hide the children.
David Letterman joked about Sarah Palin’s recent trip to new York. Politicians are fair game for jokes, but there are limits. Letterman joked about Sarah Palin looking for make up that would give her the “sluttly flight attendent look”, he went further when he joked about her daughter getting “knocked up” by a NY Yankee. If you have read my blog you know I am no Palin fan, but as a woman I find this kind of humor offensive. So shame on you Dave you are far too talented to sink to this level. Palin will give you plenty of things to joke about but her daughter is not one of them.
MSNBC Host Contessa Brewer attempted to interview conservative radio host John Ziegler. The premise of the interview was to discuss a joke that David Letterman told about Sarah Palin. Letterman referred to Palin shopping in New York for makeup that would create the “slutty flight attendant look.” This was inappropriate but they never really got to the discussion. Ziegler started off the interview by referring to MSNBC as Barack Obama’s “official network”. After he hurled a series of zingers about the network and its personalities Brewer cut the interview and asked that his microphone be cut. This was truly dramatic but what did MSNBC expect? They expected what they got. They got a blood-thirsty conservative and he played his part, but did he serve his cause? This was an opportunity to talk to a segment of the population that will never listen to his radio show. So he could have said something remotely reasonable but he settled for the gut punch and the audience is left to say see that’s why I would never listen to this guy. He in fact affirmed a negative.
politics from the eyes of an ebony mom
