Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hmm...
posted at 9:13 AM | Permalink |
David Letterman really should get his writers to put their and his verbal acuity and skills to funnier and ultimately more effective use. Bad taste and meanness are such a witless and lazy recourse. When one is ten and on the playground, it's mean but it's part of a social learning process to throw zingers out and laugh in that conspiratorial way at "them." But somewhere around fifteen or twenty or forty or fifty (how old is Letterman now?), most of us realize that nasty flippancies aren't all that funny and might backfire, particularly if, for example, you didn't marry your son's wife until your child was nearly six, stones and glass houses being what they are.

And this isn't about politics, by the way. I completely realize that the Palins are lightning rods and draw ridicule to themselves like flypaper draws flies. All the more reason that it isn't necessary to be tasteless and mean. For one thing it rallies their defenders. For another it overlooks so many others who are worthy of wry remarks. Besides, if Letterman had said anything even remotely like the A-Rod or Spitzer "jokes" about Dick Cheney's daughter or Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton, for example, not to mention about Sotomayor or Hillary, it would be crystal clear how dreadful the taste and how just plain rude it was. Plus, Dave's trying to slink out of responsibility for the bad taste just added to the stupidity of it all. There's plenty to lambaste Palin (and Letterman) about without dragging either of their young children into it.

Obama's presidency seems to have restored a level of decorum to the public discourse. It would be beyond unfortunate if lazy so-called comedy writers dragged us down again.

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3 comments
Ummm... Letterman and pretty much everyone else made jokes about Hillary and Chelsea and Sotomayor is getting her fair share as well. If Sarah Palin doesn't want to be the face of teen pregnancy, she probably shouldn't go on the cover of People Magazine, etc.

I find it a little hard to believe that your objections aren't politically motivated since Letterman has been making these kinds of jokes for 30ish years, tons of people made tasteless jokes about Chelsea AND at least Letterman's job is to make jokes. Where is your blog post about these jokes made by John McCain?

At a Senate Republican fundraiser: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?" Answer: "Because her father is Janet Reno."

From Senate race: "Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, 'Where is that marvelous ape?'

McCain to Fox News: "The French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who is still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it."

In 2008, McCain responded to a question with the line, "And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago."

Letterman's job is to make jokes, including political and provocative ones. I have a much bigger issue with tasteless, misogynistic humor coming from someone in a political role -- esp. one trying to represent me.
from Anonymous Anonymous – June 12, 2009 at 8:30 PM

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You make a good point with Chelsea Clinton, the other examples are tasteless but they don't involve actual people, let's be a little less thin skinned.
As for Letterman, this was about a 14 year old girl, OK? I don't buy that it was about the 18 year old, that's just trying to weasel out of it. There were no jokes about Obama's daughters, he warned people off doing it, and they were so besotted with him they complied as if it would be like making jokes about Mother Theresa.
A few years ago, the satirical magazine Private Eye did a poll on who would be the one to deflower then Conservative Prime Minister Mulroney's 17 year old daughter. Several lefty friends of mine were chuckling over this, how sophisticated of them, and were quite taken aback when I pointed out that they as supposedly empathetic persons of the female persuasion might spare a thought for the feelings of such a young girl having her photograph prominently displayed on a magazine cover speculating on her future sexual exploits. Brian Mulroney was outraged as any father with red blood cells might be, unlike the watered down milk that seems to run in the post modern lefties. Of course the reason they found it funny was because he was the Conservative Prime Minister and therefore fair game.
Back to Sarah Palin, it isn't just this joke, it's this joke on top of the unprecedented vilification and belittling that has been her lot over the last few months by the effete, smug liberals who don't understand ordinary working Americans that makes it more egregious than if it were just one item.
from Blogger ligneus – June 15, 2009 at 11:12 PM

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