Sarah Palin goes into overtime in dispute over Letterman's crude joke

The battle between media heavyweights Gov. Sarah Palin and comedian David Letterman is going into overtime, beyond the usually allotted 15 minutes of fame.

Appearing this morning on NBC’s “Today” show, the Alaska governor and favorite of the conservative wing of the GOP again demanded that Letterman apologize to women for a joke the television host made about one of her daughters getting "knocked up." Those wanting a quick look back, should check out our original post.

Letterman has said that the joke about a Palin daughter getting pregnant by a Yankee baseball player was in poor taste (probably not the first such bad joke Letterman has told and arguably not the most distasteful).

Still, Palin contends that the target was her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, who was the only daughter with her at Yankee Stadium last weekend. That makes the questionable quip a comment about statutory rape. It’s “a degrading comment about a young woman,” Palin said this morning. “And I would hope that people would start really rising up and not accepting this.”

 “It’s no wonder girls have such low self-esteem in America when a comedian can make a remark like this,” the former vice presidential candidate said.

Now, in normal circumstances, a slugfest between a talk show host, who is facing his own problems from a new competitor at NBC’s "The Tonight Show," and a former candidate for vice president (this society doesn’t even care about vice presidents when they are in office) would be about as interesting as a healthcare policy debate between athletes on steroids. 

But hang in, there are real concerns here.

Palin is a potential presidential candidate who can’t afford to be fighting with anyone in her party, which polls show is about as popular as ants at a July Fourth picnic. Even worse, none can say who actually speaks for Republicans, fractured into more pieces than taffy dropped from the roof of a building. 

The Alaska governor and her allies argued during the campaign that the media were an enemy, so who better to attack than a media icon like Letterman, with a hip (read: liberal) audience.

The big complaint by Palin and others was that the media never took her seriously, in part because she was a woman, and set verbal traps for her. In truth, there were numerous comparisons of her to Tina Fey and much of the reporting dealt with her gaffes in interviews or her use of the winsome wink during her debate with then-Sen., now Vice President Joe Biden.

So fighting a man over a demeaning comment about women makes political sense as well as giving Palin a well-publicized shot at being a mother protecting her young; she famously said during her Republican convention speech that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull was lipstick. This is a win-win for all of her constituencies.

And, to be honest, NBC doesn't mind stoking an embarrassing controversy involving its CBS competition.

Too much, you say, about a joke that at most went bad like three-day mayonnaise? 

Perhaps. But television is today’s arena of public debate in society – and it is not just the Sunday morning talk shows. It is every show, every network, every celebrity, every politician. Why else would President Obama, no slouch at the ratings game himself, do Jay Leno’s show or joke about Conan O’Brien? 

Not even today’s switch to digital, which could throw about 2 million people out of the free television arena, will change the truth that television portrayal is as important to politics as it is to advertising – and some would say that is the same thing.

You betcha, mister.

– Michael Muskal

Speaking of pitbulls, The Ticket again reminds all that Twitter alerts for all new Ticket items are available by clicking here. Or follow us   @latimestot

   

Comments

[Republican 4 Obama]

Palin- You dumb bunny. The joke is that you hold yourself out to be a religious right wing conservative with religious-right affiliations but you are truly the evil troll Letterman parodies you to be. Your 1st kid was knocked up when she was underage. You were some lame beauty contestant shaking it in front of a cadre of persons judging you on your appearance. You went on SNL to parody yourself (and SNL has always been known for taste and class right?). And you are the one to disrespect a senator of our United States by suggesting he is a terrorist and socialist because he is a different skin color and has a muslim name. You hypocritical cow, hopefully Willow can see Letterman's humor and your attempt to demonize yet another person in order to advance your own interest and celebrity. You disgusting pig. Yours truly, a Fellow Republican.

[Democrats 08]

Palin is so butch, she's always attacking someone, she probably disciplines Todd when he misbehaves. She should get a room with Coulter, they'd make a good couple..

[anonymous]

Governor Palin set herself up as a target for late night jokes in general, and specifically regarding her daughter and her daughter’s unplanned pregnancy.

I can’t be certain about what Mr. Letterman’s jokes were intended to imply, but when I heard the jokes about Governor Palin’s daughter, I imagined her older daughter, Bristol, not her younger daughter. The reason I thought of Bristol is because of all the publicity she received during the presidential campaign, and the Governor’s public and personal position on abstinence instead of sex education, and allowing or insisting that her unwed teenage daughter give birth in an unplanned pregnancy. Then, beyond those things making Governor Palin and her family targets for sex jokes, Bristol Palin’s apparent forced courtship with the baby’s father to maintain the appearance of being consistent in their behavior and beliefs for the presidential campaign, their later breakup, Bristol’s public pronouncements about the failure of abstinence and her opposition to it, and her public appearances discussing her pregnancy, all add to the fodder the Palin’s have brought upon themselves regarding children having sex and getting pregnant and having babies.

Governor Palin should be ashamed by her own behavior and positions both public and private regarding sex and her use of her family as political campaign props, and she deserves everything Mr. Letterman dishes out to her and more.

I personally found all of the jokes about Governor Palin very funny, and I can’t always say that about the jokes of Mr. Letterman!

Dave, keep up the good work! You are the best ever!

[Dean Howard]

It is interesting to read comments here and at HuffPo defending Letterman's sexism so long as the target is someone they don't like! Is this what being "progressive" is all about?

[Beltway Greg]

This isn't the first time Palin has been confused. Letterman is a comedian and Palin, unfortunately, based on her comments, has become one too. Palin might have had a leg to stand on except she managed to allow her daughter to appear with baby and in her graduation gown on the front cover of People. Can anyone say exploitation? Doesn't matter because Palin exploited Bristol. Levi, and the soon to be born child at the Republican convention. Palin loves the spotlight and will do anything to stay in it.

[Lisa]

Gov. Palin will do anything to create more publicity for herself and by spinning these Letterman jokes she's doing exactly that. And Letterman never used the words "statutory rape." And for her to insinuate that Letterman can't be trusted around her 14 year old daughter is pathetic!

[Renson van Mansenjunsunmun]

the taffy analogy is one of the worst i've ever heard.

[cynthia]

I think Letterman's comments should reflect on the man himself and not on any other person, like the media is once again is trying to do by painting us all with the same brush.

While I don't particularly like Sarah Palin's polictics and her "painting" all of us who don't agree with them as questionable patriots, using the same media opportunities to do so, I think his comments sucked. He should man-up with a proper apology-period.

No one that I know likes the idea of anyone's children being the butt of adults who are supposed to know better. He just lost me, an Obama supporter, as a viewer.

[Tim]

Anything to keep her name in the news cycle, eh

You'd think if she found it so traumatizing for her daughter she'd stop bringing it up to prevent any more embarrassment.

[Kate]

God that woman is an idiot. I'll bet her daughters wish she would just let it go already.

[Jeff]

Sarah Palin's faux outrage at Letterman's joke is as phony as her fake personna. She can barely speak for herself, much less attempt to speak for anyone else. This is going to hurt her public image with everyone except the few wingnuts who already support her.

[DisFisCon]

Sarah Palin very deliberately brought her children into the media spotlight during the presidential campaign. She then proceeded to make Bristol an object of public ridicule by brazenly insisting that intelligent birth control is wrong (a surrogate statement for "premarital sex is wrong") while Bristol's ongoing story exemplifies everything that is wrong with her mother's stance. David Letterman didn't do this to the Palin kids - Sarah did.

Possibly the reason that Obama's kids aren't being ridiculed by mainstream comedians is because the Obama parents have the sense to avoid entangling their children in hypocracy.

[Roger]

The Letterman controversy has erased any lingering doubts that Sarah Palin has the IQ of an earthworm.

[Cecil Brown]

You should be ashamed, you must not have any children
youself. Leave the children alone. Letterman needs only to look at his self he has no moral high ground. HE GOT
HIS GIRLFRIEND PREGNET OUAT OAF WED LOCK.

GREAT EXAMPLE DAVE

[Ray]

She is obviously trying to put herself in the forefront so she can be become "the voice" of the republican party. This was really a non-issue and she has really gone too far calling it statutory rape. Palin, focus on pulling your party together.

[chas smith]

This column seems beside the point.......what does all this political drivel have to do with the fact that Letterman's comment was something only a perverted pediophile would think of...............

[C. Kent]

Would Dave Letterman or any other comedian make a joke as perverse as that about the Obama Girls – of course not – where is the outrage? This is not just about Sarah Palin’s Daughter, this about all our Daughters. I can take a joke as well as the next person, but please this is past being funny – I am outraged about how his audience and the media just ignored this. I was upset at Don Imus, when he made those terrible remarks about those young college girls – he lost his job, as he should of – is their a double standard in our society – I hope not. What would people be saying if someone made a joke about sodomizing David Letterman’s son – would the shoe be on a different foot??? Any Crime against a Child is just Sick even in a joking manner…

[Jason]

I can't help to think that this is all a ruse on Palin's part to keep in the news.

[Liss]

Palin just needs to drop this, its getting ridiculous. Yes it was a bad joke, but honestly Letterman explained himself, leave it at that. Don't go all out on a warpath over something like this. I really believe him when he said it was about the older daughter, while it is still in poor taste. Furthermore Palin herself, made the decision to subject her children to the price of media recognition. I honestly think it is only an attempt to keep a media circus around her. She is old news, she knows that, if she wants to even attempt to run again she has to keep herself in the public eye. It doesn't matter though, because this just makes her look ridiculous and desperate for media recognition, which is a bit ironic considering her stance that the media was out to get her because she is a woman. Stop trying so hard.

[jj]

We all knew who Dave was talking about so Sarah can shut the F up. Dave should not have apologized in the first place. You may not realize it, but these are blows to free speech. You can't say anything these days without having to apologize to someone. We're really no different than China, but instead of the government siliencing it's people we silence each other.

[Kevin]

Look, this is a woman who used abortion as a wedge issue in her MAYORAL RACE! She is all about drama and manufactured outrage. She will try to keep this on the front page as long as possible. Please don't enable her.

[Gorefan]

While I enjoy a good Palin joke as much as the next guy, Letterman's joke was simply not very funny. With so much Palin material available, couldn't he find something else to joke about? How about the tax evasion aspects of the trip to New York?

In the long run, this fued can only hurt Palin. Didn't she learn from McCain's mistake?

How long before she realizes that she needs Letterman more then he needs her.

Here's a prediction, no apology from Letterman and Palin will eventually show up on his show when she needs the exposure.

[Oh Brother]

Palin is beyond ridiculous. She stands for nothing and represents nobody. She's desperate for power. This phony outrage of hers at David Letterman will backfire for sure. Letterman DESTROYED McCain - who was way more savvy than her. She should've taken her apology and moved on. Now she's trying to make political hay out of a weak turd and Letterman will have no reason not to push back.

[Debbi Atkinson]

Sarah Palin complains that she's never taken seriously because she's a woman, yet Hillary Clinton never has that problem. Perhaps if she didn't come across as a trailer park mom, (too many children included and one an unmarried teenage mom) and she was familiar with issues one would expect for a governor and a former vice presidential candidate, she could find someone else to blame for her failures (Ex: her running mate and former blame target John McCain).

[Jared]

What is the deal with the author of this article? Is he trying to assume the position as the undisputed king of metaphors? "As popular as ants at a July Fourth picnic," "a joke that went bad like three-day mayonnaise," and my personal favorite: "fractured into more pieces than taffy dropped from the roof of a building." What?!?! Does that mean it's still in one piece, since taffy is so elastic? You may need to pick up a new Book 'O Metaphors for your next piece.