Letterman apologizes to Sarah Palin - is it for Real or Ratings?

Do you see a pattern here? I do! And it isn't pretty. Apparently, it is open territory for men to spout degrading diatribes about women and be paid for doing so, senators, congressmen, and now TV personalities are jumping into the the cesspool along with Howard Stern and other males who use women as a means of gaining fame? Fortune?

Last night David Letterman offered an apology, which I am willing to guess was a pressure-filled negotiation with him, as sponsors do not want to be affiliated with a male who jokes about the rape and sexual abuse of underage girls taking target at a woman's daughter who serves for our country as a leader. Her meager salary compared to the fortunes made off of her by Tina Fey and others who seem to think it is okay to taunt and verbally attack and abuse those who may not agree with their thinking. Their lack of maturity and character shows not only how definable the lack of tolerance is, but that tolerance is only by their conditions. IF, it had been said by a "conservative" talk show host the hatchets would have been out and the cries of racism, prejudice and impropriety would have been front page news. So I ask, IF the conservatives are a greater number, why aren't we more vocal and more assertive in our beliefs and moral statutes?

The convenience in Letterman's apology is that by doing so, he settles the natives and those who watch the ratings and the bottom line. Having to take responsibility is refreshing by today's standards, but if one reads carefully, the apology is very Clintonian. A misspoken and misunderstood and misinterpreted "joke" is what he says he is taking responsibility for. I would have preferred him inviting a woman's advocacy group that represents young women who were raped and abused by men to share statistics on the severity of this loose and irresponsibly spoken "joke".

It is shameful that even women take sides against each other and instead of expressing honorable indignation over this comment,which if they had daughters, would be horrified that any older man would even suggest such a comment on national television, instead they shrug it off as if it was only targeting this family.

The failure for these women and the womens' organizations is that they are not representing women at all but an agenda that has over time sucked them into the world of greed and partisanship at the cost of women overall.

The movie of The Stoning of Sariah shows the abuse of women in Iran, the human trafficking and sexual slavery which occurs on a daily basis around the world including here in America, with pedophiles and child pornographers who prey on women and children as objects of income - is no joke. Any and all comments or jokes that would even hint that this horrific and degrading behavior is to be taken lightly is appalling and unacceptable on many levels.

The pure motive in my own opinion of Letterman's apology doesn't even come close to the potential harm he has inflicted in the minds of perverts and males who are already challenged by indecency flaunted in a fantasy world of magazines, movies and even television.

With the abduction of young women and children here is the USA, the human slavery and trafficking that goes on daily, the "honor" killings, disfigurement of girls bodies, the killing of unborn children, and the selling of bodies for sexual abusive purposes indicates the lowest level people have arrived at. The putrid stench of man's greed at any cost, the special interest groups, the baby-killers, and abusers of women whether in the home or on the screen continues to show our "advanced" state of progressive thinking is nothing more than a sham and a lie.

More now, than ever before, we need to raise our voices and the voices of our men who believe in the empowerment, encouragement, esteem and equality for women, as God has shown, when Jesus, the first Women's advocate set a woman free from being stoned to death by men who were never called out for their behavior.

Letterman offers full apology to Palins and all is well. We can go about our lives and think that he was so mature and brave for taking blame and apologizing.
Sorry folks, I don't buy it - its all about ratings and the mighty dollar. He did nothing to advance or help repair the breach with women at all. As Sarah Palin said, he is "pathetic".



Here is the transcript of his apology by Tim Molloy, TV Guide June 15,2009

Letterman Offers Full Apology to Palins

Jun 15, 2009 08:47 PM ET
by Tim Molloy

David Letterman

After a semi-apology last week for a joke about one of Sarah Palin's daughters, David Letterman offered an unequivocal sorry during Monday's Late Show monologue "to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke."

Letterman joked last week that Palin's daughter was "knocked up" by Alex Rodriguez during a Yankees game. Though he didn't specify which daughter, he said he meant 18-year-old Bristol Palin. The family, however, said the joke targeted 14-year-old Willow, who attended the game with her mother.

Letterman made the full apology Monday after a group called "Fire David Letterman" demanded his removal and Embassy Suites pulled ads from CBS' website over the joke. He said the joke had been misinterpreted, but that it was his fault.

Palin said in a statement that she accepted the apology "on behalf of all young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."

A representative for the "Fire David Letterman" campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Letterman's apology Monday, as provided by CBS:

"All right, here — I've been thinking about this situation with Governor Palin and her family now for about a week — it was a week ago tonight, and maybe you know about it, maybe you don't know about it. But there was a joke that I told, and I thought I was telling it about the older daughter being at Yankee Stadium. And it was kind of a coarse joke. There's no getting around it, but I never thought it was anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure in fact that she is of legal age, 18. Yeah. But the joke really, in and of itself, can't be defended. The next day, people are outraged. They're angry at me because they said, 'How could you make a lousy joke like that about the 14-year-old girl who was at the ball game?' And I had, honestly, no idea that the 14-year-old girl, I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the Governor and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani...And I really should have made the joke about Rudy..." (audience applauds)

"But I didn't, and now people are getting angry and they're saying, 'Well, how can you say something like that about a 14-year-old girl, and does that make you feel good to make those horrible jokes about a kid who's completely innocent, minding her own business,' and, turns out, she was at the ball game. I had no idea she was there. So she's now at the ball game and people think that I made the joke about her. And, but still, I'm wondering, 'Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?' I've never made jokes like this as long as we've been on the air, 30 long years, and you can't really be doing jokes like that. And I understand, of course, why people are upset. I would be upset myself.

"And then I was watching the Jim Lehrer Newshour — this commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl, and I thought, 'Oh, boy, now I'm beginning to understand what the problem is here. It's the perception rather than the intent.' It doesn't make any difference what my intent was, it's the perception. And, as they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it's not a very good joke. And I'm certainly — " (Audience applause.) "— thank you. Well, my responsibility — I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault. That it was misunderstood." (Audience applauds.) "Thank you. So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much." (audience applause)