Sarah Palin Vs. David Letterman

  

3921 comment so farhttp://www.parcbench.com/2009/06/12/sarah-palin-vs-david-letterman/Sarah+Palin+Vs.+David+Letterman2009-06-12+17%3A21%3A08DavidSwindle

Written by David SwindlecloseAuthor: DavidSwindle Name: David Swindle
Email: DavidSwindle@gmail.com
Site: http://davidswindle.blogspot.com
About: I'm a free lance writer, film critic, and blogger. I frequently write about politics, ideology, spirituality, books, and TV. I am a graduate of Ball State University with degrees in English (creative writing) and Political Science. I live in Muncie, Indiana with my wife April, our cat Butters, and Siberian Husky puppy Maura. More about me here: http://frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35212See Authors Posts (11) on June 12, 2009

The most famous alum of my alma mater Ball State isn’t the brightest crayon in the box by his own admission. But when I’d heard that David Letterman had made a joke about Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter being raped I couldn’t believe it. Had the old man finally lost his mind?

No, Ball State’s Fighting Cardinal of Late Night had just been doing his usual, cracking jokes and making America laugh. But apparently the Palins couldn’t take the satire that comes from choosing to make oneself and one’s family public figures. They had to strike back. Todd Palin had to lie about the jokes that were made in order make his family appear to be the victim of a cruel leftist media:

“Any `jokes` about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too.”

The governor herself also had to step in to slander one of America’s most beloved comedic voices:

“Concerning Letterman`s comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he`d ever dare make such comments about anyone else`s daughter): `Laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands — that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone`s daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.`”

Here’s the infamous joke that’s allegedly about child rape:

“One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez!”

Now granted I can see where the confusion comes from. Letterman was obviously referring to Bristol Palin in his joke. That’s the Palin daughter who recently had an unplanned pregnancy – who had gotten “knocked up.” But the Palin daughter who accompanied the governor to New York was 14-year-old Willow. Oops. But within the public consciousness “Sarah Palin’s daughter” will always refer to Bristol, not Willow. Anyone hearing the joke will immediately think of Bristol and her unplanned pregnancy. No one – except hyper-partisan Palin true believers with an anti-media ax to grind – would suggest that Letterman was talking about a tween being raped by A-Rod.

Here’s a video of Letterman defending and explaining himself. The side conservatives should be on is obvious.

It shouldn’t be difficult for even passionate Palin boosters to realize that their hero has erred here in taking on Letterman. She and Todd overreached widely in their smear of Letterman as someone who would make jokes about a 14-year-old being raped.

The episode could be seen as a microcosm of the problem Palin presents to the GOP and the Conservative Movement.

Conservatives are right when they declare that the Left hates Palin. They’re right in pointing out her media maltreatment. They’re right in identifying her as a voice of an important constituency who inspires a different kind of “hope.”

Where they’re wrong is when they insist that only an America-hating leftist could have a problem with anointing Palin as the Queen of the GOP. (Centrists and libertarians certainly have legitimate concerns.) They’re wrong when they say with any seriousness that she was really the most qualified, best choice for a vice presidential candidate last time. She was a political gambit that failed to pay off.

This Letterman incident demonstrates a radical tendency of Palin’s of which true conservatives should be cautious. First, Letterman is a beloved public figure. And Palin chose to leap before looking. She didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt, didn’t acknowledge that her and Bristol as adults in the public sphere are legitimate satirical subjects, didn’t consider that her attack on him would alienate non-movement conservatives. She and her husband just unleashed a brutal takedown. This isn’t how one wins over mainstream America and the political Center – the task now before the GOP. (And Letterman isn’t a leftist. He’s an obvious symbol of the Center.) Her behavior is representative more of radicalism than conservatism. Isn’t the Right supposed to be against political correctness after all?

Make no mistake, Palin does deserve a place at the table. If she makes the transition from Governor to Senator of Alaska then by all means. But let’s banish any thoughts of a President Palin from our heads. Such a doomed quest will not bring the GOP back into power. It will only make the party more fodder for late night talk show hosts.

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