Palin, Letterman, and the Double Standard About Double Standards
We all heard it. Sarah Palin on the Today show with Matt Lauer...
After a brief discussion of the gas line that glossed over Alaska's new unholy alliance with its old foe Exxon, the topic changed.
Lauer: Can we talk about some of the other ways you've been in the news lately, and you know about this. There's been this feud this week with Late Show...
Palin: (interrupting) If we must...Lauer: I know.... But there's been a feud this week with David Letterman about some comment he made...
They go on to discuss the issue. Then at 3:37 in the interview, something interesting happened. Palin looks down at the Blackberry she is holding in her hand.
Palin: Let me read to you something that I received in the middle of the night, an email I received from somebody who's not a (dismissive hand wave) known feminist, not someone who is an activist, but this I think speaks to the issue.
She then reads the letter.
If we are led to believe by Palin that she really doesn't want to talk about Letterman... that she'd much rather be talking about the gas line, and only talks about Letterman "if we must," then why does she have a Blackberry in her lap all set up with an email on the screen ready to be read aloud, the subject of which is... David Letterman? Palin was totally prepared and ready to talk on the subject, but took the opportunity to paint the picture that Lauer was the one bringing it up, much to her feigned dismay.
In another lesson on how you can be right in principle (yes, the joke was tasteless and inappropriate as Letterman admitted) and still totally blow it (yes, the Palins now look even worse than Letterman), here's how she reacted when Lauer asked about the statement issued by her spokeswoman Meg Stapleton:
Lauer: (reading) "The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman." I'd like you to explain what that meant. Are you suggesting that David Letterman can't be trusted around a 14-year old girl?
Palin: Hey, take it however you want to take it...
So if we "want to take it " that she thinks David Letterman is a pedophile, that's OK with her? Lauer gets this, and follows up.
Lauer: But is that not, in fact, in bad taste also governor if you're... if you're suggesting that a 62-year old man can't be trusted...Palin: It's not in bad taste. It's not in bad taste.
(pause)
Palin: Hey, maybe he couldn't be trusted because Willow's has had enough of this type of comments. Maybe Willow would want to...uh....uh...uh..react to him in a way that..uh...would catch him off guard. That's one way to interpret such a comment.
In her clumsy attempt to justify this comment, she basically ends up implying that Willow is the one who can't be trusted to act appropriately.
Then she goes on to talk about the "real problem," the oft used Palin talking point -- the double standard.
The problem is... Here's the problem, Matt. It's the double standard that's been applied here. [snip] ...remember in the campaign, Barack Obama said "Family's off limits. You don't talk about my family, and 'the candidate who must be obeyed'....everybody adhered to that, and they did leave his family alone, and they haven't done that on the other side of the ticket, and it has continued to this day. So that's a political double standard.
Since somehow, Barack Obama got dragged into the drama, just for clarity, I looked up his quote from the campaign about families being off-limits, so we can examine this supposed double standard. Here it is:
I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be as clear as possible. I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits, and people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics, it has no relevance to Governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18. And how family deals with issues and teenage children that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that is off limits.
So, in reality, where most of us live, Obama was actually defending her family specifically.
Now that we've cleared that up, let's have a little thought experiment. Let's just suppose that someone had asked David Letterman if, when he told that joke, he meant to insinuate that Willow Palin has promiscuous sex with older men, and he had said, "Hey, take it however you want to take it."
You know... since we're talking about double standards.
Follow Jeanne Devon ("AKMuckraker") on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Mudflats
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I've been watching David Letterman since he started on his show after Johnny's show on NBC. No way can you call this man a pedophile or say he can't be trusted with your daughter. He married his son's mother after they had been going together since 1986! Not exactly a tryst in the back of a car! The people who are making a big thing of a bad joke are despicable and have no morals themselves or they wouldn't be out there screaming about Letterman or anyone else. They'd conduct themselves like human beings instead of animals.
That said, I would love David and the rest of the late night comics to understand that bashing public figures for laughs is a cheap way to get those laughs - no matter who the public figure is. I remember the days of Alan King who could make you pee your pants over his rant about the airlines or his stay in the hospital. Flip Wilson with his jokes that harmed and put down no one in particular - yet were hilarious. Wise up guys - what you're doing is cheap and its wrong and this is the kind of trouble that can come of it.
When does the next election for Governor of Alaska take place? It can't come too soon so that Palin can go back to shooting wolves from helicopters in obscurity.
David Letterman told a joke, aimed at people who stay up late enough to watch late night talk shows.
The small but select group of protestors were much more offensive than David's joke ever was.
To call Letterman's son a "bastard" and his wife a "slut" was going over the line.
First of all, his son was born well after Letterman and his wife were married, after a TEN YEAR courtship.
Second of all, Bristol Palin was not the first Palin woman to be pregnant out of wedlock.
Track Palin was born less than eight months after Sarah and the "First Dude" were married.
As Ms. Palin might say, "Take that any way you want to."
Glass houses, dear. Glass houses.
While I share your admiration for David Letterman, your information is incorrect. Letterman's son is about 5 years old. Letterman and his wife were just married in March of 2009. Regardless all of these people who think it is sooo bad to make a joke about Sarah Palin's daughter and feel they all need to come to the defense of a 14 year old (who was not even the target of the joke) have no problem degrading a 5 year old in the process.
If we are going to defend our children then lets do it equally. None of those protesters were calling Sarah Palins grandchild a bastard, the should extend that coutesy to all children. The joke was offensive, it was apologized for and it is time for everyone to move on.
Now Governor Palin can go on to look for the next opportunity to get herself all over television and back in the public eye and Letterman can go back to doing the best talk show on television and avioding the public eye.
Who cares if someone has a kid out-of-wedlock? Whether it's Letterman or Palin, it should be a non-issue. This is not the 1950s.
NONE of the media can find a shred of evidence that Willow Palin was in fact at the Yankees game. None! Not even in the crowd, much less with her parents.
Come on. Everyone knows that A-Rod would never be that hard up.
If palin ever gets elected President. The world will have lost a great country.
Good points. Thanks. I didn't catch the email waiting for her to quote, maybe because I just assumed they'd be talking about Letterman. Didn't know Matt would be forcing her to.
I did catch her comment about Barack and his family off limits comment and remembered it the other way around. He made that comment about family when everyone started making comments about Bristol's pregnancy. He was defending Palin that day, and she goes and twists his statements to make him look bad during her interview with Matt. Nice lady.
Can you please have HuffPo put up her entire statement from today. They left out the part where she dragged the troops into her statement, further politicizing everything. Morning Joe showed the whole statement.
Republicans are calling every American an IDIOT to there face!
Bristol is the unwed mother!, the country knows that she is gettin it on! we know this because Gov. Palin introduced America to Trig and Fam. on NATIONAL TELEVISION!, and then Bristol came out and spoke agains't her mother's position on abstinance! Then she posed in a teen mag with baby in tow, as the poster child for unmarried sex and unplanned pregnancy, Palin and Repug gamers tried to utilize this to demonstrate how "noble" it was to "CHOOSE" to keep an unplanned pregnacy, then proceeed to apply a double standard to every other unwed teenager in America, with a an unplanned pregnancy, by deeming the other side of that "CHOICE" coin MURDER!
If we know nothing else we know that Sarah Palin will say what ever is in her best interest for the moment, we know that because we saw that happen on multiple occasions!
So when David Letterman says Palins daughter was gettin it on with A-Rod, any sensible minded individual (Sarah and Todd included) knows that we are speaking of the legal daughter with a history of getting in on, and having unplanned babies, the first time the notion that he was speaking in regards to the 14 year old came into play was when Sarah and Todd surplanted pedophilia into the conversation.
What does Palin actually DO for a living, that's all I want to know.
Many Alaskans ask the same question.
Well if we base the decision on what we see her do, her job is to attend celebrations and events outside of her state, be interviewed by Fox News and People Magazine and (write) an (auto?) biography.
Remember she couldn't commit to being the key note speaker at the big GOP fundraiser because she would be too busy in session in Alaska but showed up there anyway.
Slight inaccuracy on your part.
Once a month she talks for two minutes on the phone with the person who is writing her autobiography so the author can get a fact for each chapter.
The big disappointment is actually Matt Lauer, who could have chosen to ignore the subject and who seems to be the easiest rube for Palin to pull her tricks on. This isn't actually the first interview in which he comes off as the most inept journalist, giving Palin the impression of (almost) having depth or insight. The truth is that Lauer walked himself into it and pretty much gave Palin the spotlight she wanted for this issue. She should have had to bring it up herself to get that kind of trash journalism mentioned on Today.
Lauer works for his paycheck, end of story.
People like Palin only grant interviews that only ask the pre-prepared, pre-qualified questions. Matt Lauer was only able to "interview" Palin based on quesitons she was prepared for.
The Today Show figured Palin=ratings. Although I see it as Palin=the personification of what's wrong in this country.
I am taking Sarah Palin's advice "Hey, take it however you want to take it."
I take Dave Letterman's joke meant for Bristol. You know the teenage unwed mom currently promoting abstinence while paid by a teen clothing merchant (Candys.com) that uses soft porn in its advertisements.
I think maybe the real "joke" has been missed here. What Lettermen said might well be offensive to a candidate's family, and flight attendants both, save for one caveat: David Letterman is NOT, last I checked, a politician. And when Sarah Palin says that, "they did leave his family alone, and they haven't done that on the other side of the ticket, and it has continued to this day." it begs two questions: does she think she is running against a comedian, and, does she really think she is STILL running? Are we to understand that David Letterman is a spokesman for Obama...who in fact has not been a candidate for quite some time? Inquiring minds want to know...
That is a very good point. Maybe Palin's dellusional belief that she will be President some day is starting to come crashing down on her. She thinks everyone is a political figure that she has to campaign against. Next she will be campaigning against Sesamee street because Fred and Ernie sleep in the same bed.
Yes, no none seems to report on that. Candy's does use soft porn .
WHY NO DISUSSION MEDIA AND QUESTION TO SARA ABOUT THIS???
HUM????
One day, Palin is going to want attention from Letterman (and other comedians, talk show hosts,etc)
and guess what? Letterman doesn't forget.
She may think she won this battle, but she just lost the war.
Palin says the kids are off limits, but I guess she means only her kids and not other "kids". If the "kids" are off limits, why was it acceptable for Palin to verbally attack a teenage boy in the media ? When Levi went on the Tyra show, Palin called him an opportunitist and a liar.
Did Levi go on every show known to man and rant and rave. Maybe HE should demand a public apology.
Palin was the adult in that situation, and the Gov of Alaska. Yet, she verbally attacked a teenage boy!!!!!!!!!!!
So, the kids are off limits unless Palin is throwing the darts. Is that how this works, Gov Palin?
That's the double standard Sarah's been talking about.
Willow was born on January 21, 1994. She is 15-1/2 years old. Why the lie from both Palins?
Palin was upset because she was called slutty and she wanted to get back at Letterman. So, she flipped the joke to Willow, made her 14, and went on the attack.
Palin managed to take the attention off her using Newt's speech and the pipeline. And all that free air time!
This settles it: Sarah Palin still thinks it's 2008. Why else would she think her daughter is still 14 and that people care what she has to say?
but her fashion sense leads me to believe she thinks it is 1980
We will unfortunately never know how the press and entertainment world would have treated Ms. Palin's children had she kept the public appearances minimal and left them at home and in school (the way the Obama's did with their children). Because of that, Palin herself has blown the chance she had to keep her kids "off limits".
good point
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