Do I have to?

I'm reluctant to write about this Letterman/Palin brouhaha, because I see it as a no-win situation. Those who found the remarks offensive will still find them offensive; those who thought they were funny will still find them funny. I'm not going to change anyone's mind either way, and that is not my intention. However, you all know that I'm a Letterman fan (we're fellow Ball State alum), and I'm a Palin...not-fan, shall we say...so I can't really pass up the opportunity to write about this little "feud." I've made no secret of my dislike for Palin, so this will undoubtedly be biased. Fair warning has been issued.

I won't do any background, because unless you live under a rock, you know about the jokes he made, and the Palins' response to them. I didn’t think that the jokes were particularly funny. When I heard them, I sort of groaned and gave a horrified chuckle, a sort of, "Oh, Dave, you so baaaaad" kind of thing, a "Did he really say that?" response. The joke was pretty tasteless, but it was designed to shock. Many times, that is the goal, especially with late night shows and comedians.

The Palins responded with a statement that said it was tasteless to talk about their 14-year-old daughter that way (getting knocked up). Dave responded with an admission that the jokes were in poor taste, but that many of his jokes are. He became a little more serious when he said that the joke was obviously intended to mean the 18-year-old daughter, and that he would never make jokes about harming or abusing a 14-year-old. That probably should have been the end of it, but the Palins weren't done. Todd issued a statement condemning Letterman for joking about "raping" his daughter, and a Palin spokesperson issued a statement that the Palins would not be appearing on Dave's show, and that it would probably be best to "keep Willow [the 14-year-old] away from him." This morning, Gov. Palin appeared on the Today Show and when asked about that statement--did they really mean to imply that Letterman is a child molester?--she said, "Take it however you want to take it." She went on to say that family should be off-limits, that his comments were degrading to young girls, and equated his attitude with being part of the reason young girls today have low self-esteem.

Here's my take on it. Strictly my opinion. I don't expect everyone else to agree, and as I've already warned you, I'm biased anyway.

• Dave is a talk show host and a comedian. It was a joke. It was in poor taste, which he admitted, but it was still a joke.
• It was obviously meant in reference to the 18-year-old, Bristol. You know...the one who got knocked up? Ma and Pa Palin, out here in "mainstream America," we still use that phrase to describe what happens when teenagers, like your eldest daughter, get pregnant out of wedlock. It may be crude, but it's commonly used.
• Twisting the joke into Dave talking about "raping their daughter" is pretty ridiculous. Implying that Dave is a child molester goes too far, as Dave's joke probably did. However, branding someone as a child molester is a very serious charge. By the way, if they're so concerned about the crime of rape, perhaps Gov. Palin should address the problems in her own state, which has the highest rate of rape in the country, and help the victims rather than charging them for the rape kits used in the investigation of the crime. A wee suggestion.
• Why isn't anyone defending A Rod for doing the hypothetical rapin'? Just askin'.
• Mama Grizzly can talk all she wants about family being off-limits, but she was the one who paraded the whole fam damily onstage during the primaries and election, including the then-fiancé of the knocked up Bristol. Levi looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there, holding hands with his preggers GF, in front of the entire country, but you and the campaign wanted him there.
• I don't think Dave's stupid joke or any attitude behind it is the reason for low self-esteem among young girls. I would place the blame more on a less-than-ideal family life in which girls are not raised to be strong in their sense of self-worth or self-confidence, or on the media which promotes their own almost-unattainable ideal of beauty, or on teen singers who are overly sexualized for their age and make young girls want to look just like them. But that's just me. I don't think you can pin that one on Dave.

You've probably all guessed that I have strong feelings about women's rights. I suppose Limbaugh might call me a Feminazi. I'm far from militant and/or shrill about it, though. I was raised to believe that I could do anything I wanted to do, unimpeded by my gender. I never questioned whether or not I would be allowed to do something because I'm female. I just assumed that I would do it, and that's how I've lived my life. My point is that even feeling as strongly as I do about such things, I didn't find Letterman's jokes to be misogynistic or indicative of a broader attitude of anti-feminism. It's just reading too much into a stupid joke.

This whole mess should have stopped after Dave admitted that the jokes were in poor taste. The Palins chose to escalate it and keep the story afloat. It's good publicity for them, although I think it may have backfired a bit when they implied that Dave was talking about raping their daughter, and then that he shouldn't be around 14-year-old girls. Frankly, it's also good publicity for Dave. In that regard, maybe it's a win for each of them, and an irritant for the rest of us. As always, I remain unimpressed by the Palins in any way, shape, or form, and if I may be so blunt, I would use the phrase "media whores." SSIS!