Sarah Palin responds to Letterman’s Atrocious Joke

13 June 2009 | By LowellB in Lowell, Media, Politics, TN Blog

I’m someone who is not the world’s biggest fan of Governor Sarah Palin, but I am a huge fan of my 12 year-old daughter. So I’ve been following with interest David Letterman’s utterly inexcusable joke about Alex Rodriguez having sex with Gov. Palin’s 14 year-old daughter. (We first posted about that here.) On the “Today Show” Matt Lauer asked Palin about the matter. That discussion begins about one minute into this video:

Also, the National Organization for Women issued a statement. NOW is not a group I agree with on much, but I do agree with this:

Comedians in search of a laugh should really know better than to snicker about men having sex with teenage girls (or young women) less than half their age.

The sexualization of girls and women in the media is reaching new lows these days — it is exploitative and has a negative effect on how all women and girls are perceived and how they view themselves. Letterman also joked about what he called Palin’s “slutty flight attendant look” — yet another example of how the media love to focus on a woman politician’s appearance, especially as it relates to her sexual appeal to men. Someone of Letterman’s stature, who appears on what used to be known as “the Tiffany Network” (CBS), should be above wallowing in the juvenile, sexist mud that other comedians and broadcasters seem to prefer.

On that point, it’s important to note that when Chelsea Clinton was 13 years old she was the target of numerous insults based on her appearance. Rush Limbaugh even referred to her as the “White House dog.” NOW hopes that all the conservatives who are fired up about sexism in the media lately will join us in calling out sexism when it is directed at women who aren’t professed conservatives.

Finally, I like Victor Davis Hanson’s summary: “Letterman is emblematic of an aging, baby-boomer culture, that dresses up street vulgarity with a tie and coat.”

Indeed. More here.

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