Militant conservatism must be stopped
Since I’m so interested in fair and balanced coverage, I’m going to clue you in to a ridiculous spotlight grab. But before I do, I need to make something clear. I am a father with a young daughter and an even younger son, so I do not support the exploitation of children in any way, shape or form. And what David Letterman and Sarah Palin are doing is exploiting children during this controversy over his off-color jokes.
FireDavidLetterman.com is attempting to militarize conservatives who support Palin (are you sure about that, conservatives?). It’s asking for sponsor boycotts, blog posts, social media ramblings and other showings of righteous indignation. Without it, beloved Sarah will fade back to Alaska as her level of political competence suggests she should. With her blow-hard cause, Sarah hopes she’ll stay on the radar screen and crawl through the mud toward 2012. Along the way, she’ll probably mouth off about some kind of anti-fast cash loan legislation so only those who don’t need money can borrow money. Because that’s the kind of thing banks and politicians do.
Hateful accusations
But fire David Letterman? Hardly a productive response, as America now looks to its comedians for news and inspiration. They have become a class unto themselves, where “the joke” hovers in a realm of its own, staring down at the politically correct hogs wallowing in the mud. Everyone crawls on their bellies there. If the time every comes when the religious-military industrial complex is allowed to prosecute comedians for their jokes – for free thought, regardless of whether it’s cheap or not – we will be giving up the reins of a free, enlightened society.
David Letterman admitted the jokes he made about Bristol Palin were “in bad taste” and that he was going for “cheap laughs.” Jokes about children that address them on sexual grounds should always be considered off limits. The two-pronged crux of Letterman’s defense – that he wasn’t talking about Palin’s 14-year-old daughter Willow and that it was a joke – explains things a bit, but ultimately it is weak. However, we must not allow political facades like Sarah Palin to take America in the direction of “1984.”At that point, we sacrifice our children and our very lives to that which is cold, hard and inhuman. That which is un-American.
Don’t believe me? Some in the media have compared Letterman’s jokes to Jeremiah Wright’s anti-Semitic hate speech? Get a grip, preferably of something solid. Like a straitjacket. I can see Sarah Palin’s whirlwind from my house, and it spells nothing good for America. Yet she’ll attempt to ride it to 2012 and the next presidential election, regardless of what a sadistic joke it makes of her own children’s lives.
America, here are your comedians!
“The Comedian” Eddie Blake in Alan Moore’s “The Watchmen” claims that only he can understand the world’s sadistic joke. What is the sadistic joke that both David Letterman and Sarah Palin fail to understand? Letterman’s jokes (which he likely didn’t write but did have the chance to review) went too far. That it’s only comedy is not enough of an excuse. A more formal apology would show some class, perhaps with Palin as a guest on his program.
But FireDavidLetterman.com is not a measured, appropriate response. Instead of handling the matter privately like an adult, Sarah Palin has chosen to continue to make a media circus out of her family. The level of narcissism at work here is staggering, and if she had more to back it up that popularity rankings in Alaska (where the general populace is either apathetic, uninformed or in cahoots with her “Bridge to Nowhere” and “Troopergate” offenses), she’d be dangerous. As it is, she can’t even bloody Letterman’s nose (figuratively speaking, of course).
Ratings boost for Late Night?
Sure, why not. You know it will happen, as Entertainment and Show Biz suggests. But Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly sees a way that this can be handled without giving the Alaskan publicity machine grease for the gears. “Clam up,” Tucker says…
Don’t give Gov. Palin any more material to react to. From her Today Show interview alone, it was obvious that no matter how much Matt Lauer tried to raise serious questions about various overreactions to your jokes, she’s glowingly happy to be in the national spotlight again and doesn’t want to give it up any time soon.
The Live Feed agrees. points to Palin’s “icky” overreaction as “an increasingly dramatic media spectacle centered around her underage daughter’s sexual well being… an opportunistic overreaction that would seem more damaging to her teen’s self-esteem than the original joke.” I couldn’t agree more. So you say David Letterman is like a sex offender? Really? Is that something you can see from your house when you’re warning America about those deconstructing economists?
Feed makes an fine comparison: “It would be like Jay Leno making an inappropriate hypothetical joke about a terrorist plot to blow up the White House, and Barack Obama reacting by accusing Leno of being a national security threat.”
Criticize the pit bull, the pit bull wins
Guess that means I’m helping her win as well, huh? As of now, I will officially stop.
If you want America to give birth to more Eddie Blakes who kill because “it’s the only thing that makes sense” in a world gone mad, give this woman media play. I do not support violence, but that’s exactly what you’re going to get if you allow people like her to continue to simplify politics into a ludicrous “with us or against us” scenario. The shred of influence Republicans now hold – particularly those who cry out to fire David Letterman – is tenuous at best. If Sarah Palin is the best they can do, they should be embarrassed. Live Feed says it plain:
Don’t buy into the strategy of playing the victim while throwing divisive, low-blow punches – are offensive in a way that ought to transcend ideology or gender. Her biggest impact always seems to be convincing Americans to start fighting with each other, a pied piper of online message board anger.
We can do better, no joke needed. I’ll borrow money with a fast cash loan if it will keep sexual jokes about children and pointless political hacks off the radar screen. We need to focus on more important things.
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