Thursday, June 25, 2009

Inspired by Letterman? Senator John Kerry Insults Governor Palin

For those of you wondering why many of us think that David Letterman's disgraceful comments of June 8, 2009 about Governor Palin and her daughter require more than a belated apology, consider this:

The failure of CBS to hold Mr. Letterman accountable for his comments in any way sends a signal to politicians and media figures everywhere: It's ok, apparently, to continue this onslaught of coarse and crude comments about Governor Palin.

Case in point:

Yesterday the ignoble Senator John Kerry hurled a gratuitous insult the Governor's way.

30 comments:

nancy said...

very funny! no one EVER made a Palin joke until Letterman did just this month, right? How about Sanford, ok to joke about him? Ted Kennedy? Obama? Do we have to run everything by YOU first? let us know, supreme leader.

Michael Patrick Leahy said...

Nancy,

Thank you for your comment.

I point out that I am simply exercising my right to free speech on this blog.

It seems to me, though, that Senator Kerry's comment was completely gratuitous and did little to advance the political discourse.

It did, however, make him look unchivalrous at best.

Unknown said...

Let's consider the source! John Kerry??? What a loser!

Anonymous said...

I'm with Nancy on this...

It seems like this post reveals your *true* intention: this isn't about the sanctity of people's daughters or not making light of underage sexual assault or rape.

You just don't like it when people make fun of Sarah Palin.

Period.

John Kerry's quip is typical of what you would hear at *any* major party function on the heels of a story like this, and it didn't involve Palin's daughters in any way.

Is this going to become a "monitor every single joke about Palin" blog?

It's your prerogative, but it's also pretty whiny if you ask me. Were I Sarah Palin, I'd want nothing to do with your blog because I wouldn't want to appear as thin-skinned as you would make her seem.

-ATLObserver

nancy said...

I point out that Senator Kerry also possesses the right to free speech and a public figure such as Gov. Palin is someone who generates commentary and is not immune from tossing around some jokes and insults herself. However, if you feel that she is too frail and weak to weather a few jokes and needs protection, I would like to know how you feel she could hold national office.

Frank Lensman said...

You're right Michael, free speech guarantees your ability to post utterly inane garbage on your blog. Congratulations.

Anonymous said...

Nancy,
The issue here is not who and how many jokes have been told about Gov. Sarah Palin. David Letterman's continued assault on Gov. Sarah Palin are not jokes. The stupid joke here was not about Sarah Palin but about her 14 yr old daughter. David Letterman is sick for thinking that this was funny.

nancy said...

The joke was never about the 14 yr old and that has been made abundantly clear over and over again. Repeating a lie doesn't make it true. Unless you want to have censorship be part and parcel of life in America, I suggest that you make a choice FOR YOURSELF to watch or not watch comedians on tv and allow me to do the same.

Anonymous said...

David Letterman gets more political and less funny every year. It's time for him to leave, before CBS has to do a Dan Rather on him.

Unknown said...

Sure, the argument can be made that all politicians and media figures are fair game for ridicule and insults. But, what this recent display by Letterman and Kerry highlights is just how arrogant and crass the left have become now that they are in power. I anxiously await their fall from grace.

Anonymous said...

A joke is one thing. A US Senator wishing a Governor get lost somewhere, possibly come to harm, is tasteless. This is what I'd expect from an 11 to 17 year old, not a US Senator.

It is not as if Sarah Palin made some mistake or misjudgement that Kerry is "joking" about. This is a pure, ugly expression of ill will. What do you think the reaction in the press would be if a Republican US Senator said he wished Sen. Boxer got lost in the woods or a jungle? Don't pretend this is an even-handed circumstance.

kathie2ark said...

I just sent this to Senator Kerry, others should do the same and anyone else that thinks this is acceptable...............

Dear Senator Kerry,
I should think after the outrage expressed over David Letterman's remarks you would get that it's finally enough. Your remarks about Governor Palin on the heels of Letterman's obscene joking about her and her daughters is why I left the Democratic party after three decades of being a loyal party-line voter. I watched as you and the DNC said nothing while Hillary was subjected to the most rank and vile sexist assaults by the media 24/7. I'm sure you noticed the "Hillary nutcracker" that was being sold at the airport in D.C.

This pathological obsession of destroying Sara Palin by the men on the left is a deep seated contempt the Democratic party really holds for women who dare to think they can have a seat at the head of the table.

For no other reason than putting a stop to the institutional misogyny, many women like me will be working very hard to support Governor Palin because what is being done to her is being done to us all. This hyper-sexualizing and demeaning of accomplished women is going to stop.

Anonymous said...

nancy said...
"The joke was never about the 14 yr old and that has been made abundantly clear over and over again. Repeating a lie doesn't make it true."
==== That's the point you don't seem to get, Nancy. Whether the joke was meant for a 14-year old, 18-year old or 81-year old OR whether it was targeted at Sarah Palin or any woman, it is a despicable joke made by a TV show host that people like me find UTTERLY offensive. And just like you, Mr. Leahy is free use this forum to express his thoughts about this issue. And I'm glad we have a forum like this where viewers (who CBS seems to take for granted) can find a voice.

Anonymous said...

I find nothing funny about Dirty David Letterman or John Kerry harassing the Palin family and especially a fourteen year old. I have to wonder about the values of people like this and those people who are in support of Dirty David and John Kerry. What if this were your child being made the butt of these disgusting jokes on national tv? Might be a different story then I imagine.
If Dirty David can make jokes about Palin's family, maybe it is time he gave equal attention to his LOVE buddy Obama's family. Still think that would be funny if it was your messiah's daughter?

Anonymous said...

Not surprising Nancy would call this freedom of speech. Of course she thinks Rush should be shutdown. She and her cohorts will use freedom of speech when it’s convenient for them. Just be human here Nancy could you please try it for once in your life? Making jokes about a politician is one thing but joking about their children is another. The fact that David Letterman showed us his ignorance by conveniently changing his story about which daughter he was talking about is really irrelevant. The fact is he (and his like-minded band of supporters including you and John Kerry) are scared of her. Afraid of what a person with real common sense might do come next election. Funny he doesn’t tell Obama jokes. I used to watch Letterman but I got so tired of his Palin jokes...I told my wife way back in January he needed to get give it a rest or I would stop watching. Every night a Palin joke. She sure is on his mind a lot. No, he’s just following orders from the Great Obama and the DNC. Because they are all afraid of her and they should be. Be very afraid.

Anonymous said...

Children have always been off-limits! When Chelsea Clinton was at Stanford University, the campus newspaper wrote and article about her attending stanford. The editor was told Chelsea was off-limits and was fired.

How many jokes were there then or now about Chelsea?

And you can say that the joke was about the 18 year old, but it was the 14 year old that was there.

Dave Jones

Unknown said...

Let's agree on one point. What Letterman did was to undermine the value of women and children with his remarks. If we look back through the history of entertainment, the greats made us laugh without one offensive word and without tearing down anyone. It is clear to me that entertainment has a new agenda to promote themselves and their values on the audience. Well I'm the audience and a stockholder in CBS, J &J, etc. the advertisers should distance themselves from CBS and CBS should fire Letterman.

Nobody can stop Letterman from making a joke. If he told it on a street corner that's his right. When he is my employee working in my building, impacts my business and what it stands for then things must change.

If CBS management doesn't care then perhaps they too should be replaced.

Anonymous said...

Who cares...David Letterman was practicing his free speech and those who like him are welcome to tune in or tune out. (Nice attempt to use J&J for something they have no connection with.)

Get a real job...and quit your whining. (Free speech is one thing...but whining is a different story)

Unknown said...

Let's agree on one thing it doesn't matter who started the telling of disgusting jokes...it matters that it is recognized and CBS fires Letterman.

The best comedians on tv were those who could entertain, making us laugh without degrading others in the process.

Would you think the jokes were any better if say they were made about your own mother or little sister? I think not.

Somehow entertainment and comedy have become intertwined with agendas and beliefs of the personality.

As I am a stockholder in CBS, I am Letterman's boss. I don't like what he did on television while working for me. If he told his jokes on a street corner he would be expressing himself freely.

He should not hide behind excuses. He should be accountable and responsible to me his boss.

CBS should fire him.

Anonymous said...

So now any Palin joke is automatically inspired by letterman? It couldn't by inspired by SNL (who joked about Palin incest), or Jay Leno (who joked about Bristol being knocked up by John Edwards) or Conan O'brian (who joked about Bristol after Sarah was at a hockey game with Willow)?

Of course Sarah didn't bat an eye at any of those jokes, she even appeared on SNL a few weeks later.

It was only after she was out of the media's attention and needed to get back in it did she, and her media lackeys, hype up the Letterman so-called "fued" and make up the lie about her 14 year old being the target. A lie some of you are still stupid enough to believe, BTW.

(You would think that Todd Palin calling his own grandchild "a mistake" during Bristol's "Do as my Mother Preaches in Public, Not as I do in Private" tour would be a bigger controversy, but I digress.)

A joke is just that, a joke. By focusing on those silly things, instead of the REAL issues, Sarah and her looney die-hard defenders again show that she is not ready to be seriously discussed as a presidential, or VP, nominee.

Jeff said...

It's David Letterman... Don't watch him, really do you have anything better to do. Especially the current state the world's in, you're allowing a pop culture icon affect your life this much.

Use you're right to free speech and blogging on something that's a little more important. Stop wasting your time.

Connie said...

Hold on...first of all that Letterman joke, like it or not, made light of SEXUAL ASSAULT and that's not funny at all in my opinion. And, as to having a choice not to watch the Letterman show? I sure don't have a choice when my cable bill shows up each month and I have to pay for a network that puts that message out there.

As to Kerry's remarks, maybe he would like to get a taste of his own medicine? I, for one, am tired of being a part of the silent majority. I am sick and tired of dealing with this from high political figures. It is unprofessional conduct. If Letterman and Kerry worked for me, I would have fired BOTH of them, without hesitation, for their public comments.

Anonymous said...

If you believe that the 48 hour late apology was truthful and sincere, I've got abridge I would to sell to you.
When Don Imus, who WAS fired, made his offhand comment, he felt bad immediqately and all he could to make amends.
The old, pervert's comments were scribed well in advance, but he's just another Marxist trying to dumb down anyone stupid enough to watch him. (Remember, ignorance can be cured, stupid is forever.
The old, pervert, his writers, the director and CBS should all be punished.

As for Kerry, he married his wife for her billion$ and power that that brings. If you don't like him, quit buying Heinz Products.

As for Boxer, I would like her to get lost somewhere - she a big fan of the corrupt cancer called ACORN.

Anonymous said...

You can argue fairness, free speech, but this is a war between liberals and conservatives. It will be decided by the moderates. Each side will stand on what it values. Letterman is just a battle not the war. Personally I have had enough of liberals who pass them selves off as main stream. We are making a stand. This far and no more. Peter

iBealeo said...

How come there aren't any bloggers defending Monica Lewinsky after the thousands of jokes by Letterman on her? Why is Palin any different than Monica Lewinsky- they're both women.

Anonymous said...

Monica Lewinsky? Monica, as an adult, made a conscious [and very stupid and selfish] decision to engage in an affair with a very married and a very public person. Bill Clinton, as an adult, knowing he was married and a public figure, [stupidly and selfishly] chose to have a premarital affair. It is not the same. The remarks being made against Palin viciously used her children as the cutting blade and made a joke about being sexually assaulted, not about sex between consenting adults. That's why Letterman should be fired.

Get it?

Kevin said...

I suppose Michael Savage playing a Dead Kennedy's song is alright. Bristol Palin had been pushed into the spotlight and she chose to remain there.

How many campaigns to pull advertisements from his show have been created for the various jokes directed towards the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan?

Gloria Steinem said...

Wow! I can't believe this is still going on. I think Ex Gov. Palin forgot about this already; you can move on now.

Anonymous @ 3:50 PM wrote,"...he's just another marxist trying to dumb down anyone stupid enough to watch him....", and it makes no sense, in fact, none of that post makes sense. What conservative talk show host did you get that term from?

Those upset with the joke are the real perverts. Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you would know that Bristol Palin is frisky and should infer from the Letterman's joke that it was about her not the kid. That's whom I thought of.

My final point, I am fedup with the crocodile tears concerning women. Real issues such as wage diparity, institutionalized sexism have never even mentioned and prowomen issues such as reproductive rights and the passage of the ERA has been slandered an evil "marxist plot" by the lesbian feminazis in the eyes of conservatives. Now that Sarah Palin has run, you are the champion of all things female. I scoff!

Good day to you.

Anonymous said...

Gloria...you disappoint me. It's just my opinion, but if it is perverted to be disgusted by the making light of sexual assault, I feel sad for you because it seems that you have lost that which makes us most human - compassion. I wish you the best.

C.

Anonymous said...

Bababooey