The set-up for the joke was Sarah Palin going to see a Yankees game with her daughter. The punchline was that A-Rod impregnated the daughter during the seventh inning. Letterman here is talking about an actual game played earlier in the day.
14-year-old Willow was the only Palin daughter at the game that Letterman was referencing.
If he wanted to aim the comment at Bristol Palin, he should have specified this. It would have been very easy to do: “…the only awkward moment was when A-Rod impregnated Sarah Palin’s 18-year-old daughter during the seventh inning stretch.” Not great, but it certainly would have saved Letterman a lot of grief this week.
Besides, how do you know that Letterman wasn’t trying to imply that all Palin daughters are sluts?
This isn’t going to die easily… Almost 9,000 views suggests that people are interested. Now some Republicans want to get Letterman fired:
I’m usually not a vengeful guy but I have to say I have mixed feelings on this one. If it sets an example and gets people’s attention, who knows? Maybe it’s more good than harm.
You keep repeating this, and again it is not what he said. I can only conclude that you are doing it deliberately to mislead readers. Please stop.
Again, you are misquoting what he said. Not “the daughter” which implies the one you fabricated as being in the set up; he said “her daughter” of which there are two, only one of which is known to be promiscuous.
Letterman should not be fired. I think that’s crazy. He has every right to make jokes about whatever and whomever he chooses.
But I have to say I’m a bit surprised at how much flak Letterman is taking on this one. I’m talking about the mainstream media; I don’t really see anyone defending the guy or his comments. Hell, even Barbara Walters on The View said that nobody should go after the kids. Anyone’s kids.
The pressure may build to the point where CBS feels compelled to do something. Suspension, maybe? I can’t imagine that, but I suppose anything is possible.
NEITHER of which was “known” to be at the game, actually. Only one of which it turned out was at the game.
So, post hoc, we have a potential need for an apology. “Oops, it turns out it wasn’t Bristol there, it was Willow. Seriously, I’d never talk about Willow that way.”
Not so much funny as “just desserts”. Here we have a high-profile political candidate who preaches abstinence and the “family values” ethic, and yet she can’t prevent her own teenage daughter from getting knocked up. Perhaps not so funny when it happens to the average American, but as a political candidate (not to mention all the whacked-out ignorant bullshit that spills from that hypocritical harpy’s mouth) that makes Sarah Palin, and Palin’s family, fair game.
Yeah, what’s A-Rod’s take on this whole situation? Has he made any public statement about the joke? Just playing devil’s advocate here, but if you buy into what all the right-wing fundies are complaining about, David Letterman essentially accused him of being a child molester!
“Brisket is so promiscuous, she might be having sex anywhere, at anytime, even in the Yankees dugout.” <loud guffaws>
“Willow is so promiscuous, she might be having sex anywhere, at anytime, even in the Yankees dugout.” <who is Willow?>
Letterman is a comedian. His goal is to entertain his audience, not confuse them. Ergo, his target is the daughter who is famous for her promiscuity, not the lesser known daughter who has not gone on national TV to discuss her sex life.
Let me make it clear: it doesn’t make any difference which daughter was at the game. The joke about Brisket’s promiscuity is funny even if the Governor went to the game alone. Brisket might be having sex anywhere; we don’t know squat about Willow, so there is no basis for a joke about her sex life. Letterman is in the business of telling jokes, so it can’t be about Willow.
“One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.”
You’re telling me that Letterman simply “lucked out” that one of Palin’s daughters was actually at the game in question? He knew she was going to a game, he knew it was a Yankees game, but he had no clue her daughter would be there?
I guess I admire you guys for going down with the ship but, really…other than on this board, I’m not really seeing a lot of Letterman support out there.
You honestly think that by pointing out Letterman was really referencing Palin’s 18-year-old daughter’s promiscuity is helping his case at all?
And you keep saying Bristol is “famous for her promiscuity.” Really? She got pregnant once by the guy she was intending to marry. Do you have any other evidence that the girl was some kind of slut?
Wow, you conservatives really have no clue about humor do you? The joke has nothing to do with whether Palin took her daughter to the game. The joke is that Brisket is so promiscuous, you never know where she might be having sex, even in the Yankee dugout. That’s what makes it awkward for Palin. She didn’t even know she was at the game!
You must be a real hit at parties. Does anyone bother telling you jokes anymore?
Going back and looking at the history of this thread, it seems to have started as an honest mistake, but I’m surprised it’s been perpetuated this long.
Honestly, I don’t know who the joke was about. And neither do you. We’re not mind-readers. I accept Letterman’s explanation that it was about the elder daughter, but I also understand that reasonable people (especially anyone actually at that game) might have honestly thought the comment was about Willow. After all, she was at the game that Letterman was referencing. (Is this really that difficult for you to understand?) Letterman understood this and felt compelled enough to offer viewers an explanation.