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Kimbop
Joined: 31 Mar 2008
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 Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| RJjr wrote: |
From what I've seen, most people across all parts of the political spectrum thought Letterman's joke was inappropriate. I certainly thought it was.
Yet, Sarah Palin had no problem with running with John McCain even though he made the following joke that was similar to Letterman's joke about A-Rod and the Palin daughter, but more cruel since he even took a shot at Chelsea Clinton's looks:
| John McCain wrote: |
| Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father. |
Yes, Letterman's joke was bad and inappropriate. But Palin ran with McCain who is just as bad as Letterman but talked about how wonderful he is. And some of you guys whining the most about Letterman's tasteless joke voted for them! Since when did some late night comedian's words become as important as the presidential candidate of one of the two major political parties?
Chelsea Clinton can't even help her looks. Sarah Palin, however, allowed an adult Levi Johnson to stay in the bedroom of her underage daughter. I understand how Sarah Palin and especially Todd Palin are upset at Letterman's joke. Yet for Sarah Palin to spend so much energy worrying about David Letterman instead of protecting her underage daughters from horny men like Levi Johnson is silly.
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She can get a haircut and lose 40 pounds. But being ugly is not illegal. And Janet Reno fathering a child is impossible and ridiculous, but not illegal.
The issue is that a) statutory rape is disgusting and illegal b) 33 year-olds banging teenagers is a strange, hot-button issue c) Letterman thinks it's okay to make fun of Palin since she's a republican. But he dragged her teenage daughter into it and called her promiscuous on tv.
It was widely reported in the meejya that Palin was at the ball game with her 14-y-o daughter. Letterman hates republicans, and blatantly aimed the joke at the 14-y-o. But I don't think he cares.
Politics aside, I think Bush, Clinton or Palin jokes are unoiriginal and cowardly. Want to impress me? Visit Riyadh and tell a joke about king abdullah. This I would PAY to see.
Brewer: Let me ask you what Sarah Palin's problem with Letterman was; what was it about the top ten list that hurt her feelings?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McvC7n6-buo |
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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:53 am Post subject: |
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Fox rationalized:
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| Palin uses her family as political props (going as far as to take her children along on official state functions and bill the Alaskan government for their expenses because they're acting in "official capacity."). If this family wants to drag its children into politics, then there are consequences, particularly when one of those children -- Bristol Palin -- hypocritically acts in direct opposition to the very family politics she helps preach. One of those consequences happens to be becoming potential targets for comedians. |
All politicians use their families as political props by your definition, then. So does that make all their children fair game? Chelsea Clinton actually gave a number of campaign stump speeches on her mother's behalf and while she's much older than either of Palin's daughters should she be bashed too? Would Letterman have ever made a swipe at Chelsea? Obama said his family was "off limits" and the press obliged. If he's just being a smarmy comedian, then he should at least be consistent about it like Bill Maher. No, this was meant to be nasty. He just didn't expect the fallout from it.
Bristol has the courage to speak out against teen pregnancy and you have the nerve to criticize her for doing so. She made a mistake and doesn't want others to repeat it. Maybe she should take a swipe at Letterman's kid Harry for having a father who got married out of wedlock? Would that be o.k. with you?
And need I remind you that the daughter who attended the Yankees game with her mother was not Bristol, nor did Letterman's joke mention her by name.
Others:
I just love the way some of you are so dismissive of this scene. Again, you're either not parents or you're so driven by ideology that you can't see beyond it to what should be universally condemned.
Big Bird chirped:
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| This is crap. Singling out 14 year old girls is poor sport and most decent people would think so. |
Fact is that I haven't heard one self-described conservative condone Letterman for this remark either on this forum or in the media at large. And while some Leftists might also disapprove of it, the fact remains that those most vocal in defense of Letterman or quick to assert that Palin brought this on her daughers are from their ranks. So I stand by my claim.
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| This is all US stuff, and I don't pay attention to your domestic stuff. |
Which is why you chose to respond to this thread. 
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| Except that, I don't want this awful woman gaining prominence. |
Ah, now you reveal your real concern in all of this mess.
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| The US has such enormous sway in the world, that we all have to suffer when you guys insist on electing incompetents and nutjobs to high office |
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You mean like Gordon Brown or Jacques Chirac?
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| But now the opportunity has landed in her lap, she's milking it for whatever it's worth. |
Now you're showing your ignorance of Palin's track record with the media. Usually she refrains from commenting but this time the savagery was directed at her younger daughter. And decent parent would defend her. She doesn't need or want unwelcome publicity. Again, you're projecting your own misgivings onto the situation.
NAVFC indignantly retorted:
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| The Palin's used their kids as ploys in a election campaign putting their personal lives and family business out there for everyone to see, and they are mad at letterman for making a joke? |
Oh, really, where did she parade her family around during the election campaign any more than any other politician, hmm? They are a close-knit family; nothing more, nothing less. Reading anything more into it is just cynical and unfair. Nor does it diminish Letterman's responsibility. And sexist jokes about children are not o.k. in my book and truly decent folk will concur. |
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beecomet
Joined: 12 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:02 am Post subject: |
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It's sad. This type of bad "humor" happens all the time. Both sides are guilty of it. However, it doesn't make either side any less culpable. Here's a less crude joke McCain made in 1998. Another one made by Rush Limbaugh, too.
1. http://crooksandliars.com/2008/02/09/john-mccains-crude-chelsea-clinton-joke
Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."
-- Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.
2. http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/03/far04008.html
"Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog?" Limbaugh said on TV, before holding up a picture of Chelsea. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:23 am Post subject: |
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How old was Chelsea when he did that? |
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beecomet
Joined: 12 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| 13 years old. This was in 1993. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:42 am Post subject: |
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I guess there is a political lesson Hillary should have learned from Palin here. Namely she should have taken it and run with it as a defender of women's rights for all the political capital it was worth. |
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RufusW
Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Location: Busan
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:41 am Post subject: |
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| Instead of complaining about each other through interviews, the Palins and David Letterman really just need to go on the Jerry Springer Show and hash it all out once and for all. |
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:11 am Post subject: |
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| Kimbop wrote: |
| She can get a haircut and lose 40 pounds. But being ugly is not illegal. |
Chelsea has a "face for radio" but she's actually quite thin compared to most American women. http://cdn.picapp.com/ftp/Images/6/9/2/7/51.jpg Clinton cakes on the makeup, but even though McCain called his wife a cunt and a trollop for wearing so much makeup, I bet even he would agree that Chelsea is doing us all a favor by wearing a ton of makeup. 
| Kimbop wrote: |
| The issue is that a) statutory rape is disgusting and illegal b) 33 year-olds banging teenagers is a strange, hot-button issue. |
Sarah Palin allowed an adult male to stay in her 16 year old daughter's bedroom and impregnate her. That came straight from the baby daddy's mouth. Maybe Levi Johnson and his mom should come on the Jerry Springer Show with the Palins. Jerry Springer could have a whole entire Sarah Palin Week. 
Hopefully, Alaska Child Protective Services will take Willow Palin and place her in a foster home before Sarah Palin allows a grown man into the house to impregnate her the way she did with Bristol, especially since Levi dumped Bristol and is looking for a new flame.
It looks like Levi is quite the hockey player: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/09/were_sorry_but_palin_babydaddy.html Has there been a DNA test done on Sarah's baby? Could Levi's goal be a hat trick by impregnating three different Palins??? |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
Fox rationalized:
All politicians use their families as political props by your definition, then.
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Many unfortunately do, yes.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| So does that make all their children fair game? |
Yeah.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
Chelsea Clinton actually gave a number of campaign stump speeches on her mother's behalf and while she's much older than either of Palin's daughters should she be bashed too?
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John McCain certainly seems to think so, and Sarah Palin consented to actively try to get this man into the highest elected office in the land, so she certainly seems to think it's all right as well.
As far as me, I figure everyone knows exactly what public figures go through, and politicians make a knowing, consentual choice to subject themselves and their families to it. Take from that what you will.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| Would Letterman have ever made a swipe at Chelsea? |
Probably not, just like more right-leaning babblers would be unlikely to take a shot at Bristol Palin.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| Obama said his family was "off limits" and the press obliged. |
No they didn't, they went as far as to start talking about Obama's poor half-brother in Kenya, as well as the member of Obama's family who was illegally in the United States at the time (I want to say an aunt?). The only reason we didn't hear more about his children is because there really isn't that much to say about them.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| Bristol has the courage to speak out against teen pregnancy and you have the nerve to criticize her for doing so. |
Yes, I do. An abstinence-only philosophy regarding teen sex and pregnancy is unrealistic and does more harm than good. I think she's a hypocrite that's full of rubbish and is only doing what she's doing for her mother's politics.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| got married out of wedlock? |
?
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| Would that be o.k. with you? |
I don't care, I'm not politically driven on this issue. If these people want to be public figures, it comes with consequences.
| ManintheMiddle wrote: |
| And need I remind you that the daughter who attended the Yankees game with her mother was not Bristol, nor did Letterman's joke mention her by name. |
The one thing Letterman's non-apology was meant to clarify is which daughter he was talking about. If you want to call Letterman a liar in that regard, that's cool, but given my first thought when I heard the joke was that he was talking about Bristol Palin (hey, I didn't know she wasn't at the game either), I find it fairly easy to believe that's who he meant. |
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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Palin could take a few pointers from Condi Rice. When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi called Rice a hag, she didn't dignify his childish behavior with a complaint. She has enough class and feels secure enough about herself to ignore petty words from childish people. For Palin to behave the way she has reminds me of middle school girls going off on each other when one calls the other a bitch or something. That's another reason among many why Rice would've been a much better VP choice than Palin. Rice consistenly shows her class while Palin consistently shows her ass.
Another person who never gets enough credit for being a good person is Todd Palin. He's put up with that all of these years and has always been there for his kids. He has never walked away from his responsibilities. http://sarahpalinexposed.com/?p=522 |
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ubermenzch
Joined: 09 Jun 2008
Location: bundang, south korea
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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it seems to me that sarah palin comes out the big winner in this. she gets to rally her base and increase her public profile as she heroically defends herself against a pretty unlikeable east-coast liberal comedian. and it does come during a week when palin was beginning to increase her national visibility (that governors convention thing, although she didnt speak, but caused alot of chatter). the big loser is probably the GOP, because let's be honest, having palin as the head of your party would not be a good thing for them. but anyway that isn't going to happen. the potential of it happening must be frightening to republicans though. she is not someone who people seem to take seriously.
also, i think alot of the posters here are too focused on the "moral" question, whether it was right or wrong for letterman to say what he did. obviously she had good reason to be upset, but let's not forget she's a politician. by that i don't mean that the palin family are fair game. just that there must be a strong strategic element in this recent palin resurgence. and theres nothing wrong with that, it's politics after all, as others have pointed out. i just think that part of the story shouldn't be buried completely behind the more emotionally satisfying one. |
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ManintheMiddle
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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Fox replied:
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| John McCain certainly seems to think so, and Sarah Palin consented to actively try to get this man into the highest elected office in the land, so she certainly seems to think it's all right as well. |
Just because she supported McCain for President doesn't mean she condoned every public remark he ever made. If that were the case then Joe Biden should have distanced himself from Obama, who on Letterman made an insensitive crack about Special Olympics. Oh, wait, Biden is a plagiarizer.
Fox persisted to outfox himself:
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| As far as me, I figure everyone knows exactly what public figures go through, and politicians make a knowing, consentual choice to subject themselves and their families to it. Take from that what you will. |
I see. So then Obama had no business telling the press to lay off his family, eh? You're really grasping at straws here. I doubt any politician, including Bill Clinton who had sex with an intern in the White House, ever thought that it would be o.k. for others to mock their children. You need to get a grip.
| Quote: |
| talking about Obama's poor half-brother in Kenya, as well as the member of Obama's family who was illegally in the United States at the time |
You're comparing apples and oranges now. It is a far cry from bad taste and immorality to question why a presidential candidate doesn't speak up about a relative who is illegally residing in the U.S.
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| An abstinence-only philosophy regarding teen sex and pregnancy is unrealistic and does more harm than good. I think she's a hypocrite that's full of rubbish and is only doing what she's doing for her mother's politics. |
How can observing abstinence do more harm than good? So it would be o.k. with you if your 14 year-old daughter slept around? Man, you've got a warped view of things. Unfortunately, many other posters to this forum (if not this thread) probably share your view. And that's what's really sad. How many Korean parents would condone this attitude? You live and work in Korea but the East Asian view of things obviously hasn't worn off on you.
And you haven't yet made clear how Palin is a hypocrite. Has she ever engaged in this kind of trash talk herself? If not, I'd say your charge is baseless.
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| I find it fairly easy to believe that's who he meant. |
Of course you do because it conforms to your (just professed) views on the matter. But, again, if he meant it, why didn't he say it? He's been doing monologues too long to make this sloppy mistake. And further, why didn't he set the record straight in a timely fashion instead of taking the chickenshit liberal response pattern of trying to rationalize bad behavior (sort of like Clinton insisting that he didn't have sex with "that woman.")
RJjr explained:
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| Sarah Palin allowed an adult male to stay in her 16 year old daughter's bedroom and impregnate her. That came straight from the baby daddy's mouth. |
Levi is a low-life for sharing such details, which might or might not be true. He does, after all, have an axe to grind and much to gain from making such accusations. Even if it were true, it doesn't give Letterman permission to badmouth her daughters. Grasping at the same straws as Fox here.
| Quote: |
| Could Levi's goal be a hat trick by impregnating three different Palins??? |
You lose all credibility in voicing some ethical concern about whether he slept over by this crude remark. At least have the testicular fortitude to admit you just don't like Palin so you think she's fair game.
Not a peep out of BB. No surprise there, either. |
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lithium
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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| agoodmouse wrote: |
| Wait, why is this important? |
Shows obvious media bias. Imus was fired for the Rutgers snafu, but a deliberate, thought out joke about a 14 year old girl whose mother hapens to be Conservative gets little attention. |
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lithium
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
I didn't find it particularly funny, but at the same time I can't say it's particularly offensive either. People who practice politics of the sort the Palin family practices open themselves up for mockery.
When Sarah Palin stops talking, she'll stop being talked about. I'm not saying she should stop talking mind you, just that this family brings it upon itself. Hell, their own responses to Letterman's joke demonstrate exactly the sort of thing that makes so much of America laugh at them. Come on, trying to construe the joke as being about their 14 year old instead of about the daughter who all ready had a baby out of wedlock once?
When are people going to stop being so whiny about what comedian's say? That goes for the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh, etc as well, who might not intend to be comedians, but manage just fine at it none the less. These people mock our society for a living. If you don't think they're funny, don't watch them. |
She had the 14 year old at the game not the 18 year old. |
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