Well, I stayed up to hear Letterman’s apology. I figured it was best to hear it first hand . . . it’s clear he still doesn’t get it. For starters, the apology was all about him and his having told a bad joke!
I’ve got news for you Dave, this wasn’t about a poorly crafted joke or a flawed joke. And it doesn’t matter one wit that you really meant to direct the joke to Palin’s older daughter.
Are we really supposed to believe that because her older daughter is 18 that your jokes were OK? Really?
I am so sick and tired having to write about this time and again. Verbal violence of this sort is unacceptable … period! I thought we got this straight in the 70′s with the women’s movement . . . violence against one woman is violence against all women!
Know what one of the biggest differences between men and women is? Every woman, at one time or another has had thoughts about rape. I don’t know a lot of men having to deal with that possibility. Women question what they would do if it ever happened . . . could they survive a violent attack.
I don’t care what color she is, what socio-economic class she comes from, her religion, the country she lives in . . . every woman has had to contend with thoughts of violence at one time or another in her life.Who doesn’t have story about some jerk copping a feel, or about a close call in college or high school when it could have happened, but luck and quick thinking prevailed.
The problem with Letterman’s jokes, is that they reinforce stereotypes in the minds of the sickos out there. This kind of joking makes it seem like the sickos have permission to physically and verbally abuse women. Sorry, that’s true . . . so don’t tell me these were only jokes.
And while I’m at it, did anyone give any thought to what kind of ridicule, Willow or Bristol might possibly face among their peers? No, of course not!
So, here’s my sentence for Dave Letterman, a once clever and funny mad man of late night TV . . . Dave , you get to spend weekends for the next six months visiting rape crisis centers. You listen to the stories of the broken lives and broken hearts . . . and you tell these women how you were only joking!
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