Sarah Palin's provocation

June 17, 12:39 PMColumbus Pentecostal ExaminerBurton Campbell

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Sarah Palin got provoked last week.  Apparently, so did a lot of people.

David Letterman’s joke on June 8th that a Palin daughter  got “knocked up” by  New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez while attending a recent ball game was decried as highly inappropriate by Palin and her husband as well as by several individuals and groups throughout the U.S.  Even more damaging was the revelation that the daughter in attendance was the fourteen-year-old, and not her older, of age sibling recently noted as having a child out of wedlock.  By the Thursday following, Letterman apologized for poor taste.  On June 15, he offered a full apology and took responsibility for what he described as a “joke that was beyond flawed.”  With that revelation, came a full apology from Letterman during his show one week later, which Sarah Palin has now accepted.

The question remains as to whether the joke really merits this amount of attention and impact.  Some have challenged the Palins, questioned their sense of humor and their ability to just let things go.  Steve Dahl of the Chicago Tribune compared her to a “malamute with a caribou chew bone.”   Others Robert Becker, writing at BeyondChron.org, argues that.

“…David Letterman is rebuked not simply for bad jokes about her unwed daughter getting pregnant, but for talking up ‘statutory rape,’ showing ‘disrespect to females,’ blaming him for the teen girl epidemic of ‘low self-esteem.’ Without missing a beat, Palin then indicts Letterman as suspect pedophile (unsafe around her 14 year old) and, finally, the outraged fundamentalist invents a Bible lesson about sexual abuse of teenagers by older men. This malarkey goes beyond propaganda or prophesy into derangement, even hate speech.”

Of course, the writer completely ignores the fact that during the original June 8 broadcast, Letterman also chided her for her “slutty flight attendant” appearance.  How unfortunate that it is Palin being accused of hate speech as she simply defends her family from inappropriate remarks.

The truth is most likely that Letterman did not have deep seated sexual exploitation intent in his remarks.  We live in a society that has become separated from connections to morality and appropriateness.  The ramifications of our words are often lost on us because we have shirked our needs for responsibility and care in order to get cheap laughs.  Palin’s Pentecostal background, to which Becker alludes with his “Bible lesson” reference, most likely keeps the Governor attentive and in-touch with the consequences of our word choices.  By pointing out the possible interpretations, she does America a favor, as we are all forced to think seriously about our own comments.

David Letterman had a week to reflect on his words.  In the end, he humbly acquiesced and made things right.  Good for him.  Hopefully, it’s a lesson we all take to heart.