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In feud with Letterman, Palin hones her most important political skill: Opportunist
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Alaska governor Sarah Palin
Oh c’mon.
Don’t you think Sarah Palin took David Letterman’s comments as more of a blow to her ego than to her daughter?
Nevertheless, it’s been a pretty good week for the Alaska governor.
In the space of one hour, this morning, MSNBC aired segments of Sarah Palin’s "Today Show" interview three times.
And the governor is clearly in attack mode against Letterman for his controversial jokes against her daughter.
Letterman seized his opportunity, this week, during Palin’s trip to New York City. After she was spotted at a New York Yankees game, Letterman joked about Palin’s daughter getting knocked up by Alex Rodriguez. Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer could be in trouble around the Palin daughter too, he said.
As we know, Palin was at the game with her 14-year-old daughter, Willow; not 18-year-old Bristol who is making a name for herself as a single mother, promoting abstinence.
Palin is furious at Letterman for degrading and exploiting her young daughter. Or so she says.
Whether you like him or not, or think he is funny or not, David Letterman has said that he was referring to Bristol Palin in his jokes about the governor’s daughter.
What reason is there to not believe him? Has he said or done anything in the past that has shown he is not a man that can be trusted at his word?
These days politicians and the media pounce on everyone who misspeaks or says something that can be easily twisted into a double meaning.
Words matter but so does the idea and intent behind the words.
I can say, “You’re crazy.” And you could run with it and twist it to mean that I think you’re insane. But I may only be trying to get you to understand your tendency to be extreme and blow things out of proportion. I could even mean that you are flat out funny, in a Sacha Baron Cohen sorta way.
Sarah and Todd Palin’s intent seems clear. They have used Letterman as an opportunity to tie themselves to causes that grab headlines. Exploitation of women and young girls, and statutory rape is their new cause.
And Sarah Palin figures it’s all the better if they can make David Letterman appear as a dirty old man in the process.
Good luck with that. David Letterman is pretty skilled with the media too.
John W. Kennedy, another Faith & Media Examiner compared Letterman’s jokes to the Don Imus comments made against the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, in 2007. Al Shaprton, he suggested, would be in an uproar if African American women were Letterman’s target.
My own brother also noted Imus and said that Letterman crossed the line with his reference to Palin and her "flight attendant" look.
“And people’s children should be off limits,” he said.
Bristol, Letterman’s target, is no longer a child.
And Imus’ comments were not only sexually exploitive but racial. His intent was to feed into hate and stereotypes, for laughs.
I imagine that Letterman’s intent was to feed into what he sees as the Palin family’s hypocrisy, for laughs.
Palin has become more skilled in manipulating the media since her memorable Katie Couric interview.
Count on her to keep this Letterman ball rolling.
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