The Letterman and Palin Fiasco

By now you've likely heard about the inappropriate joke David Letterman supposedly made about Sarah Palin's youngest daughter. Letterman claims he believed, in a recent monologue referencing Palin's attendance at a Yankee's game with her youngest daughter Willow (aged 14), that the governor had actually attended that game with her oldest daughter Bristol (aged 18). Letterman joked about Palin's daughter being knocked up by Yankee's third baseman Alex Rodriguez and never mentioned either daughter by name. In the ensuing outrage expressed by both the governor and her husband Todd, Letterman alleged that he had simply mistaken which daughter accompanied the governor and that his joke's intended target was the older daughter. The governor and her husband however, didn't buy it. Both charged Letterman with making obscene jokes about the rape of their underage daughter. Palin went on Fox News (why am I not surprised it was Fox News) and basically called Letterman a dirty old man. Todd Palin stated that any joke about the rape of his 14-year-old daughter was in no way even remotely funny. True enough.

David Letterman proceeded to apologize a few nights after the initial monologue; it was, in all fairness, a half-hearted apology. Letterman showed a few moments of honest contrition but also managed to take a couple bonus shots at the governor in the process. The governor refused to accept that apology and that's when the controversy intensified; that's when all the interviews and talk of underage rape and name-calling really took off. One of the sponsors of the Late Show's website (Embassy Suites, part of Hilton Hotels) pulled their advertising and an entire website was created dedicated to Letterman's firing with a protest planned outside his New York studios. Interestingly, that website was partially organized by Michael Patrick Leahy, a Republican Party delegate, outspoken Obama critic, conservative Christian Evangelical and the organizer of the recent 'Taxation Tea Parties'.

With all the hubbub and mounting pressure, Letterman issued a second apology a week after the first. This second apology was unequivocal, completely sincere and thoroughly elucidated. Letterman neither smiled nor cracked a single joke this time around. And this time the governor publicly accepted. End of story, right? Right. Only not. The calls for Letterman's firing intensified with that second apology, with conservative radio pundit John Zeigler, one of the press contacts for the fire Letterman site, stating:

"I'm glad he's acknowledged we're right. I think it's a good first step in the right direction, but I don't think it's enough."

Of course it's not enough. There are two wars currently being fought by the United States with thousands of our troops being killed and even thousands more returning home emotionally and physically scarred. There is homelessness, hunger and poverty; adults and children without health insurance and millions more with health insurance who are going bankrupt because of medical expenses not covered by their "insurance." There is rising national dept and a glutinous, consumption-driven society that learned too late it can't keep indulging the drive for instant gratification while the debt and interest continues to accrue. The US is so deeply in debt to China, Japan, Germany, to the Middle East and, increasingly, to Russia that those debts have the potential to completely bankrupt our society and fundamentally alter our way of life forever. There is global warming (or not, if you are an adherent of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk) not to mention nuclear weaponry being developed by madmen in both Iran and North Korea (both acknowledged sponsors of international terrorism). And let's not forget the nuclear arsenal already owned by Pakistan, a country where the moderate, western-friendly government is currently in the fight of its life against Al-Quida and the Taliban--extremist Islamic madmen who would burn the world to ash should they acquire that nuclear arsenal.

But forget all that. There are more important things to think about. Like a thoughtless joke told by a late-night comedian that was far too vague to conclusively say it was referencing the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl. And that's understating it.

Considering the seriousness of the charge, considering Letterman's 30-plus-year history of never uttering a joke that was even remotely so lewd, considering Palin's acceptance of his apology, I tend to believe Letterman. Letterman is guilty of poor judgment and not much more; even if he was talking about the oldest daughter, it's still not in the best of taste, but how many comedians and pundits have said worse? Letterman is a known supporter of the Democratic party. This whole affair reeks of more of the same tired moral policing from the holier-than-thous in the Republican Party who've appointed themselves society's moral authority. As per usual, these people have managed to focus attention on the really "important" moral issues while completely obfuscating and distracting attention from the issues that REALLY matter.

Fire David Letterman indeed. Instead of working to fire the man, how about initiating a campaign to pressure him into starting a dialogue about the seriousness of teenage pregnancy and the multiple problems it causes for society, including healthcare? Or a dialogue about any of the other myriad of REAL, everyday moral issues faced by average people in this country. What more powerful voice to address said issues than a contrite David Letterman? But no, let's work for his termination, demonstrate the power of the moral hypocrites of the Republican Party, squander time and resources better applied to more tangible, more immediate, real-world problems and completely accomplish nothing--all at the same time. And who should replace Letterman once he's fired? Dennis Miller? Magic Johnson? Chevy Chase? Don't even joke about such things.

Even John McCain recently spoke out on the issue during an interview on the Today Show, saying, basically, that he accepted Letterman's apology and that the issue should be dropped. And this is an example of why I so like and respect McCain (besides the fact that he's obviously a bleeding-heart liberal disguised as a Republican). If McCain can forgive Letterman, why shouldn't anyone else be able to? Who else among the Republican establishment would have a better reason, politically speaking, to call for Letterman's head? Many have argued that Letterman heavily contributed to McCain's loss in last year's presidential election by hammering the senator about canceling an appearance on The Late Show while still interviewing with Katie Couric. And maybe--just maybe, mind you--that's what all this is really about. Comeuppance. Payback. But then again, maybe I'm being overly cynical. It wasn't McCain's daughter, after all, Letterman quipped about; maybe McCain would feel differently if it was. Maybe he'd be standing outside Letterman's studios with a picket sign, were that the case. But I can't help doubting.

Sigh. No, I really don't think so. Seems like more of the same old opportunistic, political, pseudo-moralistic bullshit to me.

Did Michael Jackson Dream of Dinner and a Movie?

I'm not completely sure how I feel about Michael Jackson's death. On the one hand, the man was a musical giant, talented in ways I can't begin to understand. On the other, he was an isolated and--at best--misunderstood human being. At worst, he was an alienated, twisted pervert and freak. In any case, the recent news of his death brings back a hazy memory from several years ago, a story about Jackson that seems poignant in light of his passing. First a disclaimer. In all truth, my memory of the following is quite hazy and my recollection far from precise. Even so, the gist of the story is quite relevant to Jackson's recent death I think.

In the early-to-mid 90's (I can't remember exactly when), I had a cousin in the US Marine Corps. One summer we visited his mother and he happened to be home on leave. He had a buddy with him, a gunnery sergeant if I recall correctly. I can't remember the sergeant's name, but have only a fuzzy recollection of short-cropped (what else would he have?) dark hair and a mustache. Anyway, apparently, before this sergeant became a marine, he'd worked in the kitchens at a Disney World restaurant.

During the period surrounding Jackson's 'Off the Wall' album, just before Thriller, Jackson appeared at Disney World for a promotional appearance or a concert or some damn thing. Maybe it was just to secret visit Disney World. I really can't recall. As I said, this memory is a bit hazy. In any case, apparently, the scene surrounding his appearance became a mob and at some point, to escape, Jackson inadvertently found his way into the kitchen where this sergeant-to-be happened to be working that day (alone apparently). There followed a brief exchange between superstar and sergeant-to-be that seems, even in condensed, not-fully-remembered form, quite telling. Jackson, the sergeant claimed, talked 10 minutes or so, basically saying that he rarely got to engage in one-on-one conversation. Even then, just before 'Thriller' (which would catapult his career into the stratosphere), he was usually surrounded by a mirage of handlers, publicists, lawyers, media, fans and so forth; he rarely found time for simple, meaningful one-on-one human interaction; only when he snuck away--frequently in disguise.

I've considered that story several times since hearing about Jackson's death, vague and hazy as it is, and I can't help reflecting on how sad, in many ways, Jackson's life became. He was very young when this story allegedly occurred and not nearly as famous as he would become when 'Thriller' dropped. Think about that a moment. Here was a young man, not yet 25, already so famous that he rarely experienced something most of us take for granted--simple conversation. And that was his way of life almost from birth.

The majority of entertainment's elite (I'm thinking of people like Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Bon Jovi, Poison, Tom Hanks--and the list goes on) lived in anonymity as they clawed to the top. They were allowed to experience life as every-day-joes. They could walk into a restaurant, a bookstore, a department store or any other public place and just be. They could have dinner or go shopping for groceries without being accosted by paparazzi or autograph seekers. They could attend movies or sporting events or take their kids to school without drawing a mob.Jackson never really experienced such anonymity. Think about that a second. From the time he was 5 or 6 years old, Jackson was the lead singer of the Jackson 5. His impact on that group--his star power--was instantaneous and pervasive.

I reflected on that last night over dinner and quite conversation with my wife. Jackson had access, one imagines, to anything he desired. As such, what would he dream of? Whereas everyday-joes like you or me might dream of great riches (winning the lottery or some huge inheritance) or fame, might Jackson have dreamed of quite conversation at dinner with someone that really cared about him? Might he have dreamed of walking into a restaurant or theatre or any other public place and just being nobody for a night? Maybe. Maybe absurd though. But the Michael Jackson from that gunnery sergeant's story--the child still coming to grips with overwhelming fame--seems likely to have dreamed such things. Such fancy seem less likely for the Michael Jackson of later years--the surgically-enhanced, isolated freak of a man-child he became. By then he'd lived so long in the fish bowl of fame, that he completely lost touch with even dreams of normalcy.

Say what you will of Jackson--talented, freakish, perverted, criminal. I wouldn't argue against any of those. But whatever the case, all of society I think, has some meaure of culpability in molding the human being he became. And perhaps--in some very small measure--that's the reason behind all the media coverage and hoopla surrounding his death. Maybe that's the reason why so many have forgotten the other vital, talented individual who died that day (Fahrah Fawcett). Maybe there's a thread of simple guilt behind it all. Perhaps as we consume all this coverage, as we mourn, as we pity and gawk, perhaps there's just a trace of remorse lingering alongside all that sadness and pity and disgust. Perhaps.