We Managed To Avoid The Nuclear Option

Sarah Palin accepts David Letterman's current groveling, but her statement provides new fodder for the late night crew (my emphasis):

In a statement to FOXNews.com early Tuesday, the Alaska governor said, "Of course it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."

"Letterman certainly has the right to 'joke' about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction," Palin said. "This is all thanks to our U.S. Military women and men putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's Right to Free Speech - in this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."

Only the brave men and women of the US military stood between us and a full Letterman takeover?  A grateful nation gives thanks, but where were they when Joe Buck unleashed Artie Lange?

Comments

[clarice]

wise ass

[narciso]

Not funny,Tom, Letterman's still a jerk who was forced to weasel because he lost two sponsors and more to follow.

[Rick Ballard]

It's funny if you're a chic follower of an rapidly aging has been who continues to plumb the sewer in search of the ultimate LCD for the pathetic rifraff who constitute an audience still baying at a shtick that was creaky old twenty years ago. I sure hope Letterman stays on the air. He keeps that audience occupied to the full extent of their mental capabilities. It's really better that way.

[Jack is Back!]

I am betting 5 to 1 that Letterman lets all this pass quickly and quietly. He knows that there is still residual resentment out there and that there has been some success on sponsors. I think Dinnerjacket may become the new pinata for jokes depending on current events. If not him then the Quighirs.

[Rick Ballard]

Jack,

I'm afraid that would tend to stump his audience to the point where they wouldn't respond to the LAUGH AND CLAP signs. You have to aim a lot lower than that to hit the mental midgets on Shetland ponies who make up Letterman's posse.

[RichatUF]

Letterman is still a jackass.

[Danube of Thought]

Poor Joe Buck got hijacked by that unfunny vulgarian. I wish he'd had him forcibly removed from the set.

[MayBee]

I think Sarah Palin often needs to do with her statements what many fashion experts advise women to do with their accessories.

Complete your look/statement, then remove one thing.

[armadillo]

Jack,

Conan's already beaten him to the punch.

[peter]

Joe Buck. He hates the Yankees. No sympathy from me. You Red Sox fans can play your violins for him.

[ben]

Palin's statement works fine for me.

[Parking Lot]

((Palin's statement works fine for me.))

at first I reacted like Maybee thinking Palin's statement was a bit much but then thought NO!! if we let ourselves think what she said was uncool or corny the vulgarians have won

[Thomas Collins]

All of Palin's statement will go over well with ordinary, hard working Americans, and especially well with her Jacksonian base. The reference to our military will be derided in much of the effete elite media, academia and blogosphere, whether right, center or left. I think that Palin's 2012 campaign is going to attempt to build on her Jacksonian base and reach out to the center. By then, I think the effete elite, virtually all of whom on the left and many of whom in the center and on the right, supported Obama, will be thoroughly discredited (conciliatory internationalism will work about as well as under Carter, and Obama's approach to the economy will be found wanting). Thus, I think that Palin's
response is part of a fine strategy and shows she is a big muscle player in national politics.

By the way, her fusing of aspects of feminist thought re exploitation of women with the aspirations of Jacksonian and moderate women is very savvy. Bet against her at your peril.

[Rick Ballard]

"uncool or corny"

Stated artlessly (wrt to the highlighted sentence). MayBee is correct - a step back and a hard look with an eye towards subtraction would have improved the statement. Which should lead to "So what?".

She had to deal with "professional" bien pissants from the moment she accepted the nomination and they didn't do her any good or any favors. I hope she finds someone who can get beyond the injection of "our crowd" groupthink to help her with message development because her target has never been and will never be the style point folks (they're busy crowning a cow Fashion Queen anyway).

The artless phrase will be forgotten - the kick delivered to where Letterman's balls would be if he had any will be remembered.

[Thomas Collins]

Rick and MayBee, I am going to have to disagree with both of you here. I think Palin and her advisors did step back, look, and then went ahead realizing that the folks who will vote against her and cite these types of statements never would have voted for her anyway, and that, with so many American families now having loved ones in war zones, or being friends with families with loved ones in war zones, statements praising our military that don't pass the Dave Cavett/New Yorker sophistication test (boy, am I dating myself with that Cavett reference) will only help her.

[Thomas Collins]

Whoops! Make that Dick Cavett. I guess his level of sophistication was so beyond me I couldn't remember his first name!

[PD]

Greetings from Grantham, UK, birthplace of Margaret Thatcher. And not the location of a lot of good public wi-fi! (I'm typing this from McDonald's on my iPod.)

[Fresh Air]

TM--

I don't really get your point. What the hell is wrong with what she said? Did you have some of that David Brooks sauce on your French Freedom fries at lunch or something?

[boris]

"Joking" that she thinks U.S. Military women and men are putting their lives on the line to protect her from David Letterman seems sorta lame.

If "exploiting" every opportunity to credit the military for our freedoms is perceived as uncool by the MSM and dimorats, so much the better. It happens to be true. It's not done enough.

[PD]

TC: Not the level of sophistication; the level of irrelevance.

[Rick Ballard]

TC,

My comment concerned the phrasing of the statement, not its inclusion or intent.

"The women and men of the U.S. Military, those currently serving as well as all who have served before, deserve our thanks for putting their lives on the line to secure every American's Right to speak freely."

I'm sure others here could do a much better job with fewer words but that's still an improvement.

[PD]

Palin's remark is similar to her response to a heckler during the campaign when she pointed out that her son would be fighting for the heckler's right to say what he was saying. Remember that?

In any case, her remarks are classier than Letterman's, and a LOT more in line with our fundamental values than anything said by our current president, who attempts to silence, disdain, or trivialize anyone who disagrees with him. Anyone who mocks Palin's remark can stuff it.

[boris]

A dim would phrase it "THIS IS AMERICA AND WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL GEORGE W BUSH A NAZI WHENEVER WE WANT TO". They would never think to credit those who defend and protect their American "rights".

Sarah got in in there. Good for her.

Even Maguire couldn't zing her without mocking the troops.

[Mike Myers]

You know I don't much care 'bout this anymore. Short attention span I guess, but Letterman has delivered about as a good a half assed apology as he's capable of. And Ms. Palin has accepted it, given him another verbal jab, and a shout out to the troops.

Now that doesn't mean that I'm not writing letters to the advertisers who kept this aging weasel on the tube--that work needs to continue.

The message that needs to be delivered to Letterman style weasels is that this country is in fact pretty evenly divided in the electorate. Play for laughs in your half of the polisphere--and be obnoxious enough about it for cheap laughs--and you may find yourself wondering what kind of blowback hit you. Being a liberal jerkoff is not always hazard free. So Letterman is going to have to take one.

[Rick Ballard]

Boris,

Chillbillyphobia. It's just rampant among the Eloi.

[Thomas Collins]

I like her phraseology, Rick, but here's another possibility:

"Thank God our military protects the free speech rights of both late night comics and ordinary, bread and butter Americans." The reference to God would have caused much gasket blowing in the left blogosphere.

[daddy]

FWIW, (And especially for Narciso)

Yesterday, before Letterman's apology, the first hour of the local Conservative Dan Fagan Radio Talk Show, was devoted entirely to criticizing Sarah as responsible for prolonging this Letterman joke issue. In his view, (what a surprise), she was responsible for these attacks on her family by using them as political props. I had to turn him off, but that's the meme that seems to have emerged up here among the hate Sarah crowd as a result of this David Lettermania. Have no idea what he thinks following last nights latest Letterman apology

. Anyhow, here">http://www.thealaskastandard.com/content/sarah-palin-enjoys-cult-following">here is a link to Fagan's Alaska Standard Blog accusing Palin fans of being cult followers. Simply thought I would post it so that you guys have an opportunity to see what she puts up with on the local Conservative Scene.

She truly is an unusual Political figure, in that she can draw such strong opinions both pro and con from Conservatives. Additional stories on the blog from yesterday concern the same subject.

[Rick Ballard]

TC,

Yep. That's precisely the amount of refinement necessary (or unnecessary, depending). The original statement is actually much better than anything generated lately by the HLR editor in the Oval Office.

[Fresh Air]

Anyone who mocks Palin's remark can stuff it.

What PD said. You listening, TM?

[Parking Lot]

((The artless phrase will be forgotten ))

I thought TM's point was it won't be forgotten but will be ruthlessly mocked on the comedy circuit

well let 'em

the idiots

[clarice]

In another age she'd be burned at the stake, daddy. She's too beautiful, sexy and smart.

[clarice]

Mike Myers--precisely..and that is something we must continue to fight..in every media outlet.

[PeterUK]

Sarah Palin should have been brief.

"I forgive you,you degenerate, talentless piece of shit,but if you do it again,I'll have you dragged across the tundra behind a dog sledge".

See? Gracious and to the point.

[clarice]

PUK, I cannot imagine what she was thinking when she answered without first consulting with you.

[PeterUK]

Clarice,
Liberals need a firm hand.Look at they way they grovel to psychopathic dictators.

[Buford Gooch]

TC: I'm mainly a lurker, but need to jump in from time to time. You blew it this time. We need a Letterman style apology from you.

[Original MikeS]

Sarah's statement works for me. I don't think she implied that our troops were protecting anyone from Letterman, but merely reminding people that the free speech, exercise by both Letterman and her supporters, was not in fact free of cost.

I inferred she was saying that, since it was purchased as such a high cost, we should respect Dave's right to free speech regardless of how poorly he uses it.

I do accept that she could have made a more artful statement that wouldn't have required so much inferring on my part.

[Rick Ballard]

Parking Lot,

I would think that the schlubs peddling chic shock humor might check their hole cards after watching the development of the Letterman Grovel. Mike Meyers is correct - the exercise of free speech by those displeased with Letterman's public search for the bottom of the sewer has and will exact a price from the tired apparatchiks babbling on the late night stage.

If one of the classless clowns had the gumption to joke about the Crowning of the Cow or Jugear's striking resemblance to a very sensitive weathervane, without dipping into child rape fantasy territory, then the amount of ire drawn would diminish greatly. They'll never get off their bleeding knees to do that though.

[Extraneus]

I never read the story of who helped her write two of the greatest political speeches in American history, or how much each person contributed, etc., but that's the guy or gal she needs at her right hand from now on.

(Of course, I mean the first introduction by McCain and the convention speech. I would say I thought these were possibly the best speeches ever delivered by a woman politician, but they went far beyond gender, and it's no wonder they elicited such fear and hatred on the left.)

Retaining the person or team who helped her prepare for the Biden debate would be worth the money as well.

[Thomas Collins]

Apology for what, BG?

[Bill in AZ]

Drudge headline:
Obama says he loses sleep over deficit fears...

I feel so bad for the stupid Socialist. Some of us have too. He can resign any time and let the adults take over and try to clean up the mess he made.

[Extraneus]

Credit card numbers?

Vegas paper gets subpoena to ID online commenters

[narciso]

Matt Scully was the speechwriter for her Minneapolis speech, I don't know if the same applies for her Dayton debut. A vegetarian and animal rights activist, he wrote Romney's CPAC speech, which I don't think will be a Youtube moment. I believe
that Schueneman and Begin were the foreign policy coaches, they backed her firmly when all the scuttlebutt was being circulated after the election. Contrary to the image she doesn't whine or ask for special pleading, she's as clear as you can be with her sentiments, you don't have to parse her
statements. That I think is the point, of the exercise. Was Letterman raised by wolves not to understand this simple fact.

[PeterUK]

"Was Letterman raised by wolves not to understand this simple fact?"

No,warthogs.

[Extraneus]

Thanks, narc. I imagined you might have known that. Perhaps Romney didn't give Scully enough leeway, or gave him too much.

[Porchlight]

Obama says he loses sleep over deficit fears...

The nerve. Good people of JOM, I ask you, has there ever been a bigger jerk in the White House?

[Jane]

PD,

Greetings back! Are you on vacation?

[clarice]

"has there ever been a bigger jerk in the White House?"

Not in my lifetime though Carter was very very close.

[Extraneus]

I wonder if 0bama will age as well as Carter has as an elder-statesman.

[clarice]

Don't go there..I really had to call on my Mr. Garfinckel's New Method Hebrew School training to avoid responding as I might otherwise have to the news that he just narrowly escaped being bombed by Hamas.

No one can be as stupid as Jimmy Carter. He has to be profoundly evil--a devil who likes to see honest and decent people around the world suffering under the boot of thugs.

[Rick Ballard]

I see that Sarkozy has declared the Iranian elections a fraud. I wonder if that will draw a frown from Hi Unholiness?

ION - Looks like Monica Conyers is closer to following Dollar Bill into the dock. I wonder if her husband is planning a hearing on the matter?

[peter]

Porchlight, in answer to your very excellent question, it is hard to say. FDR, Wilson, Carter, LBJ (who used to make his secretary take dictation while he was sitting on the throne) Bubba, I really can't say for sure. Obama is way up there on the list, though.

[Porchlight]

Jimmy Carter is to date the only person I have ever heard my dad describe as "a horrible human being."

That's kind of why I wanted to know, from those of you who can remember, if Carter was worse. I guess to some extent it remains to be seen. But did Carter behave as if he disliked the country and everyone in it and thought we were all complete morons, as Obama does?

[Captain Hate]

I wonder if 0bama will age as well as Carter has as an elder-statesman.

I don't think he'll last long at all. Neither of his parents did (well, assuming...) and I think he's got a lot of internal demons that will age him quickly.

[clarice]

Carter shared with Obama a moral certainty about his actions which was directly contrary to all evidence.

[Captain Hate]

But did Carter behave as if he disliked the country and everyone in it and thought we were all complete morons, as Obama does?

Yes, there was just a different dynamic in how he expressed it.

[Porchlight]

peter, LBJ seemed to have had a Texan charm about him, but I'm admittedly biased, having lived down here in his part of Texas for so many years.

[fdcol63]

"No one can be as stupid as Jimmy Carter. He has to be profoundly evil--a devil who likes to see honest and decent people around the world suffering under the boot of thugs."

Clarice, bingo! Underneath his "aw, shucks", Habitat for Humanity, hayseed peanut farmer facade, Carter is an evil person, advancing an evil agenda.

[Extraneus]

Yes, that was unfortunate. Sure, he's still nursing the pain of being unmanned by Reagan, but what's the world coming to when a famous antisemite can't have a peaceful vacation to Gaza. I was touched by the video of him stepping up on the SUV to savor the scenic vistas with his binoculars.

[RichatUF]

Porchlight-

It took a while for it to fully show through, but he hates the US and thinks everyone is stupid.

Exhibit A. "Crisis of Confidence" stemwinder written in part by Chris Matthews.

Exhibit B. inordinate fear of communism to the graduating class of 1977 at Notre Dame. (and curiously that speech with just some minor updates could be given today by Obama).

[Ann]

Michelle eats carrot out of her WH garden! Yuck!

(I wonder if this will be on Drudge tomorrow? lol)

[Sue]

At least she took her hair down.

[hmnmnmnm]

It took a while for it to fully show through, but he hates the US and thinks everyone is stupid

[Sue]

Only the brave men and women of the US military stood between us and a full Letterman takeover?

So what she doesn't say it just right? Bush didn't either and man, I miss him. I just watched Trace Adkins sing his song, You're Gonna Miss This, and I was thinking he could add a verse about Bush. ::sigh:: Those were the good old days, when men were men and women were really beautiful and not a media creation.

[Sue]

Okay, that picture wasn't there when I posted my Bush nostalgia. I'm not sure who hmmm is, but hmmmm....not sure what your post means.

[RichatUF]

Yeah, an axelturfer shows up on the thread.

[Rick Ballard]

Perhaps pictures of SnookieWookie draw them out?

[narciso]

She said it exactly the right way, if being an unapologetic defender of the country's traditions is some kind of offense, then we have a serious problem even bigger than even Obama himself. I think the SNL/Daily Show/Colbert axis has helped to degrade that sentiment at least in the younger
generation, If we don't believe this country is special,and has a particular role in the world; than we are disarmed against the scoundrels and charlatans, arrayed across the world. Sadly this administration is afflicted with that
self doubt, about our institutions.

[georg felis]

A classy statement from a classy individual. And it shows that even us Right-Wing Conservatives believe in evolution. Perhaps someday Dave will evolve back into "Funny".

[hit and run]

Rick:
I see that Sarkozy has declared the Iranian elections a fraud. I wonder if that will draw a frown from Hi Unholiness?

Well...he ain't exactly smiling

[glasater]

ISTM that I read/heard somewhere that Greta's husband was advising our dear Sarah.

Hope someone can put me straight on this.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

Perhaps pictures of SnookieWookie draw them out?

I didn't think Klingon warriors ate carrots. Donkeys maybe, horses...yep fashion icon.

[RichatUF]

glasater-

Hope not (or that she can keep her and her family at arms length)-I'll just leave it at that. I've seen some rumors and it does appear that he was the one who suggested that Gov. Palin retire Clinton's campaign debt.

[Rick Ballard]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Bleep_Do_We_Know!%3F

[Rick Ballard]

Thanks Typhuspad*

I think the carrot is a ward against obesity. She might consider a larger one.

*The link is to a site recommended via an email. It's a fraud. Dunno what happened.

[narciso]

Look, as much as I despise the One's
policies and his cavalier and arrogant attitude toward everyone. I find those remarks a step too far. I hate how the even the entertainment /gossip media have become stenographers the kind that would make Marie Antoinette wretch from embarassment, how they are so self involved that they feel no embarassment at anything they do.
The ridiculous comparisons to Carla Bruni, a supermodel; it really has become like Isvestia, & Pravda, or Granma & Juventud Rebelde as the case may be.

[Ignatz]

Kind of a random question prompted by perusing the day's stories over at CNBC, but does anyone else ever get the urge to hit Jim Cramer with a shovel?

[Fresh Air]

Glasater--

If you saw that interview with Todd, I'm pretty sure Greta herself would like to advise him on a few things.

[Strawman Cometh]

I 2nd MayBee's advice for our devine deerslayer at 4:52. Sarah would have been wise to answer the questions re:Letterman briefly and sharply and then steer the conversation over to the pipeline or other substantial issues. "Well, yes, Dave's a wanker pig, but my Alaskan administration is working hard on the pipeline to achieve energy security and lower gas prices for our great nation, which will do more to stimulate the economy than payments to phony voter fraud - communist and marsh mouser organizers.

[glasater]

Rich--Thanks.

I just don't see the logic of Sarah involved with retiring HRC's campaign debt.
It is soooooooo hard to keep up:) And I do try.

[Rick Ballard]

"The ridiculous comparisons to Carla Bruni, a supermodel, it really has become like Isvestia, &, Pravda, or Granma &, Juventud Rebelde as the case may be."

Except that in the USSR or Cuba mentioning that the press was crowning ClaraBelle as a fashion icon would earn you some time away from home. With the press here performing precisely the same function as Isvestia or Pravda or Granma or Juventud Rebelde wrt His Unholiness, pointing out the nature of the emperor's wardrobe becomes a duty. At least until Idi and Imelda make their play for no more elections.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, RichatUF for those Carter links. I'd heard that Matthews had a hand in the "malaise" speech. How depressing it must have been during those years, and how marvelous when Reagan swept in.

[hmnmnmnm]

I just don't see the logic of Sarah

Sarah is to logic what the Magic 8 Ball is to wisdom.

[narciso]

To answer the question, Glasater, Coale and GretA by extension are PUMA's, part of the
Hillary apparatus, they are also, gasp, Scientologists. and there's been no end of
insinuation in some corners, that makes Sarah an acolyte of Zenu. I know it doesn't make any sense anyhow, but who would have thought the Trig trutherism, would have had legs anyways.

[RichatUF]

glasater-

There is a "group" involved. Its attraction to Hillary helped them get people into the IRS, which in turn, helped them settle a longstanding IRS matter. A helpful bit of advice worth repeating when dealing with any Clinton crony is: "Come as an emissary, act as a spy".

[Stephanie]

Magic 8 Ball? So THAT's what Treasury was using to "guess" at the employment numbers with and without the stimulus. Thanks for clearing that up. Is that you Biden?

[hmnmnmnm]

Magic 8 Ball? So THAT's what Treasury was using to "guess" at the employment numbers

Yeah, Bush left it in the oval office; damn thing was almost wore completely out.

[Dave]

">http://www.museumselection.co.uk/images/products/medium/7630.jpg">
B-Hussein-Ø don't need no stinking 8-ball to help him make economic decisions.

[hit and run]

Dave:
B-Hussein-Ø don't need no stinking 8-ball to help him make economic decisions.

True that.

And yet...

[hmnmnmnm]

nice 'shop job; lessee if there's one of W out there...

[hmnmnmnm]

yurp. and here 'tis...

[Stephanie]

Obama steals all of George's moves - DOMA, DADT, wiretapping, military tribunals, etc... poseur.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

When Ogabe copped to 10% unemployment today I adjusted my YE estimate to 11.5% Did you know that most of the ABS card debt paper flashes TILT! above 10%? 11% will but BAC next to C in the Dance of the Zombies chorus line. Just to top it off - tax deposits at mid-month really support that estimate of a -5% contraction for the Q2 GDP.

Ain't the Ogabe Economy just grand?

[Semanticleo]

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Gracias. These blokes need to, daily, be reminded of their post-mortem love for the Dear Leader. Fickle bunch, they. They hardly mention him any more.

[Dave]

That's not the Magic Eight Ball™ I knew.

[Semanticleo]

Bush's legacy..........

A capite ad calcem !

[Semanticleo]

Laura to George.....

Braccae tuae aperiuntur

[Dave]

">http://concreteloop.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/ms_cleo1.jpg">
Indeed.

[Semanticleo]

cave nil vino

[Stephanie]

Finally, a solution for Obama's troubles...

LUN