Big time.
Didn’t you vote for McCain/Palin, tommy525?[/quote]
I knew someone would remember. Yes i did vote for McCain but Palin almost made me throw my vote for McCain away. In the end I still chose McCain, but I think that Palin was a very bad choice for him to make…very bad.
And actually in after thought, Im glad McCain didnt win because his first executive decision (choosing a VP) was a very poor choice.
What would Lenny Bruce have said, joke-wise?
Didn’t you vote for McCain/Palin, tommy525?[/quote]
I knew someone would remember. Yes i did vote for McCain but Palin almost made me throw my vote for McCain away. In the end I still chose McCain, but I think that Palin was a very bad choice for him to make…very bad.
And actually in after thought, Im glad McCain didnt win because his first executive decision (choosing a VP) was a very poor choice.[/quote]
Tommy: I have no idea what your rationale was for voting for McCain then. Why not simply not vote, or vote for a minor party or something of the sort?
I thought McCain earned the right to be President and Obama-mama didnt have quite the experience yet. Thats all . But McCain turned out to be an old fuddy duddy and Obama is doing alright.
Firstly, you’re falling into the old trap of there only being two options.
Aside from that, secondly, you’ve said that McCain pretty well forfeited his so-called right to be president when he chose Palin, but you still voted for him. That’s the bit I don’t get. If you’d said you were fine with Palin, she was a wonderful choice, etc., then there would have been some consistency and I could buy that (even though I personally think Palin was a terrible choice).
So, if yinz see a mother or father beating the snot out of her/his child yinz would think it OK to join in and smack the child once or twice? I mean, it should be OK because the mother or father did it first. Right?
:s
So, if yinz see a mother or father beating the snot out of her/his child yinz would think it OK to join in and smack the child once or twice? I mean, it should be OK because the mother or father did it first. Right?
:s[/quote]
Not the same thing, although I do feel it was unfair for Sarah to drag her kids into the campaign.
If the now-18 year old unwed mother would get off the campaign trail herself and tell both her mom and the public to back off, then that might get some sympathy from me. However as an unwed mother who got pregnant as a minor but still out there in the public eye preaching abstinence, she’s fair game.
Then it is the same thing.
She made a mistake. She acknowledges the same. I’m sure she doesn’t need your sympathy. But, why deride her?
I don’t understand. She made a mistake and now is trying to warn others against doing the same. How does that make her fair game?
Palin’s daughters almost certainly would’ve never heard of Letterman’s joke, or been affected by it in any way, if their mom hadn’t made it a top news story for over week.
Moreover. . .
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The older one (the intended subject of the joke) surely suffered infinitely more duress as the result of her mom running for public office and her being raped by her then boyfriend (statutory rape). That is, her mom, her boyfriend and herself surely caused her far more pain than Letterman.
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The younger one (the unintended subject of the joke) surely suffered infinitely more duress as the result of her mom running for public office and her sister being raped (statutorily). That is, her mom and her sister surely caused her far more pain than Letterman.
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The joke wasn’t that all that offensive to the younger one. It was more of a joke about her older sister (who DID get knocked up) and A-Rod, who apparently is pretty active sexually. As far as I know the younger one didn’t have a reputation for sleeping around or getting knocked up and it wasn’t intended to target her at all (except that it may have inadvertently, because she was the one at the ball game). So I can’t see how it would harm her.
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It should be more offensive to the older one, since she IS the one who got knocked up, but. . . Oh, well, she DID get knocked up. Can’t deny that. And, it’s only a joke. By a comedian. What harm could that one joke possibly cause her (if her mom didn’t choose to drag it out)?
I think the ugly Chelsea stuff was far far worse and unfairly cruel, but I still don’t think this was a big deal. One little joke.
And there are TWO reasons why it’s been dragged out.
First is because Palin’s trying to portray herself as mature and responsible for the next election.
But the other is because it really hurt the mom being compared to a slutty flight attendant, so she’s trying to get back at Letterman over and over and over, calling him a pervert and rapist, etc., pretending she’s shocked and outraged over abuse of her children rather than admit he got HER with the joke about HER. That is, she’s disingenously using her kids and dragging them into this mess to defend her own honor. Pretty sleazy of her if you ask me.
I was always pleased that the Clintons and the press and opponents left Chelsea alone. If someone made a joke about her I would be offended. If someone commented derogatorily about any woman’s (or man’s) appearance, I would be offended. IMO, its pretty low to criticize a person’s appearance if they themself are not making their appearance an issue.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]And there are TWO reasons why it’s been dragged out.
First is because Palin’s trying to portray herself as mature and responsible for the next election.
But the other is because it really hurt the mom being compared to a slutty flight attendant, so she’s trying to get back at Letterman over and over and over, calling him a pervert and rapist, etc., pretending she’s shocked and outraged over abuse of her children rather than admit he got HER with the joke about HER. That is, she’s disingenously using her kids and dragging them into this mess to defend her own honor. Pretty sleazy of her if you ask me.[/quote]
Well, its wrong for Palin to drag it out. But, that doesn’t excuse Letterman for crossing the line. He had no business attacking an 18 year old or a 14 year old. It was base.
And it was extremely base, IMO, to criticize a woman using the word "slut’. I’ve debated others about the use of this word and I think its outrageously sexist and way, way off. I don’t think using the word “slut” to attack a woman is defensible.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]First is because Palin’s trying to portray herself as mature and responsible for the next election.
But the other is because it really hurt the mom being compared to a slutty flight attendant, so she’s trying to get back at Letterman over and over and over, calling him a pervert and rapist, etc., pretending she’s shocked and outraged over abuse of her children rather than admit he got HER with the joke about HER. That is, she’s disingenously using her kids and dragging them into this mess to defend her own honor. Pretty sleazy of her if you ask me.[/quote]
In other words, she’s playing the victim.
One should also keep in mind that Letterman’s told a few thousand jokes over the past few decades, he doesn’t write them himself, others do, and I recognize that he still bears responsibility for the words that he utters, but it ain’t easy – a comedian’s constantly walking a tightrope, trying to be bawdy and outrageous and provocative enough to have people rolling on the floor laughing (or at least not changing the channel), while not going too far and offending too many (some offense is almost always guaranteed and part of the game). Perhaps he did err in this case. Or maybe not – as someone else asked, “what would Lenny Bruce have said?” Or Richard Pryor, or Chris Rock, or George Carlin, etc. Funny how a year ago everyone on this thread might have been praising extreme and outrageous comedians and now people are shocked by one little joke. Chelsea WAS mocked over and over and over for being ugly. That’s terrible. This was just one little quip. It should’ve been over in an instant, just part of another brief attempt to entertain people. So, perhaps it was wrong, or perhaps not, but it really wasn’t a big deal in my opinion.
[quote=“Chris”]What I find disturbing is the double standard.
It’s perfectly OK for John McCain to joke “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father.” Or for Rush Limbaugh to say “But did you know there is a White House dog?” and then show a picture of Chelsea Clinton.
But it’s not OK for Letterman to tell the jokes he did.[/quote]
I don’t think that was OK. Not at all. Its dispicable. And so was Letterman’s “joke”.
[quote=“Tigerman”][quote=“Chris”]What I find disturbing is the double standard.
It’s perfectly OK for John McCain to joke “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father.” Or for Rush Limbaugh to say “But did you know there is a White House dog?” and then show a picture of Chelsea Clinton.
But it’s not OK for Letterman to tell the jokes he did.[/quote]
I don’t think that was OK. Not at all. Its dispicable. And so was Letterman’s “joke”.[/quote]
I agree. When someone in the political arena uses the word ‘slut’, he’s no better than a shoe-thrower.
Really, you find double standards more unpleasant than someone calling a teenager a slut? I don’t, but then I’m female.
Not excusing, just clarifying: the slut remark wasn’t about the children, it was about the Governor.
[quote=“Buttercup”]I agree. When someone in the political arena uses the word ‘slut’, he’s no better than a shoe-thrower.
Really, you find double standards more unpleasant than someone calling a teenager a slut? I don’t, but then I’m female.[/quote]
- Letterman is not a politician.
- Letterman didn’t call a teenager a slut.
Poor taste, yes, but he’s a late-night comedian. Much material comedians use is in poor taste. That this is being elevated to a national, political scandal is overkill.
[quote=“CraigTPE”][quote=“Buttercup”]I agree. When someone in the political arena uses the word ‘slut’, he’s no better than a shoe-thrower.
Really, you find double standards more unpleasant than someone calling a teenager a slut? I don’t, but then I’m female.[/quote]
- Letterman is not a politician.
- Letterman didn’t call a teenager a slut.
Poor taste, yes, but he’s a late-night comedian. Much material comedians use is in poor taste. That this is being elevated to a national, political scandal is overkill.[/quote]
I said ‘in the political arena’.
Ah, excuse me, I thought the teenaged mother was the slut. A US politician is a slut?
Overkill, probably, but it still looks pretty sleazy. Slut? What century is this?
Letterman didn’t call anybody a slut. He said Palin’s wardrobe had that ‘slutty flight attendant look’. It was still not a nice thing to say, but there’s no reason to exaggerate.
And there’s nothing wrong with being a slutty flight attendant.
[quote=“Buttercup”]I agree. When someone in the political arena uses the word ‘slut’, he’s no better than a shoe-thrower.
Really, you find double standards more unpleasant than someone calling a teenager a slut? I don’t, but then I’m female.[/quote]
So what? Its low to call a woman a “slut”. Or, do you think its OK to call women “sluts”?
He called Palin a “slut”, apparently. Or, he compared her to “slutty” airline attendants. How is that acceptable?
I dunno. I think its good that a comedian is being taken to task for such base sexist behavior. And the joke about the girl was terrible, too.