"Or maybe not; maybe he’s actually a brackish, hermetically-souled guy who’s spen[t] the last twenty years going from table to table with a giant wooden grinder, asking anyone if they want some fresh-ground scorn with that. Say when. Or maybe he’s about as edgy as a soccer ball, and exists only to remind people they were Edgy once, and hence must be ever-blessed with the gift of Wryness and Irony. With those shields we can never grow old, you know. We’ll always be as sharp and perceptive as we were when we were sitting on a cast-off sofa in college, working through a midweek buzz, happily fellated by the preconceptions the TV so charitably provided."
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146 comments:
I am no Palinphile. But man, what a dick Letterman is being in this clip.
Am a Lileksphile, though.
Oh, grow a pair. I, for one, can't wait for the Sasha and Malia lesbian jokes!
Jeremy suggested Letterman will apologize. Nope. Letterman doubles down.
Hint to the wise Letterman Lovers. This blogger is describing what Letterman has always been, since he first used these talents to be different from Carson's mid-western brand of humor.To each his own.
Lileks is an asshole. He writes like the meanest kid on the playground talks.
I was so happy when the Wisconsin St Journal dumped his ass.
This blogger is describing what Letterman has always been, since he first used these talents to be different from Carson's mid-western brand of humor..
Carson said that he would never tell a joke that he couldn't tell to his kids.That's the difference right there.
Class, which Letterman doesn't have.
Yes, Carson wasn't perfect in that regard, but the exceptions (Dolly Parton, Zsa Zsa Gabor) proved the rule.
"Letterman doubles down."
The weirdest thing about that clip is the way the audience claps on cue at the end of each laugh line... applause line.
Whatever happened to laughter?
"I was so happy when the Wisconsin St Journal dumped his ass."
Does the WSJ still exist?
Fausta has a theory
>>Throughout mankind’s history, vile men have cast aspersions on women’s virtue for political purposes. The latest attacks on Republican and conservative women are just more on an ages-long trend. When you can’t defeat them with ideas, you diminish them through sex. My theory is that the mental impotence gets translated into sexual aggression, but then, that’s just a theory.
http://faustasblog.com/?p=13002#comments
Because when the paper is gone, everyone is dumped on their ass.
Does anyone know if Letterman's mom ever found a cure for her urinary tract infection?
Am I funnier than Letterman? Or, is it a toss-up?
mcg - please post links to what Johnny said to Dolly Parton and Zsa Zsa Gabor, which, according to you, are exceptions which prove a rule, which, by the way, makes no sense at all. Exceptions disprove rules.
NKVD, perhaps English isn't your first language, which would excuse your unfamiliarity with that idiom. The reason the Dolly and Zsa Zsa cracks were so hilarious was because they were unexpected. No I will not find them for you.
It looks like standard Letterman to me, though I only see YouTube clips that probably somebody has objected to.
But the joke is a Palin-family-as-trailer-trash joke, not a Bristol joke; and doubling as an A-rod or whoever it was joke. Jokes have always been offensive. That particular one was pretty good. The rest depended on a mind-numbed lefty audience.
PC is not a funny language.
Palin for all her bright spots does have a trailer trash family. It's such a human problem.
That the thing aligns with humorless lefty sensibility is just a coincidence.
Ugh.
I would hate to be a comedy writer for a daily show, though. Talk about a meat grinder.
As far as doubling down goes, mcg, I know you didn't write the headline on that youtube page (did you? :) ), but I think the characterization of the joke is off.
Exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis
Yes, reading too much into it. Really, it’s just a rote slam: If your mother is a loathed politician, and your older sister gets pregnant, famous old men can make jokes about you being knocked up by rich baseball players, and there’s nothing you can do. That’s the culture: a flat, dead-eyed, square-headed old man who’ll go back to the writers and ask for more Palin-daughter knocked-up jokes, because that one went over well. Other children he won’t touch, but not because he’s decent. It’s because he’s a coward.
I’m gushing like I was when Ellsbury stole home against the Yanks.
Oh he has a way with words.
AlphaLiberal said...
Lileks is an asshole. He writes like the meanest kid on the playground talks.
Really? Quite the opposite, I always got the sense of Lileks as one of the geeks now getting his revenge on the schoolyard bullies with wry wit.
As far as doubling down goes, mcg, I know you didn't write the headline on that youtube page (did you? :) ), but I think the characterization of the joke is off.
Oh I don't agree with the video title, no. But I do think the "doubling down" characterization stands. He gets flak for telling a sexual joke about Palin's daughter, and he responds by... telling a sexual joke about Palin's daughter.
I mean, I know it was also about Eliot Spitzer, just as the first joke was also about A-Rod. I'm just saying this was a deliberate poke in the eye to his detractors.
If the meanest guy on the playground could talk like that I would have been impressed.
Instead the meanest guy on the playground was usually a bit on the dull side, taking out the frustrations he felt in the classroom by beating up on those who might be smarter, but not as strong or as fast.
And AL obviously doesn't read Lileks much, considering he rarely writes about politics at all.
Only a very mean and weak man would make a young girl the object of ridicule, no matter how much he hated her mother.
That both jabs might have been construed as collateral damage from jokes aimed at others is no defense.
Pathetic coward, Letterman surely is, but I would add ugly and small.
Letterman thinks it is alright to go after politicians' kids.
But I guess Andrew Sullivan paved the way for him on Palin.
It was wrong to make fun of Chelsey Clinton.
It would be wrong to make fun of Barack Obama's kids.
And it is wrong to go after Palin
s kids.
If Letterman was a man, he might invite Todd Palin on to apologize...but then again it might turn out like this.
I absolutely loved it and ate it up.
It was divine and delish all rolled up in heaven.
Letterman is always a dick which I love.
There needs to be more dicks in the world.
At least he didn't call her a nappy headed ho, to cite another recent incident of mysterious bogus outrage.
There's some weird category of joke correctness going on here that inexplicably gets legs.
News: jokes are not correct.
People like Letterman and Stewart have built their entire persona on being nonconformist and edgy. The problem is that you can't be non conformist and edgy and also be a shill for the establishment.
Liberals in general have a self image as being revolutionary and anti-establishment. The problem is that they are the establishment. They control the entire government, all of Hollywood, all of academia, and nearly all of the media. So instead of being edgy and non-conformist, people like Stewart and Letterman are just establishment shills. Yet they still pretend they are edgy and nonconformist, like they really are fighting the powerful. As a result, they just look old and pathetic.
I believe that Palin was traveling with WILLOW her FOURTEEN year old daughter. I assume Dave would be cool with his young daughter - who was born out of wedlock.
I don't watch Letterman -- I mean, c'mon! It's on at 10:30, I'm asleep then! -- but I think the Elliot Spitzer joke is told using just about any walking, breathing female. Ditto A-Rod. They both would have been much better if Palin had been the one fending off ARod and Spitzer, though, not her daughter. Including the daughter just makes it crass.
And yes, I think you're right -- he's re-telling the joke as a big FU to the people who object to it. It's the LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME syndrome in play. This is why Letterman is a wealthy man.
It might only be statuatory joke rape. Was it consensual in the joke?
Let's get the joke law right.
I was pretty resiliant at 14. Less resiliant than at 13 though, having learned more manners since. A complete scandal at 6.
Call it the wilting violet law.
This may be a states' rights issue, too. Jokes will be funny only in Alabama.
Sara Palin attended the Yankee game with both her 14 year old daugher and her 14 year old autistic nephew. (Palin was at a fundraiser for autism) I think the comments directed at her daughter are bullying and child abuse. Laughing with the "joke" certainly shows how intellectual our society has become.
Now that I think about it more I am outraged.
I am in a perpetual outrage, but this has elevated my outrage to Code Pink.
I don't even know if I can get on a plane today I am so outraged.
It's for the children.
No worries.
/adds David Letterman to those who will be amoung the first against the wall
Wake me when its time to refresh the tree of Liberty with a bit of Chaos.
Fenrisulven6
USMC
Ha - Most midwestern liberals would never appreciate J. Lilek - too busy giving that Lake WOEbegone (yes, I know it is spelled wrong) dude all the NPR (hot) air time, and guffawing at his truly mean jokes.
I was but 16(ish) when Letterman lost the Tonight Show to that guy with the chin - and thought he was quite clever, and had an amazing sense of humour. I also was stoned half the time - so there ya go. Now I realize he is just a mean old, do it my way or no way - liberal. Who on earth is he to talk? He dumped his (a writer on his show for years) girlfriend, got his new one pregnant, shacked up with her for years and finally married her - and even made a mockery of that. He's so sad!
There's some weird category of joke correctness going on here that inexplicably gets legs.
My objection is the disproportionality of the onsloat.
Rush's parodies have no where near the marginalizing impact that the avalanche of David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert have night after night and SNL week after week.
Alpha Liberal is as usual an amazing idiot with bad taste. Regardless of his politics, Lillik's books are hysterical. Mommy Knows Worst, Gallary of Regretable Food and Horrible Interiors are brilliant. They are the kind of humor liberals used to do back in the 60s and 70s before they became humorless, maladjusted, angry conformist fucks.
Does anyone know if Letterman's mom ever found a cure for her urinary tract infection?
That reminds me, its time again for some New Obama "Humor", as approved by our President:
"I hope David Letterman's mom dies from a urinary tract infection! Hardy har har!"
[cue applause for proles]
Proles: *clap clap clap*
"Nice work audience! Using our New Obama Math... lets see... you just saved 50,000 jobs!! Give yourself a hand!
"....?"
[cue applause] (sry, was tweeting)
Proles: *clap clap clap*
Right, mcg, because they exist only in your mind. Thanks for not sharing that with us.
I don't think it's a leftist joke, though. It's a trailer trash joke.
Which category includes A-Rod, by the way.
Being trailer trash is actually not easy to avoid. Look at the entertainment industry, or Britain's Royal family.
Palin for all her bright spots does have a trailer trash family.
I don't know about that, but I watched the clip and I do know celeb-trash when I see one.
This is why Letterman is a wealthy man..
That doesn't make him any less of an asshole though. Rush calling Chealsea a dog was pretty tasteless. Letterman joking about A-rod fucking Palin's 14 year old kid is beyond tasteless and really shows true colors of such a pathetic person.
I stopped clicking over to the Bleat fairly recently, after years; something wore me out about it.
Maybe one too many getting Gnat off the bus incidents or naps or new but never watched Strib features.
Too much thicket and not enough game.
How does that idiot Letterman stay on television when really funny guys like Dennis Miller keep getting bounced?
Does anybody remember when some nut was going to kidnap Letterman's son, and hold him for ramsom? I can't think of one conservative who thought it was funny and make a joke about it.
What an ass.
Heartless. No love. No compassion. People like Letterman make our society worse, not better.
"The weirdest thing about that clip is the way the audience claps on cue at the end of each laugh line... applause line."
That's been occurring for years amongst comedians; they go for applause instead of laughs.
They aren't actually funny (which is difficult), they just appeal to the political bias of their audience (which is always easy). For certain topics (like when they mention they just had a kid) the applause is just automatic.
It also allows them to try and portray themselves as being intelligent/relevant without actually having to put much effort into it.
It was extremely noticeable during the Bush years. I mean honestly, how many "Bush is stupid" jokes were actually funny?
Palin for all her bright spots does have a trailer trash family.
Ah lookie lookie! Imagine hearing:
"Obama for all his bright spots does have a ghetto trash family."
Jeremy and others love to portray Sarah Palin as a stupid and uneducated beauty contestant and accidental Governor from nowhere. All's fair in political satire. The new line crossed over and over by todays Demonrats is the wicked level of their attacks on the candidate's family members. There is a new level of fear and hatred evidenced by these attacks, which are still being applauded as if they were good humor. We need to speak against similar attacks on Michelle Obama done to prove our macho retaliation skills.
Did Obama have a white trash mother? You're freaking me out, rh.
"Obama for all his bright spots does have a ghetto trash family."
Or better yet "for all of her smiles, Michelle Obama really is one angry black woman" When people say that, liberals go insane. But makes jokes about A Rod doing Palin's 14 year old daughter is totally ok.
Really disgusting. I used to adore Letterman. But he's very creepy to me now. At first, I just winced at this stuff about Palin. But he's gone over the edge, and decent people don't laugh at this, IMO.
Who thought this was funny, that's what I'd like to know? I'd like to avoid them.
Ha ha ha...How funny. Making jokes about your 14 year old daughter getting "banged" and "knocked up" at a baseball game following a charity fund raising event.
Almost as funny as when some skank liberal comedian (I can't remember which one, there are so many) thought it a real kick in the pants that Palin should be gang raped.
Wow....what a great sense of humour these people have.
/sarcasm over. Except for the skank part.
Seriously. The pure evil that oozes from the left is just frightening.
In the 'real world' a remark like the one Letterman made would warrant a severe beating from the 14 year old's father....and probably the mother too.
How does that idiot Letterman stay on television when really funny guys like Dennis Miller keep getting bounced?
You know, the natural inclination is to suggest it is political, but the truth is that Dennis Miller is an acquired taste. I remember going to see him live many years ago. I'm pretty sure it was after 9/11 but before he "flipped" politically.
Some of his stuff was gut-busting funny, but much of the time I was working too hard to access my mental database of history and pop culture to understand the allusions he'd make. I was almost keeping score: how many did I get immediately; how many did I need some time to understand; how many escaped me?
I think he'd be funnier if frankly he didn't use so much allusion. And you know, sometimes the base humor just works. In fact the funniest part of his act involved his description of trying to wash the underside of his scrotum in the shower.
I'll accept a tasteless joke if it's genuinely funny and makes me laugh. Tasteless or not Letterman hasn't been funny in years.
I thought the joke was moderately funny - typical late night humor. If you crack a smile, it's par for the course.
But wow - Republicans have really turned into the biggest whiny victims, with zero sense of humor, haven't they. It was Wanda a few weeks ago, then this. There was something else last week that Republicans had a cow about - can't even remember now.
The Republicans are just perpetually outraged. They need to get a life. And remember, last Fall Republicans were outraged because they said Obama did not have a sense of humor. Projecting much?
I think the comments directed at her daughter are bullying and child abuse. Laughing with the "joke" certainly shows how intellectual our society has become.
I would say that the people laughing at the joke likely perceived it a joke on the one just out of high school who didn't marry her son's Dad, not the 14-yo who was at the game with Mom.
downtownlad said I thought the joke was moderately funny .
Well there's a shock.
I would say that the people laughing at the joke likely perceived it a joke on the one just out of high school who didn't marry her son's Dad, not the 14-yo who was at the game with Mom..
I guess that makes it so much better. A-rod boning the high school graduate rather than the 14 year old really is much funnier.
I'm not saying you think that MM but that doesn't make the folks laughing at it much better but I guess that's where we're at in society now.
When David Letterman finally gets around to seeking redemption, he should go for an imaginary car ride with Andy Richter.
"The Republicans are just perpetually outraged. They need to get a life. And remember, last Fall Republicans were outraged because they said Obama did not have a sense of humor. Projecting much?"
I have a great sense of humor. I do a great version of the Aristicrats joke involving the Obamas. Want to hear it sometime? Or how about the joke I tell about Obama's brown suger loving jungle fever mother? come on where is your sense of humor?
The Republicans are just perpetually outraged. They need to get a life.
Physician heal thyself! Seriously, while I appreciate the sentiment as a general principle, it is amusing to see those who couldn't follow it for 8 years themselves offering it up as gospel now.
As a favor to everyone but NKVD, here's Carson's Dolly Parson interview, and here's Jane Fonda talking about the Zsa Zsa Gabor incident.
Oops. Parson -> Parton above. Sorry!
Actually John - Your joke isn't funny. So you really shouldn't even try and be a comedian.
But I'm not going to get outraged about it. Tell those jokes all you want. I really don't care. I doubt Obama cares.
The reason the Palin's daughter getting knocked-up joke is funny, is because one of her daughters did get knocked up. And Alex Rodriguez is hooking up with random women. There was enough context there to make a joke. And that's why the audience laughed. Because it was funny.
I'm on the right and I thought it was funny.
It looks more like a dislike of unwanted connections, that probably is politics free.
Maybe the joke Letterman told wasn't aimed at the Palin girls at all. Maybe the joke was on A-Rod, who is a black. And we all know about black men, don't we. They are always trying to fuck teenage white girls, and trying to knock them up, right? It makes so much sense to me now.
In fact, it's absolutely hilarious. That Letterman is a funny dude, and the people who applauded, yeah, they got it too.
And Wanda Sykes did make fun of Obama being half-white. And she was funny.
"Sykes lauded Obama as "the first black President--unless you screw up. Then it's 'What's up with the half-white guy?' 'Who voted for the mulatto?'' "
But Republicans have zero sense of humor, so all they did was have a hissy fit.
Hoosier, a lot of the outrage! seems to stem from the joke perceived to be on Palin's younger teen daughter, who has done nothing to deserve scorn other than to be her mother's daughter. And no thinking person can blame her for that.
I don't buy that manufactured outrage because as I said above, the joke (I think) was directed at the older daughter who has put herself in the public sphere, what with her People Magazine interview, and all the public-ish spats with her son's biodad. Someone might say that the older daughter wasn't at the Stadium. But how many people actually know which daughter was there with Palin? I'm guessing 3.
If you don't want to be fodder for non-funny Late Night jokesters, don't seek out publicity. That means when People Magazine comes calling, you say NO.
rhhardin said...
News: jokes are not correct.
Imagine if Obama and family went to the NBA finals, and Letterman made a joke about Kobe bending Michelle over a chair at halftime. I'd think many folks who consider the Palin/ARod "joke" funny would not be amused.
It's not funny even if it was directed at Bristol, MadisonMan. This is what we laugh at? Come on.
She is, what...18?
Oh, well.
Lileks is great, there aren't many writers in the world who are as good as he is. And he writes almost every day!
Letterman was funny in 1986. It's now 2009.
I don't think it's a funny joke, but I understand where it came from.
(Thanks for naming the kid -- Bristol -- because it was bugging me that I couldn't remember)
that's an awesome comparison, Dan, and I'm certain that the audience wouldn't have clapped for that.
I used to be a great fan of Dave's but I've given up. He's gotten stale, Paul Shaffer has managed to get less funny (which I didn't think was possible), and Dave's bitter and angry obsession with President Bush totally killed my enjoyment of his show.
David Letterman walks into a bar. The bartender says, “Hey, you’re that guy from the TV!”
David Letterman says, “No, not at all. But I hear that all the time. Some people think I look like popular, award winning late-night TV talk show host David Letterman.”
“Yeah, right,” says the bartender. “Cause if you was, I was gonna bust your fucking head in.”
“Oh my! Well, there’s certainly no cause for that. But do you mind telling me what you’ve got against this Letterman character?”
And then the bartender busts Letterman’s fucking head in because he’s not that stupid.
The End.
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
Let me join my voice to those who think Letterman is pathetic and not very funny (nor, for that matter, ever was truly funny). I think the people at NBC knew what they were doing when they gave the tonight show to Leno.
Does anyone remember about 15 years ago or so, when Letterman used to bring on Sirajul and Mujibar? I am the only one who thinks that, maybe, just maybe, there was a teensy bit of racism in all of that?
John at 9:41 is exactly right. Letterman and Stewart are part of the Establishment, especially Letterman. SNL is the Establishment as well. Colbert has a little edge, but not nearly as much as Miller. The Establishment is not edgy; it is self-satisfied, unquestioning, and almost always boring.
Darcy, you are right; Letterman *is* creepy.
NKVD, sorry dude, but mcg is right. The exception proves the rule. Think about it long enough and you will understand. It really is a great insight when one finally understands WHY the exception proves the rule.
Imagine if Obama and family went to the NBA finals, and Letterman made a joke about Kobe bending Michelle over a chair at halftime. I'd think many folks who consider the Palin/ARod "joke" funny would not be amused.
But there's no unexpected connection there. The setup is not the joke.
When something else that you already know is pulled into play unexpectedly, you get a joke.
I am sorry to expose the workings of the humor mechanism to public view like this.
If you want to take down Letterman, do it on the other nine jokes in that series, which are nothing but mean ``we will all agree on Palin politics'' lines.
None of them funny, or as we say, clever.
Rush
``What's the difference between God and Obama?
The difference is that God does not think he's Obama.''
The audience claps because there are lots of "Applause" signs and several people serving as applause cheerleaders to the audience.
I know this first-hand because I was in the audience of the Letterman show in 1994.
Michelle Obama is fellating Kobe Bryant during half-time. She comes up for air and says, “I can taste your pre-ejaculatory fluid.”
Kobe says, “Sometimes I dribble before I shoot.”
Wholly gratuitous mention of Michelle Obama!
Fifteen yard penalty!
No first down!
David is old and creepy. I don't think most people would fuck him with Michelle Obama's no doubt sizable dick.
I guess, for laughs, that would not necessarily endear him to other powerful liberal Jews in the media...Dave could follow his Palin daughter joke with "more irony"...
Noting that Palins other daughters have a 20% chance of also getting knocked up outside marriage.
But as black females, Obama's daughters Sashia and Malia have a 73% chance of getting knocked up outside marriage.
"If I was President Obama, I'd task my Secret Service with a special mission to watch the older one, Malia. She is just two years away from prime ghetto trash breeding age.." Dave could chortle. "I mean, it's probably safe for the younger one, at least for the President's 1st term....but in a couple of years, he best have instructions for her Secret Service people to tackle Malia if they see her with a boy, force her legs closed, then tie-wrap them." [Dave cues "ironic applause from appreciative NYC sophisticates in his audience]. "Or at least wait until they are 17, like Obama's mom, and have a reverse case of jungle fever..A hankering for a cute, older white "love 'em and leave 'em" bigamist", Dave concludes..
================
Limbaugh justly got in trouble for his Chelsea jokes. Many, including Letterman, said targeting children of politicians was outside comedic bounds...
Most people were in the “it's not very funny” camp on Limbaugh's nastiness. One joke El Rushbo made in his failed TV career was about Chelsey Clinton (picture was shown of first family’s cat Socks and then their dog, (OOPS picture of Chelsea inserted, ha, ha).
Later, not the wiser, Limbaugh laughed along with a call-in listener doing Chelsea jokes on the theme that Chelsea and Hillary were homely creatures that made Lewinsky look like a love goddess.
(Apparantly the entire White House had to be repainted as paint would peel as Hillary or Chelsea walked into a room. And Buddy was not killed by a car. He was killed by Chelsea in a rage of silbling rivalry. )
===============
But, unfortunately, getting back to the serious...Palin does have a real image problem: Great on charisma and looks and shouting old conservative slogans to the True Believers. But unschooled, lacking any depth on many issues, Wasilla hillbilly shopping sprees, poison to moderate women voters, independents. Husband with shady deals, kids with issues..
Don't know who "Dolly Parson" is, and clearly, Hanoi Jane is not the most reliable source for truth.
Carry on - things that disprove rules prove rules in your world, so all is well.
"Palin does have a real image problem: Great on charisma and looks and shouting old conservative slogans to the True Believers. But unschooled, lacking any depth on many issues, Wasilla hillbilly shopping sprees, poison to moderate women voters, independents. Husband with shady deals, kids with issues.."
Why is Palin shopping in New York a "hillbilly shopping spree" while Michelle Obama running around London like some uncultured rube who has never left the country OK?
What shady deals does her husband have? Whatever they are, they couldn't be any shadier than Hillary Clinton's deals at the Rose Law firm and reading the Wall Street Journal and magically making 100K on commodities trading. If you want kids with issues, look no further than Al Gore. As far as depth on the issues, she is no shallower than The Obama. Just what the hell does "hope and change" mean? And how exactly was the dark nigh of fascism falling on America in 2008 yet isn't now despite the continuation of nearly all of Bush's anti-terror policies? Yet none of that seems to matter except when it is Palin.
The remarks made about Palin show what an awful country we have become. Certain people because of where they are from and where they went to school are excused for being borish idiots (see Biden, Joe) while anyone from the outside is completely trashed at all times. Palin is held to a rediculously high standard and held up to ridicule because she is a nobody for Alaska who had the termity to speak up. And that is simply not allowed in this country anymore.
You're an awfully weird duck, NKVD.
For one thing, as I noted in the immediately following post, it's Dolly Parton, not Dolly Parson. I guess reading's not your strong suit, either. (What is, may I ask?)
Second, did you even bother to watch the YouTube clips? If you did you'd see that Jane Fonda was on the Carson show talking about the Zsa Zsa Gabor joke. Johnny denied the allegation in jest---because everyone knew it was true. I've got the original on DVD somewhere, but if you're not going to take my word for it, well, screw off. Maybe someone else will take pity on you and dig up an online copy.
These two instances of Carson humor are well known. They are truly amongst his greatest hits. (Indeed, the first YouTube clip I posted was from one of his farewell shows, where he was playing old classic clips.) It's pretty dumb to sit here and stand your ground on a piece of silly trivia (particularly when you are on the wrong side of it).
Who knows, maybe one day that little background process we all have going on in our brains will register the truth of "exception that proves the rule" idiom to you, and you'll wake up in bed with the realization that you really did come across as an idiot here.
If you don't want to be fodder for non-funny Late Night jokesters, don't seek out publicity. That means when People Magazine comes calling, you say NO..
Perhaps you're right. I guess I need to lower my expectations of what constitutes comedy nowadays.
For Downtownlad
Do you know how to give artificial respiration to an AIDS victim? [Acted out: teller pretends to stomp on chest of someone lying on floor, blows toward face.]
Do you know how to keep from getting AIDS? Sit on your ass and keep your mouth shut
Ha ha ha ha...What? They're just jokes. Right?
Geez DTL get a sense of humor and lighten up.
DTL: "But I'm not going to get outraged about it. Tell those jokes all you want. I really don't care."
AIDS is funny...hee hee. Jokes about getting AIDS are just hilarious...ha ha. Jokes about people getting kidney disease and dieing....what a crack up. Women that people should revenge fuck and rape according to Playboy....what a laugh. So funny. So clever.
/sarcsam off
None of the above is funny, but evidently it is acceptable if you aim your slime at a Conservative and especially at Conservative Women.
I thought all the people who think of flight attendants as slutty were in nursing homes by now.
The Carson/Zsa Zsa joke is an urban legend, as in it didn't happen. Check it out on snopes.com
My afflictions are the stuff of tragedy. Yours' are kind of funny.
And by the way. What the HELL is this. Michelle looks like a Mexican pinata. Or she raided the nearest Salvation Army sale racks.
WTF??
But I guess it's ok because she is so 'smooth'. Just imagine Sara Palin wearing something like THAT. The hillbilly, white trash, no class labels would be flying.
The hypocrisy is incredible.
The hypocrisy of the left of my imagined strawman is incredible. Just incredible!
Oh. LOL, DBQ. WTF is right!
That must be why Tammy Bruce is ripping on her today. Tweeting pics of Jackie Kennedy. ;-)
Well I'll be damned, MadisonMan. I could swear I had actually seen the Zsa Zsa exchange myself.
Well there you go, NKVD, I was wrong about that one. I guess that leaves only the Dolly Parton joke.
And heck, it even makes my 'exception that proves the rule' argument even stronger, much to your frustration I'm sure.
And by the way. What the HELL is this. Michelle looks like a Mexican pinata. Or she raided the nearest Salvation Army sale racks. .
She might not want to pull her hair back since her pin head only makes the rest of her look enormous.
Darcy: maybe her kids made it for her. I remember when my kindergarted aged daugher made me a necklace of colored macarroni. I did wear it, proudly and then took it off as soon as I was at work. It was coloring my neck.
However, I think I would draw the line at wearing a macarroni necklace to Westminster Abbey as a representative of the United States.
WTF was she thinking???and the fawning press??? well we know what they are thinking.
"Teaming the look with a patterned belt the U.S. First Lady made the most of her narrow waist, while smartly referencing eclectic catwalk looks by British designer Christopher Kane.
Worn with dark slim-fitting trousers she topped it off with not one, but two cardigans.
That decision, however, may have had more to do with the chilly British weather than any fashion statement.
Completing the fashion-forward look were a collection of silver necklaces and some smart black pumps. "
You have got to be kidding me. Again. Just imagine Sara Palin in such a hideous outfit.
Michelle Obama didn't hear that national dress up like a clown day was last week not this week.
John Ziegler was on a roll about this today on NBC-good for him!
Miss him on KFI!
There's another Carson urban legend out there too. (source)
Johnny Carson remarked to Jack Nicklaus' wife that her tradition of kissing Jack's balls before a golf game must "make his putter flutter."
I guess the guy was so classy that the some of the classless stuff he's purported to have said was made up!
Darcy had it right.
Letterman is creepy. That's the main reason his joke is wrong.
I ain't outraged. Shit, I haven't watched Letterman in a decade. Few have, as I understand. Outrage? I can't even muster any inrage about it.
It's just gross is what it is. He's way too old too be saying that kind of stuff; an aging Fonzy, still trying to hit on chicks.
eeerrrr. kindergarten
I think my Grandmother had an apron similar to the one that Michelle is wearing. Maybe she is going to be making some bisquits later in the day?
No One is as outraged as me fellow republicans.
Let's bottle our outrage and splew it all over the world.
This has got to stop.
The liberal media and liberal Hollywood are against us and we must must fight back.
Yes, we have Jon Voight but we need more. Yes, we have Rush but we need more. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes. Now let's fucking do it.
Man your typewriters, call your neighbors.
Let's organize and fight this. This will not stand and I for one am raging hard.
Fellow republicans rage hard with me.
I want to feel and see you all you raging hard now, fuckers.
This is war.
Bissage: Michelle Obama is fellating Kobe Bryant ... Kobe says, “Sometimes I dribble before I shoot.”
LMAO.
And anyone who'd like to demonstrate what a deviant, pathetic creature they are can pull a Letterman by exchanging the name 'Michelle' for the name of one of her children.
Oh Dr. Strangeloaf, go pinch or something.
Don't you have a teenage daughter-of-a-Republican to mock? I mean, their must be some really great bon mots to share about freshman girls, so have at it.
Michelle looks like a Mexican pinata.
She looks like she just left a "rainbow party" hosted by lions wearing lipstick.
Men like this always go after the mothers. Sometimes, it just makes you want to shrivel their penises to the size of a vienna sausage.
What do we tell our children?
What on earth do we tell our children?
Dear God what do we tell our children.
By the way Madge was in Ptown last weekend for Marc Jacobs wedding and I wasn't there. I am totally deva.
Madison Man, why are you defending Letterman's audience?
They laughed at a joke about rape. In actuality the rape of a 14 year old.
You have no actual basis for assuming the audience did not know the daughter being "joked" about was 14. Letterman and his producers certainly knew.
It is a safe bet that some to many in that audience who laughed knew full well the daughter was underage - and didn't care.
What you are doing is at best one step away from laughing at a joke about the rape of a 14 year old.
The most rational reason for your behavior is that you are not really defending the audience - you are defending yourself.
Fellow republicans, man your computers and begin typing.
Type like there is no tomorrow because there likely will be no tomorrow the way this country is going.
And finally group prayer. Let's all hold hands and pray.
Hosannah in the highest, praise the lord, a new day will come.
Can you
Feel The
Brand New Day
Can you
Feel The
Brand New Day!!!!
Just to prove I am an equal offender I wouldn't mind some Sasha and Malia nappy headed ho jokes. The more the merrier!!!
Also, Michelle Obama, hello? There is tons of material there. Let's get her.
Fag jokes, love em!!!!
What does AIDS stand for? Another infected dick sucker!!!!! WOOOOO.
OK, I have to fly out.
I am going to run from my loft in a very dramatic fashion, hopefully bump into tourists from the south and definitely not say excuse me, and yell TAXI while I have my blackberry up to my ear and my Burberry Tote tangling from my sculpted shoulder. I live for that shit. It's show time and I am ready to work the runway.
At some point Ann, can't you go back to moderating your comments? It would allow you to do something about this titus person who is constantly spamming the threads.
As far as I know Althouse likes Titus.
What you are doing is at best one step away from laughing at a joke about the rape of a 14 year old.
According to my superficial research, the joke is funny in Hawaii, Idaho and Connecticut.
Federal joke laws are needed.
People having fun is at best one step away from a journey of a thousand miles.
Titus is good today.
"As far as I know Althouse likes Titus."
But I don't think that is Titus. I think that is someone making fun of the real Titus whoever that is. The postings are never interesting or funny. And they just break up the flow of the conversation.
The postings are never interesting or funny. And they just break up the flow of the conversation..
That's Titus.
Now if he asks you to suck his dick then you'll know it's Jeremy in disguise. The real Titus never begs for oral sex.
Many of you midwestern White Men have not experienced the African-American culture of educated feminists with beautiful to African Royal customs of dress used as their commom identity. Michelle is dressing that way. So what. Spelman College in Atlanta is the center of this culture.
DBQ: What a fashion DON'T! LOL.
If the explanation of her wearing that does not involve her daughters, I'll laugh even more.
F15C, you mistake understanding for defending. I'm giving the audience the benefit of the doubt. Would it be better if I am OUTRAGED!!!!!!!!! and rend my garments?
The coverage of the Obama's trip to Europe looks like a remake of Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Only difference is that the Zira character has been changed from a chimpanzee to a gorilla...
Spelman College in Atlanta is the center of this culture.
Is that a real college? I swear I thought it was a made up one for Dwayne Wayne, Whitney, and the Cosby Show daughter in that a Different World show.
I can't see the picture alas. Work blocks photobucket.
I'll answer that, MadisionMan: Yes.
And post a pic. ;-)
I think the legs that the outrage gets come from the stereotypical woman's complaint that men always want sex, and the legs come from that audience.
Men pretty much keep quiet about it because they've learned how not to get sex is to argue.
There are a few transformations and displacements, but I think that's what's going on.
rh, it only bothers me because you got a 62 year old man taking a swipe at a 14 year old girl.
I mean, what a pussy.
It's really not a question of "was it funny." People laugh at "dead baby jokes" and tell the worst sort of jokes that are funnier than anything.
"But wow - Republicans have really turned into the biggest whiny victims, with zero sense of humor, haven't they. It was Wanda a few weeks ago, then this."
Conservatives are slow learners and late-adapters... but they *do* learn.
"If you want to take down Letterman, do it on the other nine jokes in that series, which are nothing but mean ``we will all agree on Palin politics'' lines.
None of them funny, or as we say, clever."
You know... I actually noticed that when I read the "transcript" that had the 7th inning knock-up joke redacted. (I trust that it has been restored.) The only "joke" that was in any way clever was that one.
Doesn't make it okay to include the children of politicians in "jokes" but it actually was the only one that was "clever." No wonder he's hanging on to it for dear life.
Letterman has a brutal face. A commissar masquerading as a cool cat.
Letterman probably wouldn't think a joke about a pedophile butt fucking Dave's 6 year old bastard son was very funny.
i'm still waiting for the biden-daughter-as-crack-addict joke.
if it's fair game to joke about individuals based on a pure association of their siblings (in this case bristol), can we joke about obama based on what all of his half brothers/sisters have done? since one of his half brother got busted for sexual assault of a young girl, are we gonna start making jokes as to whether obama is petting bo or sasha?
oh, and if it was palin's half brother, who she's never met and living in another continent who got busted for the same offense (or lesser), it would be front page news.
Keep digging, mcg - "because everyone knew it was true" is not a good way to find the truth.
And no, I don't read your posts. But keep typing, I am sure that someone does.
But wow - Republicans have really turned into the biggest whiny victims, with zero sense of humor, haven't they. It was Wanda a few weeks ago, then this. There was something else last week that Republicans had a cow about - can't even remember now.
The Republicans are just perpetually outraged. They need to get a life. And remember, last Fall Republicans were outraged because they said Obama did not have a sense of humor. Projecting much?
Ok, then I guess the Obama daughters are officially fair game, right? And if you complain about making fun of the children of liberal politicians, you'll be a hypocrit.
But I'll be surprised if any big name from the Right will sink as low as Letterman.
That was funny. A joke about an 18 year old White girl being impregnated by a 35 year old black guy from the Dominican Republic.
It's funny that so many White males get off on the idea of black men sexually "punishing" or impregnating the White women these White men hate.
It plays on their deep seated sexual anxieties toward black males and their hunger to defile the White females who have evaded, rejected or challenged them.
America's multibillion dollar porn industry thrives on these psycho-sexual needs.
Right, 14 year old girl. The 18 year old was not available.
Enjoying a little porn makes me that sick, jd? I'll have to go soft(er).
The LA Times is not the first paper I would expect to be defending the Palins and nailing Letterman, but here they are: Aging man, 62, jokes about girl, 14. And, apparently today, Letterman issued a clarification, but no apology. He claimed that it was aimed at 18 year old Bristol, and not 14 year old Willow. Big of him.
That was funny. A joke about an 18 year old White girl being impregnated by a 35 year old black guy from the Dominican Republic.
But, of course, the White girl at the game was 14, not 18.
Too bad though that Letterman only has a boy, and apparently no girls. Still, maybe someone can come up with a joke about his 6 year old son being raped.
Keep digging, mcg - "because everyone knew it was true" is not a good way to find the truth.
Indeed not. The problem for you was that my detail mistake only serves to further reinforce my original point.
And no, I don't read your posts. But keep typing, I am sure that someone does.
Wow, you can't even lie worth a damn.
So Letterman, the guy who waited six years to marry the mother of his children is ridiculing someone else for sexual impropriety. Huh.
"Letterman issued a clarification, but no apology. He claimed that it was aimed at 18 year old Bristol, and not 14 year old Willow. Big of him."
The only thing that made the joke "clever" as rhhardin was going on about, is that it's a joke about *both* girls.
Ignoring for a moment that the jokiness of it is irrelevant... the "funny" was based on a "call back", based on a reminder of the past event and the other daughter.
If Bristol is the subject then the "funny" is that she's collecting children from different fathers... and it's not possible to "call back" to that.
This is also why no one can come up with a "funny" joke about Letterman's child being sexually exploited.
BTW, good on the LA Times.
This really should be no-brainer for anyone to figure out.
Also... good thing it wasn't Piper at the game, huh.
You guys are just offended because Bristol doesn't know where babies come from.
If Sarah Palin believed in realistically teaching responsible sexual behavior to adolescents, then she wouldn't have been so embarrassed by the "joke". And yes, it was a stupid and mean-spirited joke, especially if it was in meant to be in reference to the 14-year old. So let's get over our outrage and admit that the political message behind it has to do with the stupidity of abstinence-only education.
What the Palins are pissed about is that someone would imply that their kids wouldn't take abstinence-only education seriously.
Admit it.
You guys are just offended because Bristol doesn't know where babies come from.
If Sarah Palin believed in realistically teaching responsible sexual behavior to adolescents, then she wouldn't have been so embarrassed by the "joke". And yes, it was a stupid and mean-spirited joke, especially if it was in meant to be in reference to the 14-year old. So let's get over our outrage and admit that the political message behind it has to do with the stupidity of abstinence-only education.
What the Palins are pissed about is that someone would imply that their kids wouldn't take abstinence-only education seriously.
Admit it.
That may be one of the incoherent internet posts I have ever seen.
First, it doesn't happen to be factual. Sarah Palin has always supported a multi-faceted response to teenage pregnancy that includes, but is not limited to, abstinence education. I have worked in that field over the years and no one turns down grant money just because it includes teaching abstinence education as well as other approaches. It would be utterly irresponsible of Palin as governor to reject all that grant money rather than include an abstinence only component.
So the central theory to your post is inaccurate.
A secondary underlying theory to your post is that you think having had a baby with a long time boyfriend means that a woman would also have a sexual liason with a complete stranger nearly twice her age met on a restroom break. Sort of a 'once a slut, always a slut' theory ....
Doesn't speak well of your overall view of women does it?
Letterman screwed up by including the kids - who even President Obama said were "off limits" during the campaign - and getting the wrong child made his sexist comment appear even more creepy.
Shit happens when you don't have the guts to directly the confront the person with whom you disagree and attack their children instead.
Claiming there was some "political message" about abstinence education in the joke is just silly.
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