Letterman vs. Palin

All I've got is the ridunkulous feud between David Letterman and Sarah Palin.

I'm sure you've all heard by now that Letterman used Palin's recent trip to NYC as an opportunity to make some off-color jokes about her daughter, Bristol. Or at least he thought they were about Bristol. Turns out that Palin's 14-year-old daughter, Willow (where in the eff does she come up with these names?), was the one who accompanied her mother to New York. So, Palin assumed that Letterman was actually making jokes about her younger daughter being hit on by Elliot Spitzer and getting knocked up by A-Rod.

I assumed that most normal people would think:
1. The first joke was more of a dig at Elliot Spitzer than anyone.
2. The second one was a nod to A-Rod's philandering ways, as well as a reminder that Bristol is, in fact, a teenage mom.
3. Neither of these jokes had anything to do with the 14-year-old because, not only is that gross, but it also doesn't make any sense.

I either assumed wrong, or Sarah Palin is not a normal person. She and her supporters are calling for Letterman's head, and Palin suddenly thinks she's heading up NOW.

Sure, it may be in poor taste to make sexual jokes about a young girl, even an 18-year-old, but I doubt there would have been such an uproar had the joke been made about, say, Jamie Lynn Spears. And I'm sure there have been worse jokes made about her...possibly even on this very blog.

As far as the politicians' rally cry of "Don't pick on my family," if they're of age and in the public eye, they're fair game for comedians, talk show hosts, gossip rags, and bloggers. That's just the way it goes. Palin complained to Matt Lauer on Today that Obama's family was never picked on (would that have made her feel better?), but his girls are 8 and 11. They haven't done anything yet that's worth ridiculing! And, come on, it's not like this is something brand new. The Bush girls were constantly skewered on late night TV as hard-partying airheads, and the media made some pretty brutal attacks on Chelsea Clinton's looks.

Sure, Letterman's poorly-researched jokes may have been low blows, but Palin's eagerness to pounce on him and go so far as to suggest that he's a pedophile (or at least a pervert) who condones child rape is even lower. She refused to accept Letterman's explanation that the comments were about Bristol, telling Lauer, "You and anybody else are extremely naive to believe that very convenient excuse." So, it's naive to believe Letterman's totally logical assertion that the joke about one of Palin's daughters getting knocked up was meant for the one who actually did get knocked up, but it makes perfect sense to jump to the conclusion that David Letterman is a pervy old man who thinks raping young girls is hilarious?? Interesting.

At first, Letterman didn't seem to think an apology was in order, but he finally caved. I doubt that will stop the "Fire David Letterman" rally set for tomorrow afternoon, though. It's kind of hard to stop a shitstorm already in progress.

I don't know, I can see Palin's side in that if I had a daughter, I would want to defend her if someone was saying rude things about her. But there were probably a million ways she could have responded to the jokes, all of which would have been better than the way she did.

What do you guys think?