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I guess the Flap is over.

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.”

The apology came after David Letterman took his biggest step to put the furor surrounding his jokes about Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughters behind him.

“I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future,” Letterman told the studio audience.

Who benefitted?

Exit answer: BOTH

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David Letterman Apologizes AGAIN to Sarah Palin and Her Daughters?

Does the David Letterman – Sarah Palin Flap Help Letterman in the Television Ratings?

Day By Day by Chris Muir June 12, 2009 – Contemporaries

Senator John McCain Defends Sarah Palin Against David Letterman’s Jokes

Video: David Letterman Defends Jokes About Sarah Palin and Her Daughters

Sarah and Todd Palin Respond to David Letterman’s Crude Joke About Their Daughter

Audio: Rudy Giuliani on Sarah Palin

NBC’s Early Today Bags on Sarah Palin for Calling David Letterman Pathetic As Letterman Calls Palin’s Daughter a Prostitute

Video: Letterman Stays Classy – Mocks Sarah Palin’s Daughter as “Knocked Up”

Sarah Palin’s Trip to New York – Updating That “SLUTTY” Flight Attendant Look

So, was this another apology by David Letterman for the crude jokes he made about Sarah Palin and her daughters, Willow and Bristol?

Here is the text of the apology:

“All right, here – I’ve been thinking about this situation with Governor Palin and her family now for about a week – it was a week ago tonight, and maybe you know about it, maybe you don’t know about it.  But there was a joke that I told, and I thought I was telling it about the older daughter being at Yankee Stadium. And it was kind of a coarse joke. There’s no getting around it, but I never thought it was anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure in fact that she is of legal age, 18. Yeah. But the joke really, in and of itself, can’t be defended. The next day, people are outraged. They’re angry at me because they said, ‘How could you make a lousy joke like that about the 14-year-old girl who was at the ball game?’  And I had, honestly, no idea that the 14-year-old girl, I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the governor and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani … and I really should have made the joke about Rudy …” (audience applauds) “But I didn’t, and now people are getting angry and they’re saying, ‘Well, how can you say something like that about a 14-year-old girl, and does that make you feel good to make those horrible jokes about a kid who’s completely innocent, minding her own business,’ and, turns out, she was at the ball game. I had no idea she was there. So she’s now at the ball game, and people think that I made the joke about her. And, but still, I’m wondering, ‘Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?’ I’ve never made jokes like this as long as we’ve been on the air, 30 long years, and you can’t really be doing jokes like that. And I understand, of course, why people are upset. I would be upset myself.
 
“And then I was watching the Jim Lehrer ‘Newshour’ – this commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl, and I thought, ‘Oh, boy, now I’m beginning to understand what the problem is here. It’s the perception rather than the intent.’ It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception. And, as they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it’s not a very good joke.  And I’m certainly – ” (audience applause) “– thank you. Well, my responsibility – I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. That it was misunderstood.” (audience applauds) “Thank you. So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much.” (audience applause).

Kind of a half-assed, lawyerized approach wouldn’t you say?

Letterman received his bump in the Nielsen ratings and now is trying to stem protests and loss of sponsors due to his outrageous jokes about the Sarah Palin daughters.

David Letterman’s comments about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and one of her daughters has prompted a hotel chain to pull its advertising on CBS’ website — and spawned a campaign to fire the Late Show host that includes a planned protest outside his studio.

Embassy Suites, part of the Hilton Hotels Corp., pulled advertising on CBS’ site because of complaints, company spokeswoman Kendra Walker told TVGuide.com. The company was not an advertiser on Letterman’s show.

“We received lots of e-mails from concerned guests and we assessed that the statement that he made was offensive enough to our guests and prospective guests that we elected to take the ads down,” Walker said. She declined to release the cost of the ads.

CBS declined to comment Tuesday.

I mentioned when Letterman first broadcast the New York Yankee – Alex Rodriguez “Knocked Up” joke that he had confused the Palin daughters. It was 14 year old Willow who attended the game with her mom and accompanied by Mayor Rudy Giuliani. However, it is hard to believe that Letterman does NOT have a top flight research staff and could not have easily corrected the joke directed at a minor or issue a statement within hours.

This second NON-APOLOGY lacks credibility.

So, what happens next?

• Letterman will endure some protests and lose some sponsors of his show – as will CBS. His contract will be renewed for another two years and he will NOT even be suspended.
• Sarah Palin will gain some political points by being a sympathetic figure and attention will be drawn to the media who have bashed her incessantly since she was nominated as Vice President.
• Conan O’Brien will continue to win the late night rating’s war.

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Does the David Letterman – Sarah Palin Flap Help Letterman in the Television Ratings?

Day By Day by Chris Muir June 12, 2009 – Contemporaries

Senator John McCain Defends Sarah Palin Against David Letterman’s Jokes

Video: David Letterman Defends Jokes About Sarah Palin and Her Daughters

Sarah and Todd Palin Respond to David Letterman’s Crude Joke About Their Daughter

Audio: Rudy Giuliani on Sarah Palin

NBC’s Early Today Bags on Sarah Palin for Calling David Letterman Pathetic As Letterman Calls Palin’s Daughter a Prostitute

Video: Letterman Stays Classy – Mocks Sarah Palin’s Daughter as “Knocked Up”

Sarah Palin’s Trip to New York – Updating That “SLUTTY” Flight Attendant Look

Perhaps.

Sarah Palin would no doubt be horrified by the idea, but there’s a chance she could become the same boon to David Letterman’s career that Hugh Grant was to Jay Leno’s.

Grant’s 1995 appearance on NBC’s “Tonight” show after a prostitution arrest, where Leno famously asked “what were you thinking?,” was seen in retrospect as a turning point in the late-night race. It drew a huge audience and propelled Leno to the top of the ratings, a spot he would not relinquish.

Letterman did not court last week’s battle with Palin, who called him “perverted” for making a joke about her daughter getting “knocked up” by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, and he said in retrospect the remark was in poor taste.

Palin rebuffed his invitations to appear on the show, but that might not matter. The story had the effect of turning the attention to Letterman at a critical time, during the second week of his new competition with Leno’s replacement, Conan O’Brien.

Well, even with the new Conan O’Brien Show taking over Jay Leno’s Tonight Show spot and the Palin-Letterman Flap, Letterman still lags.

But, the TV by the numbers do show the desperation of CBS and Letterman to fight Conan O’Brien and NBC for that younger age demographic. And, why not do it with sex-laced jokes? And Ridicule?

Oh, the TV Biz…….

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Day By Day by Chris Muir June 12, 2009 – Contemporaries

Senator John McCain Defends Sarah Palin Against David Letterman’s Jokes

Video: David Letterman Defends Jokes About Sarah Palin and Her Daughters

Sarah and Todd Palin Respond to David Letterman’s Crude Joke About Their Daughter

Audio: Rudy Giuliani on Sarah Palin

NBC’s Early Today Bags on Sarah Palin for Calling David Letterman Pathetic As Letterman Calls Palin’s Daughter a Prostitute

Video: Letterman Stays Classy – Mocks Sarah Palin’s Daughter as “Knocked Up”

Sarah Palin’s Trip to New York – Updating That “SLUTTY” Flight Attendant Look

Day By Day by Chris Muir

The Sarah Palin – David Letterman Flap continues with Palin calling for Letterman to offer up an apology to women.

Sarah Palin says David Letterman owes an apology to young women across the country for his joke about her daughter.

The Alaska governor appeared on NBC’s “Today” show Friday, continuing a feud with the CBS “Late Show” funnyman over his joke earlier this week that Palin’s daughter got “knocked up” by New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez during their recent trip to New York.

Palin also said she doesn’t believe she should be automatically considered the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Asked by Matt Lauer whether Letterman owed her daughter an apology, the former vice presidential candidate broadened it.

“I would like to see him apologize to young women across the country for contributing to kind of that thread that is throughout our culture that makes it sound like it is OK to talk about young girls in that way, where it’s kind of OK, accepted and funny to talk about statutory rape,” she said. “It’s not cool. It’s not funny.”

Indeed, it is NOT cool and NOT funny.

David Letterman hopes this flap blows over but I have a feeling that folks will rise up against David Letterman’s sponsors.

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