BUMPED: Letterman Makes Another Sex "Joke" About Willow Palin; Statement from the Palins; UPDATE: Letterman Issues a Non-Apology; Call to Action!

On Monday, Letterman "joked" that 14-year-old Willow Palin was "knocked up" by Alex Rodriguez during a baseball game.

Last night, he associated Willow Palin with Eliot Spitzer and prostitution:



Classy.

UPDATE by JR: Contact CBS and let them know what you think about David Letterman making cruel jokes about 14 year old children:

General CBS contact form can be found here.

"Lateshow" feedback form can be found here.

CBS bigwig contact addresses:

Nina Tassler
Kelly Kahl
Audsvcs
Kim Sartor
Les Moonves

Call CBS: 212-975-4321

List of sponsors courtesy of The New Agenda:

TV.com
Aveeno (owned by Johnson & Johnson)
Canon
Charmin (owned by Proctor & Gamble)
Citibank
Downy (also owned by P&G)
Hellman’s
Lexus (owned by Toyota)
Nissan
Rogaine

UPDATE by RAM: The following statements were issued by Gov. Palin and Alaska's First Gentleman about Letterman's treatment of their 14-year-old daughter:

"Any 'jokes' about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too."

- Todd Palin

"Concerning Letterman's comments about my young daughter (and I doubt he'd ever dare make such comments about anyone else's daughter): 'Laughter incited by sexually-perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is not only disgusting, but it reminds us some Hollywood/NY entertainers have a long way to go in understanding what the rest of America understands - that acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contribute to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others.'"

- Governor Sarah Palin

UPDATE II by RAM: From Victor Davis Hanson, our favorite intellectual at NRO:

Letterman in His Dotage [Victor Davis Hanson]

Letterman attacked in crass sexual terms both Palin and her daughter: Two of the rhetorical cornerstones of the feminist movement used to be zero-tolerance for sexual slurs by men alleging promiscuity ("slutty flight-attendant look"), and jokes about something as serious as rape (e.g., Palin's 14-year-old daughter "knocked up by Alex Rodriguez"). David Letterman, who has become ever more creepy in his dotage, on both counts proved a boor — and receives only silence? (Personally, I admire flight attendants a great deal: They put up with a great deal from jet lag to obnoxious passengers, and somehow remain polite and hard-working — and with a modest and professional look.)

UPDATE III by RAM: Great stuff from Little Miss Attila. Read it. It's vintage.

UPDATE IV by RAM: I am heartened to learn that ordinary Americans on the left side of the political spectrum are also disgusted with Letterman’s “jokes” about Gov. Palin’s 14-year-old daughter.

The Dr. Socks of the “Reclusive Leftist” blog reminds us that “Sexism isn’t selective, and misogyny isn’t something that only applies to certain women”:

Remember the Sarah Palin rape jokes? Remember the “C***” t-shirts? Remember the boiling rivers of misogyny that poured from the so-called progressive blogs? Remember the feminism-free feminists who laughed right along?

This stuff metastasizes. Behavior begets behavior. As I wrote last year — one of many, many posts:

“The haters don’t care about Palin’s political positions. They’re driven by some inchoate impulse to crucify the woman herself. To rape her with words.”

Read the rest of her post. DaTechguy, who tipped us off to Dr. Socks’ post, notes that we might disagree with Socks on any number of issues, but she’s an honest voice.

You don’t have to be a conservative or a supporter of Gov. Palin to find Letterman’s comments cheap and cruel and offensive.

UPDATE V by RAM: Letterman has issued a non-apology apology. He’s insisting that the joke was about Bristol, even though Bristol wasn’t even in New York. The daughter who attended the baseball game was Willow.

“We were, as we often do, making jokes about people in the news and we made some jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughter [Bristol]... and now they’re upset with me…” Letterman says on tonight's show. "These are not jokes made about her 14-year-old daughter. I would never, never make jokes about raping or having sex of any description with a 14-year-old girl.... Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes. Did I suggest that it was okay for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No." Saying he hopes he's "cleared part of this up," Letterman extended an invitation to Palin to come on the show as a guest.

Gee, you think she’ll go on your show after you suggested that her 14-year-old daughter was a prostitute and made a joke about that same 14-year-old getting sexually assaulted?

I have to ask, did it make any difference really which Palin daughter it was? Is sexual assault a joke?

UPDATE VI by RAM: Here is video of Letterman’s non-apology:



I’m sorry. I have seen the Palins treated heartlessly in the past, but that video is just too much. The audience is laughing about a cruel joke made about someone’s 14-year-old daughter.

This is “hope” and “change”?

You may wonder why we keep writing about this. It’s not about stirring up controversy for web traffic. We are fighting this because if we let this slide then we are saying that the Palins are fair game for everything. If their 14-year-old daughter is not off limits, then nothing is. If this heartless jerk can get away with this, then what next? Can we expect jokes about little Piper? When is enough enough?

I would be disgusted by this if it were anyone’s daughter.

Are you upset by this? Then make your voices heard. A number of you have been emailing the local CBS affiliate in Anchorage. Here is the reply they are sending out:

I want to thank you for taking the time to write regarding the recent comments about Sarah Palin and her family on The David Letterman Show. I want to let you know that KTVA does not condone this type of treatment of a minor. While our Governor may be a controversial figure, her minor daughter is not. In my opinion this crosses the line and have registered my complaint with CBS corporate management. While I understand from CBS and David Letterman that there has been some confusion regarding which daughter he was referring to, the responsibility rests with them to make this clear. As the General Manager I regret that this content regarding a minor aired on our station. We are previewing tonight's Letterman Show to see if there is a repeat instance of this content. If there is, we will not air another sexually derogatory reference about a Palin minor. I also encourage our viewers to register their sentiments on this matter. CBS maintains an Audience Services telephone number for these types of issues. That number is 1-212-975-3247. I will also be forwarding every email I receive regarding this matter to CBS.

Regards, Jerry Bever
Jerry Bever Vice President/General Manager KTVA-TV Alaska Broadcasting
Company, Inc.

Take his advice. Call CBS at 212-975-3247. Melt their phones.

Call every women’s organization you can think of. Call every sexual assault victims organization you can think of. Call every child protection advocacy group you can think of. Call every teen pregnancy organization you can think. Get a comment from all of them. Ask them if they have anything to say about David Letterman’s jokes about the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl. Ask them if they think it was alright that David Letterman declared that his joke was really about Gov. Palin’s 18-year-old daughter. Does it make it alright that he was mocking an 18-year-old mother? And if they have no comment, ask them why. Ask them what makes the Palins any different from any other family.

Don’t stand for this. Do you want ordinary citizen politicians? Well, the Palins are ordinary people. They got into politics for the right reasons. They wanted to serve. And this is how they are treated. If you want more people to get into politics for the right reasons, then you had better defend this family – otherwise what other family would put themselves out there when this is how they know they will be treated.

UPDATE VI: From the Riehl World View:

In over five years I have never seen the Right side blogs get a blog burst going that was this unified, or sustained. And it isn't only about Palin-mania. There is a surprising amount of anger among both bloggers and commenters on this issue. And it's about double standards and being shouted down, as much as it is about Palin.

For too long, the Right has had to put up with being called homophobic, racist, misogynist, ignorant, or evil, ad infinitum - you name it, often for nothing more than trying to convey a legitimate political point.

Now we are watching one of our own being maliciously assaulted with nothing more than utter filth being spewed at her ... and we're supposed to just take it. Most of the mainstream media hasn't even acknowledged this is going on.

UPDATE VII by RAM: Sebastian at Hillbuzz offers excellent advice on how to make them hear our voices. Go after Letterman's advertisers. Don't stop. Keep emailing. Multiple emails. Persistence is everything.

Here is an up-to-date list of his sponsors and their contact info.

Email! Call! Multiple times. Don't stop until he is fired or suspended.

Let it be a warning. They can't do this to her, and they can't do this to any woman. They can't do this to us.

UPDATE VIII by RAM: Take a look at what was said this morning on the Morning Joe:

[Harold Ford, Jr.] claimed that though Letterman was wrong to make sexual jokes about Sarah Palin's teenage daughter, somehow the Palins are "unique," and thus presumably an understandable target. Mika Brzezinski came down on him. A clearly uncomfortable Ford was soon seeking cover.

Are you angry yet? Imagine what the leftwing in this country would do if it were a conservative host attacking a Democrat politician's family in this way.

Don't just get mad. Get even. Email! Call! Don't stop until he is fired or suspended. We can make it happen. The left does this all the time. It's time we played the same game.

Don't stop! Keep the pressure on! Don't let them get away with this!

We can win if we keep the pressure on.

UPDATE by Mel: Per Norah O'Donnell at MSNBC, Todd Palin has released this statement (it is not yet on the official facebook page):

"Nice attempt by Letterman to draw the heat away from himself; however, Willow was the only one at the Yankees game and the only Palin child included in the photo opportunities with the Giulianis, as was obvious. Regardless of which Palin daughter it was, Bristol, Willow or Piper, these sexually-perverted comments are outside the acceptance of mainstream America."

For more information about Letterman's sponsors see here.

UPDATE II by Mel:

Tim Blair points out Letterman's bs:

So Sarah Palin went to a baseball game with her 14-year-old daughter, Letterman cracked wise about Palin’s daughter being knocked up by a baseball player during the game, but he was really talking about another daughter who … wasn’t at the game. Makes sense.

UPDATE III by Mel: From Meg Stapleton:

"The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show. Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."

UPDATE II by JR: John McCain defends Governor Palin:

"I don't understand why Letterman would say that about a young woman," McCain said during a telephone interview on Thursday. "They (the Palins) deserve some kind of protection from being the butt of late-night hosts."

UPDATE IV by Mel: From Senator Claire McCaskill (D - Missouri) via Twitter:

Letterman jokes about Palin's daughter. Way over the line. If it were my daughters I'd be furious. He should seriously apologize.

And from a press release from The New Agenda:

The New Agenda, a national organization dedicated to improving the lives of all women and girls regardless of political affiliation, called on David Letterman to demonstrate true contrition by devoting a segment of his show to some of the insidious ways language puts young women at risk.

And a piece from New Agenda President, Amy Siskind at the Huffington Post:

When is sexism acceptable? The answer should be never. Yet for many feminists in our country, only certain types of women have been worth defending. When a conservative woman is the target of an attack, many so-called feminists stay silent. This "selective sexism", or speaking out against sexism on a case by case basis, does not advance our national dialogue on women's issues. Rather, selective sexism allows a dangerous level of permissible sexism to live and breed in our country. The only way for the women of this country to truly move forward is to unite and speak out against all forms of sexism regardless of party or the source of the attack.

Read more here.

UPDATE IX by RAM: I was on the Tammy Bruce show this afternoon to discuss our call to action. Listen here.

UPDATE X by RAM: We have a new post up with the latest info. Keep contacting his sponsors. Don’t stop until he is fired or suspended. Send multiple emails. Call multiple times. Don’t stop. It works. Companies are already pulling their ads off of CBS's website. Keep the pressure on. Don't stop.