Word: letterman
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...second question, in one sense the rules are different for celebrities than for politicians. But in another way, Letterman is exactly like a pol. With politicians and personalities alike, we tend to overlook transgressions, barring an actual crime, if they deliver for us, be it laughs or pork. Of course, we are always ready to be deeply outraged by moral failings of the people we didn't like to begin with. (See the top 10 disastrous Letterman interviews...
That's all the more true of Letterman, who has been a target of conservatives for his attacks on John McCain during the campaign, his perceived friendliness to Barack Obama and, of course, the Palin jokes. A columnist at the conservative New York Post called for Letterman's immediate firing, and pundit Michelle Malkin said on Fox News, "It's hard not to have a smidge of schadenfreude for somebody who's shown contempt for women in public ... especially over the campaign, and how he's treated Sarah Palin and her family." (Still, post-Palin, Letterman has had his best...
This is not to defend anything Letterman did. That his creepy - his word - relationships were consensual (as far as we know) does not change the fact that he had sex with women he had the power to fire or that he cheated on his longtime girlfriend (now wife). But now that he's become fodder for the great American political-blather machine - as did the newly reignited Roman Polanski rape case and Chicago's Olympic bid - the degree of his transgressions is largely beside the point. There are too many people who are too invested in having a certain opinion...
...Whether Letterman rises or falls, he is guaranteed his own chapter in the Holy Book of Partisan Grievance, that august tome through which, with every new controversy, culture warriors feverishly flip for examples of the other side's hypocrisy. You wanted Imus fired for what he said! Well, you defended Limbaugh for his drug use! What about Bill Clinton! What about Newt Gingrich! Dan Rather! Mel Gibson! On and on, back through time, like warring ethnic clans tracing the righteousness of their spite to payback for the reprisal for an atrocity in the 13th century...
Early on, Letterman handled his embarrassment in a way politicians in scandals could learn from: quickly, directly and without excuses. But there could still be fallout, personal and professional. He might alienate some traditional-minded former Leno viewers. Even barring sexual-harassment lawsuits or intern eruptions, don't expect Obama to be booked on the show again anytime soon...