Wow. Reading your nasty little critique of Regina Lasko makes me want either to vomit or to take a shower - maybe both.

I assume you're basing this on the two or three candid photos available on the Internet. The most recent look like papparazzi shots capturing Lasko, Letterman and their son out doing Saturday morning errands. How good do you look when you're out shopping or picking up the dry cleaning? Dave is unshaven and rumpled. Neither one is wearing makeup. Her hair is kind of limp and she might be overdue for a cut. They're both wearing casual, Saturday morning at the farmer's market clothes. They live on a farm in upstate New York, for God's sake. They look like ordinary people living comfortable lives.

She's 48 years old. They've been dating since she was 25. I'll bet she looked a lot different 23 years ago. At this point, she looks like an ordinary middle aged woman. Kudos to Letterman for remaining in a committed relationship with a regular, age appropriate woman even if it took him a while to tie the knot. He also deserves a lot of credit for keeping his personal life priivate. I'm sure there would be plenty of glamor shots of Mrs. Letterman if he'd paraded her around, but he chose to keep his family out of the limelight.

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Hitchens’ Razor: What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

Tempest in a teapot.

Other than the far right who really gives a rat's patoot about the Palins.

Poor Levi. That sap had a useful role only as long as a failed campaign.

They really are a smarmy collection of individuals don't you think?

Hypothetically-speaking - I wonder if the righteous right would be as alarmed if a local peccadillo hit them square between the eyes.

I doubt it.

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It's nice to be nice to the nice - Frank Burns (M*A*S*H)

Palin, Bristol, and Baby Daddy are fair game. They've put themselves out there, milking their fifteen minutes of fame for all it's worth. Letterman's joke about Palin was mild compared with the stuff she said and implied about Obama. She deserves everything she gets.

I agree that Willow, who was the one visiting New York, should be left alone just like Letterman's wife and child should be left alone. He isn't parading them around the country, showing them off to make himself look good.

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Hitchens’ Razor: What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

Has he done that? I believe he holds up a picture of his son from time to time and that's about it. That's a far cry from the Bristol and Levi self promotion competition that's been playing out in the media.

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Hitchens’ Razor: What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

Hey Colonel Odious,

Like most comedians, he jokes about his family, but he says very little about his real relationshipes with them. He used to have his mother on the show, if I recall. When has he actually had his wife and son on his show? I'm not saying he hasn't, but I can't find any evidence. The only photos I can find are three candids and some really grainy pictures from People of some unidentifiable people on a beach. This hardly constitutes "parading."

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Hitchens’ Razor: What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

I don't quite get the rape connection, but . . .

I think the difference is whether it's funny or not.

I guess the "humor" implied by the right wingers over the photo of Letterman's wife was that she wasn't particularly beautiful. So, ha, ha.

Whereas, the Palin clan, oozing hypocrisy from every pore, is a walking, talking inadvertent comedy troupe. And, most of those aren't paparazzi shots of the Palins either. There's a whole library available, courtesy the RNC and her own Palin 2012 collection.

Do you get the difference now?

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In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have. -Lee Iacocca

You're probably right about that.

I was watching his show that night when McCain stiffed him. I also saw the pretty clever trick the production team did where they showed McCain prepping for an interview on a news show somewhere else in NYC at the very moment that the Letterman show was being taped. McCain was caught in an outright lie.
Yes, it was wrong for McCain to stiff Letterman. I saw the followup show as well when McCain DID appear. McCain apologized on the air when Letterman was interviewing him, but Letterman didn't seem to be very impressed. After that moment, Letterman seemed to go on the attack big time as you had noticed and that's when he lost me as a fairly regular viewer. It's his show and he's got every right to do whatever he wants for whatever reason he wants. I also have every right to choose not to watch him for whatever reason I want.

The problem I have is that I haven't found anything worth watching late at night now that Leno's gone. To each their own, I guess. I find myself tuning in to old Dick Van Dyke show reruns until something else starts to capture my interest. I know, I lneed to get a life.

I stopped watching Letterman a long time ago because I don't think he's funny. He's always had an angry, vindictive edge. Letterman is fair game. His wife and son are not, especially since they have taken pains to keep themselves away from the public eye. There's also the obvious fact that you're making fun of her not for anything she's done, but for the sin of looking like what she is - a middle aged woman.

I don't think that Willow Palin is fair game, either, but that will change if she follows in her sister's footsteps and chooses to offer herself up to the media. Once you take that big step into the land of celebrity tabloids, you open yourself up to whatever comes your way. I just hope that this was Bristol's choice and not her parents'.

And Concerned.......if you want to make jokes about Michelle "Weezie" Obama, go ahead. Then we can add "racist" to "nasty" and "odious." There is nothing about Michelle Obama that suggests Weezie other than the color of her skin.

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Hitchens’ Razor: What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

You’re right. That’s not funny. But the Palins should just shut up about it. She wouldn’t have accepted the nomination if she had cared more about her pretty obviously vulnerable family than her political ambition.

From the Fox report you posted:
Now, many critics — including the Palins themselves – are slamming Letterman for jokes that they say make light of sexual abuse of an underage girl.
"Acceptance of inappropriate sexual comments about an underage girl, who could be anyone's daughter, contributes to the atrociously high rate of sexual exploitation of minors by older men who use and abuse others," she said.
Palin's husband, Todd, echoed her sentiments, telling FOXNews.com, "Any ‘jokes’ about raping my 14-year-old are despicable. Alaskans know it, and I believe the rest of the world knows it, too."

In light of the actual experiences of their family, why do they even go there? In the second paragraph (above) they’re blaming comments like Letterman’s for Bristol’s pregnancy? Please, spare me! I thought they had the guy and his name was Levi, son of Sherry, drug dealer. Letterman was pretty far out of that loop on that.

What’s most disingenuous in the Fox report is the faux outrage expressed by Todd Palin. Obviously Letterman was making the joke about the actually knocked up daughter, not the yet-to-be knocked up one. Who cares who was traveling with Palin? Letterman (and most of the rest of the world) didn’t know – he assumed it was the older one. But, good father Todd is making sure the world knows, talking about “raping my 14-year old.” That’s completely political of him and completely despicable. He's the one pulling her into the limelight with his comments. Bad dad, is what I think.

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In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have. -Lee Iacocca