Letterman proves he's bigger man

I am a coward. David Letterman is a brave man.

Last week, anyone unfortunate to be anywhere near me could not get me to shut up about the David Letterman-Sarah Palin feud. And yet I didn't write anything about it, mostly out of fear.

Fearing that I would be inundated with e-mails from people who would interpret anything I wrote as politically partisan. Even though it's not.

Letterman, on the other hand, apologized on Monday night. Even though he's clearly not guilty of any of the ridiculous charges leveled against him.

I'm completely appalled at what happened. I'm disgusted by Palin's behavior. I'm even more disgusted by the behavior of some political pundits out there who have made this into something it clearly was not — for their own gain.

And I would be equally disgusted if the political figure involved in all of this were a Democrat, Libertarian or Socialist.

That's not going to stop those who want to criticize me for taking a political stand, but it's the bottom line.

To recap, Palin used her alleged outrage at jokes told on his "Late Show" as political fodder. To remain in the spotlight. To rally supporters.

One joke was actually about the disgraced former New York governor, not any of the Palins: "The toughest part of (Palin's) visit (to New York) was keeping Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter."

Another joke referenced an awkward moment at a Yankees game when, "during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

Letterman was under the impression that Palin was accompanied by her 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, the unwed mother. Actually, it was her 14-year-old daughter, Willow.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. And, as Letterman admitted on the air last week, it was a mistake.

"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," he said. "Am I guilty of poor taste? Yes. Did I suggest that it was OK for her 14-year-old daughter to be having promiscuous sex? No."

And yet Palin and her husband, Todd, went out of their way to accuse Letterman of promoting "rape" of their 14-year-old daughter — a battle cry that has been picked up by various TV/radio hosts who make a living out of creating controversy out of far less than this.