Deseret News | Isn't all this controversy fun?

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Isn't all this controversy fun?

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Omar | 5:59 p.m. June 23, 2009

Don Imus, anyone? Maybe Letterman should call him for some advice.

Feel better now there Scotty? | 6:04 p.m. June 23, 2009

Nice arguement with everyone. Very professional.

Kudos | 6:32 p.m. June 23, 2009

I agree whole heartedly with Dear granny.

Comments continue below

D | 6:40 p.m. June 23, 2009

A several comments. 1) Linking to the original column would be helpful to those of us that come a little late to the party. 2) Those that say Scott has a right to his opinion, then get upset that others would express their opinion on his...well, yeah. 3) The "Rush did it too" crowd seem to ignore the implication that Rush doesn't deserve any opprobrium for whatever it was that he did. 4) I'm not actually required to read Mr. Letterman's mind when he tells a 'joke'. I get to take his words at face value and his words were indeed a 'joke' about statutory rape. He may have followed this performance up with two apologies and an explanation, but I believe that if he hadn't received such negative feedback he would not have 'clarified' himself and would have remained a man who made a joke about the statutory rape of a political opponent. And that is a vile state to be in.

RB | 6:40 p.m. June 23, 2009

Good Grief. I can't believe I'm reading these comments! Are you posters actually 18+?

What an absolute riot!!! hahaha

It reminds me of little kids who are so wound up in fighting, they can't even remember what started it!

I believe in "Free Agency", "Freedom of speech", "Freedom of the Press", etc., and have pledged my very LIFE and soul to defend that freedom - whether I agree or not.

How many have you? hmmm??
Think long and search deep before you answer.

D | 6:43 p.m. June 23, 2009

Shoot, two proofreading attempts and I managed to mangle my final sentence. It should read:

He may have followed this performance up with two apologies and an explanation, but I believe that if he hadn't received such negative feedback he would not have 'clarified' himself and would have remained a man who made a joke about the statutory rape of a child of a political opponent. And that is a vile state to be in.

Anonymous | 6:49 p.m. June 23, 2009

Articles like this only show your feelings got hurt. No matter what Letterman did was wrong. Just as wrong as Don Imus remarks against the Ruters Womens basketball team.

make it up and dish it out | 7:27 p.m. June 23, 2009

Imus would still have his job if the joke were about Palins daughter.

Na...

Liberals don't have a different sense of justice!

Anonymous | 7:33 p.m. June 23, 2009

To the mean person who thinks that all the comments come from Utahns: Use some sense and logic man.

het | 8:03 p.m. June 23, 2009

Wow. I am going to have to keep reading this column. For once, common sense.

Jane | 8:22 p.m. June 23, 2009

Thank you, Scott. There have been so many times when I didn't have the courage to express "liberal" ideas simply because I knew the backlash would be severe. I admire you for having the courage to write "liberal" views. (Even though -- as you pointed out -- your ideas weren't really "liberal"!)

Maggie | 8:37 p.m. June 23, 2009

You are aok Scott. Thanks much for continuing the dialogue and keeping your tone on the discussion level as I hope your pleased, or less than pleased readers will. Perspective's like yours give many of us reason to be hopeful.

In Utah, "Liberal" is... | 9:12 p.m. June 23, 2009

... just another word for someone who doesn't agree with you. I read Scott Pierce's original column, many comments, and his response. That's my conclusion based on these facts:

#1: Had David Letterman been the vile, disgusting "liberal" pervert many commenters say he is, he would never have apologized at all--for anything.

#2: There's nothing "liberal" about anything Pierce wrote. His core message was encouraging people to stop reading more into this joke-and-apology fiasco than there actually is. And for that, he's the next Don Imus? Only in Utah!

#3: Utahns--especially the most conservative--have a curious history of getting all bent out of shape over comments by "liberals." (Remember Robert Redford's "plastic" comment, anyone? Oops!)

#4: Rush Limbaugh is no more a political expert, and no less an entertainer, than David Letterman himself. Too bad people insist on believing and acting as if Rush actually knows something. The man's a Pied Piper playing his conservative audience for all they're/you're worth, folks.

#5: I'm no "liberal." But I know "liberals" well enough to know what they really are---for better or worse.

WRONG ON THIS ONE | 9:28 p.m. June 23, 2009

Scott....go back and hear what was said....you are clueless. Children in any forum of a joke are off limits. I don't care who it is. It was out of line and crosses the line! I think you'd do anything for more readers, either that or you and David are the jokes!

sarah jane | 10:06 p.m. June 23, 2009

I thought it was a little strange that Letterman had the nerve to take a jab at Palin's daughter because she had a child out of wedlock. After all, his little Harry was born out of wedlock and Letterman didn't marry his mother until recently.

I used to enjoy Letterman but I turn him off since he has become so political. He isn't funny anymore.
I think he should be fired, not because of the Palin jokes, but because he has lost his ability to be humorous.

Scott should be fired as well. Enough is enough.

Way to mock your readers | 10:23 p.m. June 23, 2009

Way to mock your arguments Scott. While there are many that deserve mocking for their inane comments, there were also several that were legitimate and rationale. Why not respond to some of those?

Edward C. | 10:43 p.m. June 23, 2009

Scott says "My political views don't matter here. And they weren't expressed."

Scott - The best columnists are capable of writing an opinion column without revealing or relying on their personal political views. They have the discipline and integrity to not let their emotions influence their writing. Part of the fun and interest of reading a good columnist is that they can address the issues and make their points without relying on their personal political allegiances.

Your Letterman/Palin opinion is is based on no logical basis other than your personal political agenda.

LS | 10:57 p.m. June 23, 2009

Scott: As I stated in my comments on your original article, you gave yourself away with your statement: "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." Here you attributed intention to Sarah Palin to fit your bias and dismissed any negative intention on David Letterman's part to again fit your bias. Again, your words "alleged", "fodder", rally supporters", etc., declare not only your political perspective but also your journalist standing. You have revealed yourself very clearly as a Liberal.

LS | 11:11 p.m. June 23, 2009

Pitty me for having to comment on another's comment, but this is to: "In Utah, 'Liberal' is...":

Your statement #4 is quite ignorant: "Rush Limbaugh is no more a political expert, and no less an entertainer, than David Letterman himself. Too bad people insist on believing and acting as if Rush actually knows something."

Apparently, you have never really looked at his material or followed his viewpoints. His web site shows all the articles, sources, newspapers, etc., that he uses to prepare and make comment upon. He is very well prepared, knows the details of what is happening in the political sphere, is able to articulate not only his perspective but other's as well, reads and understands the legislative bills better than most congressmen, and is entertaining as well. I've followed a lot of commentators over the years. He is definitely one of the most prepared. George Will also is studied and very intelligence. Thomas Sowell is another. Sometimes they are inappropriately portrayed as idiots too.

Scott Pierce is right, but... | 12:03 a.m. June 24, 2009

He is right: He simply expressed his opinion--albeit his opinion lacks the moral and ethical sensitivities of his sponsoring audience. Thus he should be terminated from his role.

Every columnist or journalist receives mounds of critical, and usually off base, emails. Yet, almost none sink so low as to debate in print the weakest of them in their own defense.

SS | 12:17 a.m. June 24, 2009

I think Letterman took a cheap shot. Had a white male have told the same joke about Obama's daughter, the flap would not have ended regardless of how many apologizes he made.

While I think Letterman's apologies were more motivated by keeping his job than remorse, he did apologize and we should get over it and move on.

And while I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion, including Letterman, I don't have to accept or even to listen to it.

As Billy Joel said, "you can speak you mind, but not on my time."

RE: LS | 12:27 a.m. June 24, 2009

LS, I stand by my original statement 100%--because I HAVE listened to Rush Limbaugh and his "well-researched" tripe. It's precisely because I HAVE listened to him that I've come to that conclusion.

Take Rush's "Talent on loan from God" catchphrase. THAT'S more informative than you think. Not only is he an entertainer, every bit as shallow as anyone else in the business, but speaking of jokes in very poor taste... go ahead and fill in your own blanks on that arrogant, condescending, self-aggrandizing boast, which some might also consider semi-blasphemous. Rush's drug-abuse arrest and confession some time ago seals the deal.

George Will and Thomas Sowell are intelligent men with firm convictions who can usually tolerate an honest, respectful difference of opinion. (Pierce may not be as intelligent as they are, but he's spot-on on Letterman/Palin.) Limbaugh's a closed-minded blowhard on a power trip--with the means to hire a research staff. You seriously don't think he looks it up himself?

I have below-zero respect for Kingmaker Rush. LS, follow him at your own risk. Mega-raspberries to him from me.

David | 12:41 a.m. June 24, 2009

You're a liberal hack. Thanks for asking.

DBE | 4:29 a.m. June 24, 2009

Letterman's remarks -- like your commentary -- were about as "classy" as a fifty-cent tattoo depicting the logo of your favorite beer. His so called "apology" included a repetition of the "slutty stewardess" line with the comment that he "kind of liked that joke." So telling a joke about raping someone's daughter is OK if its about an 18-year old? Well, as long as her mother is a republican -- no problem. She's still a teenager and the joke was sick and inappropriate regardless of the age or circumstances of the person at whom it was directed. Same remarks made about the Obama girls if they happened to be 14 and 18 or even 24 and 28, and Letterman would now be on the street selling pencils and drinking cheap liquor from a bottle wrapped in a paper bag. In the future please stick to non-political commentary on TV. Your talents are more suited to the vast wasteland of boob-tube sitcoms, soap operas and mindless game shows.

HUH? Try #2 | 7:49 a.m. June 24, 2009

#1 (read carefully at what it suggests)
"Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. And you thought John Edwards was in trouble before! Now he has really done it." - Jay Leno, Sept. 2008

So by everyone's logic, Jay Leno should have been fired as host of "The Tonight Show" and not gotten his 10 p.m. show too because Bristol was still 17 at the time, and he implied that Edwards had sex with an under-age girl.

#2
"Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter's penalty box." - Conan O'Brien, Oct. 2008

So by everyone's logic, Conan O'Brien should have never gotten to host "The Tonight Show" because the governor took her two younger daughters, including WILLOW, to the hockey game.

Where was all the alleged outrage then? That's what I thought. Palin's 15 minutes were over five minutes ago and she threw her family out there once again to try and be relevant.

RE: Huh @ 7:49 | 8:43 a.m. June 24, 2009

Exactly. Other comedians have joked about Palin and her family. Where are the tar-and-feathers crowd for them? Why are they singling out David Letterman and anyone (like Pierce) who dares suggest that it's JUST THE NATURE OF "LATE TV" COMEDY to mock, poke, and toe the line on good taste?

Does that justify any of it? No. There's still plenty of bad taste--and Letterman has acknowledged that in his "joke," explained his intent, and apologized for it. SHOW OVER. So the RATIONAL thing to do NEXT would be to go after the OTHER comedians who have NOT apologized for their jokes about the Palins, and never will!

This war of words over Scott Pierce's opinion is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen originate from the Utah neocons who continue to push this issue. Pierce is certainly free to express his opinion, whether or not his audience ever gives him a fair reading.

Remember, this is America, people. Pierce can write whatever he likes--and you can most definitely disagree with it--but he can't be fired simply because YOU don't get it.

Dear self-important Scott | 9:32 a.m. June 24, 2009

Notice how most of the posted comments are directed at each other (or Letterman), but not you?

That's right. More birds than people take aim at your articles each day.

Anonymous | 3:35 p.m. June 24, 2009

the joke was about a girl getting pregnant and engaging in concensual sexual activity not being raped. listen to the joke.

Frank | 1:11 p.m. June 25, 2009

I agree Anonymous | 3:35

I'm tired of people saying that too. Lettermans joke was about a concensual activity because he stupidly assumed it was the adult daughter with Palin. Palin labeled the joke about 'rape' because she's refering to 'statatory rape' since the daughter that was with her is underage.

People are thinking the joke is about forced rape because they arent reading anything but the comments.

Anonymous | 5:45 p.m. June 25, 2009

Quibble about rape, statutory rape...ridiculous. It was a lousy joke and the children of politicians should be off limits across the board, for this type of treatment. It doesn't matter if they are over eighteen.

this horse | 6:55 p.m. June 25, 2009

IS DEAD..

PBS | 4:44 p.m. June 26, 2009

Liberals hate Palin. So if someone attacks her or her family, in good or bad taste, liberals will support the attacker. It's as simple as that. If the target of Letterman's joke were the Obama girls, the liberals would have been up in arms. Unfortunately, we have people in this world who decide what's right and wrong based on the target of the conduct. And it's even more unfortunate that the target of the conduct is judge along something as arbitrary as a political party line. It's quite pathetic but not unexpected.

To PBS | 6:53 p.m. June 27, 2009

Yeah, so I am a VERY conservative person. Palin is a fake conservative and I cannot stand her. When someone asks her about the economy and she brings up health care and in NO way related to the economy.. this says that she is incompetent. All of her actions and statements proved to the nation that she was not capable. McCain was a 2nd Bush, or at least enough of a Bush that the U.S. didn't want him. Add a 'all looks and no brain' candidate(and she may be very intelligent as a person, I only mean that she looked this way during the campaign, and the media can't fake HER choosing to say what she did) add this to the equation and you have disaster. I being a conservative cannot stand McCain, Palin, Bush or any other wolf in sheep's clothing. Conservative is NOT a president who says "I am the decider" and invades a country which did NOT attack us. How is THAT conservative? People who blame 'Liberals' get people to hate the conservative base for unintelligent remarks which distort the truth. Palin acted dumb, people recognized it, not just liberals.

RE: Why I miss SoCal | 7:31 a.m. June 28, 2009

Move back.

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