O'Malley sort of gets it; Carlson doesn't

Gov. Sarah Palin accepted Creepy David Letterman's apology and moved on, but the story hasn't gone away. That's because people on both sides of the debate won't let it die. Unlike the governor, they're not quite ready to move on.

On one side there were the protesters who showed for the "Fire David Letterman" rally Monday in New York. Their numbers were not impressive - estimates have ranged anywhere from 50 to 100 people - so they didn't make up much of a "crowd." Some of the protesters had some valid points to make. Even Letterman's second apology came with excuses. He didn't know that he was demeaning the wrong daughter. His joke was "misunderstood." Yadda yadda. But Letterman and his ilk aren't going to be transformed overnight into responsible adult males who respect women and don't make them the target of their crude jokes. They simply won't be doing so on alphabet network television anytime soon. On cable outlets like HBO, human detritus such as Bill Maher will continue to do it. But Maher and his ilk are marginal. When they make news, many more people read about it than actually watch them on television. Sarah Palin understands this. That's why she accepted the apology for her daughter and young girls everywhere and returned to getting her message out on energy, fiscal responsibility, national security and other issues. She chooses her battles carefully, and she knows when to declare victory and move on. The protesters' time would have perhaps been better spent canvassing for donations to Gov. Palin;s legal defense fund.

With her victory over Creepy Dave , the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee has made fools of many of her serial detractors. A prime example is columnist Margaret Carlson, who doesn't care one whit about young girls being sexualized by misogynists on television or any other women's issues. If she did, she would have shown more self-respect than to pursue a man whose heart had clearly been won by another woman. Carlson has been one of Gov. Palin's harshest critics, and just a few short days ago, she declared on her Daily Beast blog, "Palin Can't Outsmart Letterman." Oh, but she did, Margaret. But don't fret about it, Ms Know-It-All. We will file that away with "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," from IBM's fomer president in 1943 and "Aeroplanes are poorly suited for any combat role other than observation" by most of the nation's military brass early in the last century. Just like Letterman is a sexist and will always be, Carlson is a Palin-hater and will always be. But this week in history, both have discovered that Sarah Barracuda has sharp teeth, and she isn't afraid to use them.

One good thing to come out of the Letterman imbroglio is that at least some of Gov. Palin's critics have managed to muster up a degree of intellectual honesty. I'm speaking of the National Organization for Women, who finally stood up for some women other than just the liberal ones after years of showing outrage only when women on the left were unfairly attacked. As Julia O'Malley, columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, grudgingly admitted:

"Sure, some of us don’t like Palin’s politics, but we should pay attention to what else is going on. I laughed a little when I watched Letterman’s jokes. It wasn’t because they were funny. It was because they were mean. And somehow watching someone be mean to America’s Hottest Governor felt good. And, that wasn’t feminist at all."

"The fact is, even with the pumps and the winking, she didn’t deserve it. Maybe Palin is an opportunist, maybe she’s a drama queen, maybe she’s using a feminist argument to make political hay, but in this case her underlying point is right on. Letterman was gross and out of line, no matter which daughter he was talking about. Making Letterman apologize was a win for her and for women everywhere."

Well, it may be more like wading across the creek than crossing the Rubicon, but download that in your Microsoft Word and process it, Margaret Carlson. Ah, she's probably an Apple person, but I digress...

One last Letterman item, before we file the subject away for future reference. It comes courtesy of commenter TommyReport here. You don't need to call on Captain Obvious to see the implications there.

- JP