Palin-Leno crush Letterman-Romney in TV ratings

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With Sarah Palin as his featured guest, Jay Leno on Tuesday night continued his domination of rival David Letterman in the ratings:

Jay Leno had a solid second night back on “The Tonight Show” Tuesday night, thanks in part to a special opening monologue from his lead guest, Sarah Palin.

Mr. Leno easily won the late-night ratings competition across the board with 5.8 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among the 18-49 audience that NBC always points to as the main measure of success (because of advertiser preferences for that group.)

The younger-adult rating matched Mr. Leno’s Monday night number, one indication that Ms. Palin helped maintain the tune-in factor from Mr. Leno’s first night back.

Letterman, whose featured guest Tuesday was Mitt Romney, reached 3.7 million viewers Tuesday, 2.1 million fewer than Leno attracted, and his 1.0 rating in the 18-49 group also trailed Leno's 1.6.

- JP

Romney warns Letterman: 'She has a rifle, you know'

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Don Bartletti reports that Mitt Romney, guesting on Letterman's show, answered the creepy  host's question to him about Sarah Palin with the quintessential quip:

She’s terrific. She’s got energy, passion – by the way, you know, be careful what you say about her.”

Letterman says he knows.

Romney adds with a smile, “She has a rifle, you know.”

- JP

Vote with your remote! (Updated)

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Oh, this is just too sweet:

"Jay Leno made news when he announced that Sarah Palin will be among his high-profile guests when he returns to The Tonight Show next week (aka 'The Jaysurrection'). Now David Letterman's lineup for next week pits Mitt Romney against Sarah Palin on Tuesday night -- and the ratings may well provide clues on which probable GOP presidential contender may be most popular."

Vote with your remote!

Update: Kevin Fobbs says Leno may make Going Rogue fashionable on late night television.

- JP

What is an apology from David Letterman worth?

So what is an apology from David Letterman worth? NewsBusters.org Associate Editor Noel Sheppard's appraisal:

Within days of David Letterman's high-profile apology to Sarah Palin, the CBS "Late Show" host went back to bashing the former Alaska governor.

I guess all those who felt his October 5 mea culpa -- which also included apologies to his wife and the staffers he had an affair with -- was all a gag were quite right.

[...]

I guess we now all know what an apology from David Letterman is worth.

It has about the same value as the strength of his character, which is Dollar Store stuff.

- JP

Quote of the Day (October 11, 2009)

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Victor Davis Hanson:

"If a Clinton or Edwards got caught up in the vanity of power, and needed the ego-boosting or enjoyment that younger flesh might impart, why did Letterman, given his similar character, think he was any different? Did he think the goddess was snoozing when he libeled the 14-year daughter of Sarah Palin as a dugout tart?"

- JP

Quote of the Day (October 8, 2009)

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Gregory Kane:

"If Palin is somewhere cackling hysterically about Letterman's situation, I can hardly blame her. She probably isn't, an indication that what many of her critics said about her simply isn't true."

- JP

Letterman apologizes to staff, wife and Sarah... insincerely

- by upinak

Noel Shepherd reports that Dirty Dave rather awkwardly tried to appear sincere while making several apologies on his show Monday night... after joking about the situation in his opening monologue:



After seeing this youtube clip, we're still not impressed. He was not sincere in his apologies to anyone, including his wife Regina. And it was obvious he wasn't sincerely apologizing to Sarah (who had already accepted his previous aplology) either. This dirty old man should just get off the TV and go away.

- u

Who is calling who white trash, Letterman?

- by upinak

Per Psychology Today:

Who's accusing who of being white trash? Letterman joked that Sarah Palin, then Alaska's governor, had the style of a "slutty flight attendant" and commented that, while attending a Yankees game, "during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez." 

Why does a man in his late fifties have a baby out of wedlock when he is living with the mother? Most parents figure their child will appreciate their being married - that it avoids needless embarrassment from the kid's schoolmates down the road.

ZING! Tell me how you REALLY feel Doc! Actually it would probably be worth the read as this article was. But Doc. Peele is right, who is Letterman to talk when he doesn't have his personal life in order. As in his mariage, his child, the news on him screwing his staff (yuck) and of course he fact that someone was trying to blackmail him.

Letterman needs to go. CBS needs to let him go. Maybe it is time for them to part ways.

- u

Sarah Palin Was Right #9: Letterman Is a Disgusting Pervert

Then:

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took a second swipe at David Letterman on Wednesday, calling the CBS 'Late Show' host’s jokes about one of her daughters 'disgusting' and 'sexually perverted.'"

Now:

"As for the affairs with staff members and the damage done to his family, though, you can’t be too surprised given Letterman’s contempt for women."

Liberals defended Letterman's crude, misogynistic attacks on Sarah Palin and her daughter, saying that it wasn't that big a deal. The same liberals are defending Roman Polanski for his admitted rape and sodomizing of a 13-year-old girl, saying "It wasn't rape-rape," and "But it was so long ago."

Does the Left's idea of an ideal society sound like the world you want your children and grandchildren to grow up in?

More from James T. Harris, Don Surber, five feet of fury, The Elephant Bar, Say Anything, hummers & cigarettes, The Scratching Post, Sweetness & Light, Wizbang, Politik Ditto, Missourah, Sister Toldjah and Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion.

- JP

Quote of the Day (September 10, 2009)

Not wanting to take on Sarah Palin again, David Letterman said of the Levi Johnston lies about Palin in Vanity Fair:

"Oh yeah, like I'm gonna make a joke about this. None of my business. Whatever you want. 'Live and let live,' that's my motto."

VANITY FAIL

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 29, 2009)

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At FiveThirtyEight, Tom Schaller finds something very interesting in the internals of the latest Pew Research poll:

"The Pew results reveal strong levels of support for Palin among evangelicals, but overall her support from self-described conservatives actually ebbed a bit from their highs last autumn during the late stages of the presidential contest. Oddly enough, since then her approval actually improved from 18 percent to 24 percent among Democrats, though this may be a result of a sympathetic boost resulting from David Letterman's jokes about Palin and her family earlier this month."

Oh, we have no doubt whatsoever that Gov. Palin's approval ratings among the group that was previously most opposed to her were helped by creepy Dave. I predict that her numbers will improve even more among Democrats thanks to the recent mocking attacks on her and Baby Trig by some of the most unhinged elements of the radical far left.

There are still people of good character who call themselves Democrats, and they are offended by the antics of some of the morally bankrupt partisans out on their party's leftmost margins. Think blue collar Democrats, religious ethnic Americans and parents of all kinds who would not want their own children mocked in such a manner as the kooks have done to Baby Trig.

These self-destructive radicals will be the agents of their own undoing. Keep it up, all you Blue Divas, Mudflatulents and admitted Immoral Moronities. Don't change a thing that you're doing. Keep shooting yourselves in the lower extremities until you no longer have legs to stand on. I'll be making more popcorn.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 26, 2009)

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Douglas MacKinnon:

"Two weeks after David Letterman's forced apology to Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, and days after Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina teamed with Senator John Ensign of Nevada for admittance to the 'Adulterer/Hypocrite Hall of Shame,' Palin is starting to appeal to more and more Republicans…and Americans. As well she should."

- JP

Does Kerry moonlight as a writer for Creepy Dave?

One would think Sen. John Kerry (D-Cambodia) would have realized by now that his idea of humor doesn't go over very well. It must be because he's a nasty person, and his pathetic attempts at being funny just turn out to be... well, nasty.

He should have remembered the firestorm he set off with this crack:



That prompted this response from the First Brigade, 34th Infrantry Division of the Minnesota National Guard, which was deployed to Iraq at the time:



Yes, the photo was for real, not photo shopped. The outcry from both sides of the aisle was so loud that Kerry was forced to offer up an excuse disguised as an apology, which was just as lame as the joke.

After all that, you would think that Kerry would avoid trying his hand at humor, but the nasty in him just can't stay bottled up. On top of that, he has lousy timing, and tried to attacked Sarah Palin when it was still thought that Gov. Mark Sanford was somewhere on the Appalachian Trail. Kerry told a gathering of Boston business and civic leaders Tuesday:

"Too bad," Kerry said, "if a governor had to go missing it couldn't have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin."

Even joking that you are hoping for a member of the political opposition to disappear is... nasty.

But he's a Democrat. Nasty is what they do.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 23, 2009)

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From The New Agenda's Amy Suskind:

"While Letterman is descending, Governor Sarah Palin is seeing her star rise. Some may disagree with Governor Palin on political issues; but few will disagree that Palin is a gifted politician. And whether she had sense of the cultural shift underway, or just had incredible timing, the Letterman Limit has catapulted Palin to a new level. She somehow understood that the people of this country would have her back as she went to battle. When she spoke out to defend her daughters, millions of mothers and fathers heard their own voices."

- JP

This joke's on Creepy Dave and his apologists

Our friend Andrew Malcom tells the tale:

TV audience ratings come out and guess what? They're shockers! The old guy got a brief boost all right during the controversy. In fact, he drew larger audiences for three of the week's five nights.

But over at another network -- we'll call it NBC -- his competition, a young new guy who'd only been on the job for 10 shows, still won the entire week.

More Americans chose to watch this tall new guy who never mentioned the stink than the grumpy old one who started it. According to Nielsen Media Research, the new host also won among key demographic groups too, like 18 to 34 year olds and 18 to 49.

Hilarious.

Take that, all of you media pigs who defended Letterman and dissed Gov. Palin in your columns and on your blogs. Take that, every one of you who said the governor "started" a war with Creepy Dave that she could never win. Take that, you clowns who wrote that there's too much of Sarah in the news, while the sick sexist slug you defended is on network television every weekday night. And take that, those of you who opined that Gov. Palin was unwittingly helping Creepy Dave vault to the top of the ratings.

Get this through your obtuse liberal skulls:

1. Conan pwned Letterman.
2. Creepy Dave apologized after his momma made him do it; Sarah accepted.
3. She won; he lost.

End of story.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 20, 2009)

It would seem that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's quote about Gov. Palin's endorsement being the stuff of GOP gold would be the logical choice for QOTD today.

If not that one, then Missouri Lt. Gov. Pete Kinder's remark about how the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate "dragged John McCain across the finish line" in the Show Me State surely would win the honors.

And Jay Valentine' s quip that -- unlike Sarah -- Romney, Huckabee and Newt "couldn't fill up a high school stadium unless they were giving out free beer" was a pretty good contender. It won the humorous category hands down.

But I like Maggie Gallagher's line about what motivated Creepy Dave Letterman to finally offer a real apology to Gov. Palin and her daughters:

"According to news reports, Dave said he got a call from his mother earlier in the day telling him she was siding with Palin."

Fear the mom! No one can help you locate your misplaced sense of shame better than a disappointed parent. Honor thy father and mother, not just on Fathers Day and Mothers Day, but every day.

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 19, 2009)

Gary Bauer:

"Letterman may not know anyone who would vote for Palin or a family that looks like hers. But his Palin joke backfired in part because scores of millions of Americans are living lives that more closely resemble Palin’s life than Letterman’s. Like Palin, they pray in churches, hunt and fish and raise imperfect families with unconditional love. They are more than uneasy about the culture’s sexualization of children and its infantilization of adults."

- JP

Quote of the Day (June 18, 2009)

Dr. Laura:

"David Letterman wanted to shoot insults at Palin simply because she’s Republican, and he aimed his gun at her child. That’s disgusting. How many of you would stand for that happening to your child?"

- JP

Did Olive Garden pull ads from Letterman's show?

Andy Barr reports via Politico:

In an email to a Letterman critic obtained by POLITICO, a spokeswoman for the Italian restaurant chain wrote that “there will be no more Olive Garden ads scheduled for ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman in this year's broadcast schedule,” citing the talk show host’s “inappropriate comments.”

“We apologize that Mr. Letterman’s mistake, which was not consistent with our standards and values, left you with a bad impression of Olive Garden,” wrote Sherri Bruen, the company’s guest relations manager.

Bruen said the company “screens network television programs whenever possible,” but explained that “telecasts, such as ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman, are taped on a daily basis, preventing advertisers from reviewing the content prior to airing.”

A spokesman for the company confirmed Thursday that for now it has cancelled all its remaining scheduled ads on the CBS program for the rest of the year.

Although Gov. Sarah Palin accepted Letterman's apology earlier this week, the fallout from the late night comic's crude jokes about the governor and her daughter(s) still appears to be highly radioactive.

Olive Garden is the first major Letterman sponsor to cancel its advertising for CBS' "Late Nite" show, although Embassy Suites and Hellman's last week removed their ads from the network's web site.

Update: Now an Olive Garden spokesperson is disputing Barr's report.

So which is it, Olive Garden? You can't have it both ways. Or perhaps it can.

- JP

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