by Adam Hart

Created on: June 18, 2009   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

Sarah Palin's reaction to David Letterman's joke has gone too far. Let us start with some facts. Sarah Palin has two daughters, one of whom is a minor. The other is not only of legal age but has a child of her own, a child that happens to be born out of wedlock. Sarah Palin also recently took in a baseball game while traveling to New York, and happened to bring along her younger daughter.

Alex Rodriguez is a popular player on that baseball team whom is known for 'having a way with women', which is just another way of saying he is rich and famous. David Letterman is a popular comedian who hosts a late night television show. As such, he has many writers on staff that write jokes for him, many of which deal with current and political events. While he has not attempted to pass blame, he is the one that told the joke, Letterman has stated that he did not see the baseball game in question and did not know either daughter was actually in attendance.

Some may wonder just how he could possibly assume that one of Sarah Palin's daughters could be impregnated by a player in said game during the 7th inning stretch if they were not there. To these people, I suggest looking up such terms as joke, comedy, farce, gag, jest, or any other variant on your favorite search engine. I could try to explain it here, but then it just would not be funny.

Getting back to the facts, Letterman has also stated he made the joke about Sarah Palin's older daughter. You remember her, the one that has a baby. The baby that was a large scandal for Sarah Palin while campaigning for the Vice Presidency. The baby that she at first tried to pass off as anything but her unwed daughter's child, as Sarah Palin preaches abstinence as the best policy to deal with teenage pregnancy. As we all know a politician should never appear to be hypocritical while on the campaign trail.

Many opinions, including my own, did not hold Sarah Palin in high regard when it came to debating the issues. In fact she could seem downright uninformed at times. However, I feel that she totally understands Letterman's intent, for the record the comedian has stated numerous times the joke was in fact about her older daughter, and that she 'got' the joke.

I could go so far as to give her even more credit for creating the current drama and news coverage that has surrounded this event. Yet Sarah Palin as all politicians, and not unlike late night talk show hosts, has a staff working for her. I would venture to guess one of these well paid staff members saw an opportunity for the once would-be Vice President to jump back into the public spotlight, this time on a positive note and with a subject which she can speak intelligently about.

No, there has been no harm created by the joke David Letterman told. In fact it has only created good for Sarah Palin and her political aspirations. A solid strategy for any down and out public figure is to find a way to turn another public figure in good standing into a scapegoat. This joke has created a lot of positive press for Sarah Palin, while dragging David Letterman's name through the mud. A joke that, while not meant to be political, did touch upon the real issue of teen pregnancy. Perhaps Sarah Palin, a grandmother, mother of two unwed teenage daughters, and proponent of abstinence, should spend more time addressing this, or some other politically relevant, issue instead of milking a misconstrued joke for all it is worth.

Learn more about this author, Adam Hart.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.