People are still angry about David Letterman’s tasteless joke about one of Sarah Palin’s daughters last week. In case you missed this huge controversy: Letterman joked last Monday that “One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” The only daughter at the Yankee game, unbeknownst to Dave, was 14 year-old Willow. The Palins were outraged, Dave kind of defensively half-apologized saying he meant 18 year-old mom Bristol, The Palins continued to be outraged, then Dave offered what seemed to be a heartfelt apology on Monday night. Palin accepted his apology in a statement and that should have been the end of the whole thing – except not everyone is letting it fade from the headlines.

Last night, a small number of protesters on both sides of the debate gathered outside the Late Show. There were about 15 people against Dave according to CNN and a handful of people for him, judging by the photos. They carried signs that ranged from saying Dave should get canned to supporting Dave. There’s also a website, FireDavidLetterman.com, that is asking people to sign a letter to Late Show advertisers that claims that David Letterman “supports the rape of young girls.” That’s outrageous and I just think the whole thing should be over by now. It was understandable for the Palins to defend their daughters. Dave admitted he made a crappy joke, Palin accepted, let’s move on.

An apology from David Letterman was good enough for Sarah Palin – but not for protesters who demanded the late night host’s dismissal Tuesday at a Broadway demonstration.

“Fire Dave! Fire Dave!” the crowd of about 50 protesters chanted as Letterman fans filtered into the Ed Sullivan Theater for the show’s taping.

“I hope to have him see the light,” said demonstrator Josephine Sarnok, 59, of Newark. “I think it was over the line.”

BettyJean Kling, 61, accused Letterman of using the Alaska governor’s family to boost his ratings. She stood by a large plywood sign with the words “Fire the pervert” spray-painted across the front.
The demonstration came hours after Palin accepted Letterman’s Monday night apology for what he described as “a bad joke … a joke that was beyond flawed.”

The governor released a statement saying she accepted the mea culpa “on behalf of all young women, like my daughters, who hope men who ‘joke’ about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve.”

[From The NY Daily News]

It’s unwarranted to condemn Palin for defending her daughters and it’s going too far to ask that Dave get canned. New York Magazine has video of the protest and one woman said some nasty things about Letterman’s wife and kid while another called him a “verbal pedophile.” On the other side people have said plenty of rude things about Palin’s family, including the joke at the root of this. A lot of people are comparing this to Imus’ “Nappy headed hos” comment, but it doesn’t seem like it’s on that level, as obnoxious and dumb as Dave’s crack was. He’s also much more popular than Imus and no one is going to let him go for this controversy. All of this back-and-forth has been good for ratings – Letterman beat The Tonight Show on Monday with 4 million viewers in comparison to Conan’s 3.2 million.