02 October 2009

in which your humble blogger feels compelled to opine on the day's sex scandal

Apparently, Bush and Clinton are every kind of thrilled to see David Letterman is in trouble, but the two have very different responses. George wants to do some stand up at Dave's expense but aids are trying to convince him that he'll need something more than the one line he's come up with so far. ("Ha! He's so stupid!")

Clinton, by contrast, is trying to use this as an opportunity for healing. He called Dave and told him, "I feel your compulsion."

As it turns out, Jerry Springer was the future of television, but without shame. And that is an important lesson for would-be blackmailers everywhere: only threaten those with a sense of guilt. If you can find them.

Dave makes a good living mocking the sex lives of others. All HR and publicity issues aside, it'll be interesting to see whether becoming the butt of sex jokes will throw him off his game. [Note that the phrase "becoming the butt of sex jokes" sounds dirtier than it actually is. I think.] It has to seem like a trip through the looking glass to have gone from delivering punch lines to being one. "Confucius say, People living in glass houses should turn out the lights before having sex with interns."

But it would seem optimistic to extort $2 million from an unmarried guy who has had sex. You might be able to extort $2 million from an unmarried guy who has not had sex, but only if he thought he had no other alternatives for it.

I just know that if I ever have an awkward confession to make, I'd like to do it before an audience all giggly with laughing gas and the novelty of being on TV.

Watch Dave here.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if in this situation the liberal media will be able to somehow make this Bush's fault.

Or maybe this is just an example of a liberal without any moral values.

Ron Davison said...

It must be a liberal thing. No conservative would ever find himself in a sex scandal.

Anonymous said...

So, is it possible to take the conservative / liberal garbage out of it? Infidelity is part of psychology. It has nothing to do with politics, religion, or ethics.

Ron Davison said...

Jen,
I agree. I guess I was just surprised that anyone could think that the media lets anyone off the hook on sex scandals or that they are somehow limited to either conservatives or liberals. And I do have to believe that conservatives and liberals who've been mocked by Letterman are enjoying this a great deal.

Unknown said...

Well, as we noted yesterday in our ping-pong emails, it's fascinating that it's gotten harder to extort these days. Must make extortionists nostalgic.

Allen said...

I can only imagine the French people, every time they read about a sex "scandal" here in the U.S., thinking, "Scandal? WHAT scandal?"

Why is it we Americans *LOVE* to pronounce high moral standards in public while immediately shedding clothes in private when the hormones surge, calling out as shameful anyone getting "caught" yet hoping no one will *EVER* find out about our private lives?