"So, how was your weekend?" Steve Martin to David Letterman on Monday’s program
On Thursday’s Letterman Show, David Letterman admitted to sexual relationships he had with female staffers over the years. The revelation came after the arrest of a CBS producer who had been blackmailing Letterman over his sexual predation of women who had been working for him.
This goes beyond sexual harassment. Letterman is a predator, and for that he should be fired by CBS.
I continue to be amazed at the lack of action by the so-called “women’s groups,” most notably the National Organization for Women. NOW admonished Letterman several days after the “slutty stewardess” remark he made about Sarah Palin and his raunchy comments about Palin’s daughter way back in June. They came around to his point of view dazzled by his celebrity.
Now they are entirely silent about Letterman’s abuse of his power and position with women that worked for him. Letterman’s case, by his own admission, is at very least guilty of sexual harassment. Heck, he works for CBS, which has a policy of making employees sit down and watch a video on what sexual harassment is…I’m pretty sure sex with staffers was on the list of don’ts. But it was just sex, so he’ll probably get a pass from CBS.
Getting back to NOW, it took NOW a week after the Polanski arrest to post on its website a statement by its president, Terry O’Neill. She said the right things, but why did it take a week? Did they have to think about whether sex with a 13 year old was a problem? The facts of the Polanski case are well known, and the statement was strong. O’Neill said, “Powerful friends of Polanski and a scandal-hungry media are attempting to portray this as a 'Hollywood versus Middle America' story, to quote a headline from the L.A. Times," O'Neill said. "But this is an example of celebrity culture gone haywire. Polanski is a convicted criminal pedophile who raped a 13-year old girl, and fled the country to avoid serving his sentence. Making excuses for Roman Polanski is dangerous talk. What message does this send to victims and potential victims of sexual abuse today?"
It seems NOW has a double standard. When Palin was being criticized for her clothes, hair and make up and her daughter was being dragged through the mud, they were slow to act. When President Clinton admitted to sex with an intern, they were silent. Women’s issues shouldn’t be political. Sexual harassment should be condemned immediately whether the perp makes fun of the right people or not.
Letterman returned to work on Monday and seemed contrite. His fans will understand, and I think he did the right thing by owning up to his mistake and using his most public forum to do it. But make no mistake, Letterman admitted what he did because he was about to be exposed.
I didn’t think that Don Imus, who also worked for CBS at the time of his unfortunate remarks about a women’s basketball team, should have been taken off the air. But he’s doing better professionally today because of the way he handled the crisis. He’s got a new network and his show is better than ever. I don’t think Letterman should be booted off the air permanently, either. But I’m not sure Letterman will be funny anymore. Maybe this will take some of the mean edge off of his comedy and bring him back to the old days of David Letterman.
The Monday studio audience was supportive of Letterman. He apologized to his staff and acknowledged that the consequences of his actions made an impact on staffers involved in the scandal as well as those who were not. He also apologized to his family.
I’m a woman of redemption. Letterman seems contrite and serious about his sorrow over this matter. His story will play out in the courts and in the press over the next few months and he will pay a price for his bad behavior. In the old days, actions like Letterman’s would be career-ending, but in these days of moral relativism, they probably won’t.
My concern is with the groups that supposedly advocate for women. NOW puts itself out there as the group that supports women, and they don’t. They support certain kinds of women, but worse than that, they have selective outrage about people who abuse women. Their response was right, though late, on the rape of a 13 year old girl by Roman Polanski. Their response was right, though late, on the verbal abuse by David Letterman regarding a 14 year old daughter of a politician. It doesn’t matter he didn’t know which daughter he was talking about. In fact, it makes it worse he would confuse the identity of any daughter of Sarah Palin and single a child of a politician out for ridicule.
It seems if you lean left, NOW will support you, or at least withholds comment when you behave badly. Right is right and wrong is wrong. David Letterman used his position over a number of staff people to gratify himself in a sexual way. Just how does a conversation like that start? In the office after you go over the monologue?
Letterman has taken full responsibility. People will forgive David Letterman. However, if NOW doesn’t learn how to be on the right side of women, all women, then they ought to fade into the sunset. Maybe they already have.
On Thursday’s Letterman Show, David Letterman admitted to sexual relationships he had with female staffers over the years. The revelation came after the arrest of a CBS producer who had been blackmailing Letterman over his sexual predation of women who had been working for him.
This goes beyond sexual harassment. Letterman is a predator, and for that he should be fired by CBS.
I continue to be amazed at the lack of action by the so-called “women’s groups,” most notably the National Organization for Women. NOW admonished Letterman several days after the “slutty stewardess” remark he made about Sarah Palin and his raunchy comments about Palin’s daughter way back in June. They came around to his point of view dazzled by his celebrity.
Now they are entirely silent about Letterman’s abuse of his power and position with women that worked for him. Letterman’s case, by his own admission, is at very least guilty of sexual harassment. Heck, he works for CBS, which has a policy of making employees sit down and watch a video on what sexual harassment is…I’m pretty sure sex with staffers was on the list of don’ts. But it was just sex, so he’ll probably get a pass from CBS.
Getting back to NOW, it took NOW a week after the Polanski arrest to post on its website a statement by its president, Terry O’Neill. She said the right things, but why did it take a week? Did they have to think about whether sex with a 13 year old was a problem? The facts of the Polanski case are well known, and the statement was strong. O’Neill said, “Powerful friends of Polanski and a scandal-hungry media are attempting to portray this as a 'Hollywood versus Middle America' story, to quote a headline from the L.A. Times," O'Neill said. "But this is an example of celebrity culture gone haywire. Polanski is a convicted criminal pedophile who raped a 13-year old girl, and fled the country to avoid serving his sentence. Making excuses for Roman Polanski is dangerous talk. What message does this send to victims and potential victims of sexual abuse today?"
It seems NOW has a double standard. When Palin was being criticized for her clothes, hair and make up and her daughter was being dragged through the mud, they were slow to act. When President Clinton admitted to sex with an intern, they were silent. Women’s issues shouldn’t be political. Sexual harassment should be condemned immediately whether the perp makes fun of the right people or not.
Letterman returned to work on Monday and seemed contrite. His fans will understand, and I think he did the right thing by owning up to his mistake and using his most public forum to do it. But make no mistake, Letterman admitted what he did because he was about to be exposed.
I didn’t think that Don Imus, who also worked for CBS at the time of his unfortunate remarks about a women’s basketball team, should have been taken off the air. But he’s doing better professionally today because of the way he handled the crisis. He’s got a new network and his show is better than ever. I don’t think Letterman should be booted off the air permanently, either. But I’m not sure Letterman will be funny anymore. Maybe this will take some of the mean edge off of his comedy and bring him back to the old days of David Letterman.
The Monday studio audience was supportive of Letterman. He apologized to his staff and acknowledged that the consequences of his actions made an impact on staffers involved in the scandal as well as those who were not. He also apologized to his family.
I’m a woman of redemption. Letterman seems contrite and serious about his sorrow over this matter. His story will play out in the courts and in the press over the next few months and he will pay a price for his bad behavior. In the old days, actions like Letterman’s would be career-ending, but in these days of moral relativism, they probably won’t.
My concern is with the groups that supposedly advocate for women. NOW puts itself out there as the group that supports women, and they don’t. They support certain kinds of women, but worse than that, they have selective outrage about people who abuse women. Their response was right, though late, on the rape of a 13 year old girl by Roman Polanski. Their response was right, though late, on the verbal abuse by David Letterman regarding a 14 year old daughter of a politician. It doesn’t matter he didn’t know which daughter he was talking about. In fact, it makes it worse he would confuse the identity of any daughter of Sarah Palin and single a child of a politician out for ridicule.
It seems if you lean left, NOW will support you, or at least withholds comment when you behave badly. Right is right and wrong is wrong. David Letterman used his position over a number of staff people to gratify himself in a sexual way. Just how does a conversation like that start? In the office after you go over the monologue?
Letterman has taken full responsibility. People will forgive David Letterman. However, if NOW doesn’t learn how to be on the right side of women, all women, then they ought to fade into the sunset. Maybe they already have.
Ms. Zoller is a political analyst and conservative talk show host for WXKT FM 103.7 in Gainesville, Georgia and syndicated on The Georgia News Network. She is one of the Talkers Magazine "Heavy Hundred" Talk Shows in America. She can be seen regularly on cable news. She is the author of "Indivisible: Uniting Values for a Divided America." You may contact her through www.marthazoller.com.
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