Number One Reason Sarah Palin Is Smiling Today

Letterman's embarrassing midnight confession

Sarah Palin must be smiling, and not just because her new book is already #1 on the bestseller list, before it's even been released. 

The ex-Alaska governnor's erstwhile nemesis, David Letterman, just confessed that he's been the Horndog King of Late Night all these years, telling his audience he is the victim of an extrotion plot and admitting, "I have had sex with women who worked for me on this show."

Dave? Our Dave with the gap-toothed, boyish grin? The guy who always joked about never getting girls? The one who -- when announcing that he was going to be a father with his long-time girlfriend -- said that, "I know what you're thinking -- Dave's had sex?"  To make things sound even creepier, he used almost the exact same joke on Thursday:  "I know what you're saying. I'll be darned, Dave had sex."

The last time Letterman made a cringingly awkward joke about sex, it was directed at Palin and her family. The former vice presidential candidate was outraged when the comic joked about Palin's daughter being hit on by disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, and getting "knocked up" by Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez during her visit to New York. Letterman ended up apologizing twice after first trying to pass the dustup off as if Palin and her supporters not getting the joke. Letterman says he intended older Palin daughter Bristol as the butt of his joke, but it was 14-year old Willow who had come to New York with her mother.

As we pointed out in the space at the time, jokes about 14-year-olds getting knocked up aren't funny. Taken with another nasty comment Letterman made about Palin, saying her wardrobe had a "slutty flight attendant" look, we wondered if he had a problem with women in general.

Letterman wound up with the benefit of the doubt, but in retropsect, Sarah Palin's comment on the "Today" show that she might want to keep her 14-year old daughter away from him, and that he "should apologize to young women across the country," doesn't seem like such a cheap shot anymore. 

Regardless of what people think about Palin ideologically, Letterman's confession last night suddenly puts their summer exchange in a new light. As her memoir is about to come out and the inevitable book tours get underway, Palin suddenly has the high ground in a discussion that  won't be avoided.
 
New York writer Robert A. George blogs at Ragged Thots. Follow him on Twitter.
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