David Letterman had made a joke about Sarah Palin and her daughter (who he thought was Bristol) at the Yankees game, but it happened to be her 14 year old daughter Willow instead.  His joke, “One awkward moment with Sarah Palin at the Yankees game, during the 7^th inning her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.”  He was referring to Bristol, the 17 year old daughter who is now a mother, not realizing she was at the game with her 14 year old daughter Willow.

Apparently David Letterman and Sarah Palin have never gotten along and when David Letterman gave an apology and invited Sarah Palin on the show, she refused to go on not wanting to help out his ratings, and we all know that because they are “rivals” the ratings would sky rocket. 

As a politician, you have to know that you will be made fun of, used as the butt end of jokes, etc. so Sarah Palin has no right to normally be upset about this kind of late night humor, EXCEPT the fact that David Letterman was not making fun of Sarah Palin, he was jabbing at her daughter Bristol.  When you start to make fun of the politician’s family and not the politicians themselves, then you are crossing the line, especially if it is about a child.  Politician’s children never asked to be in the spotlight, so it is completely unfair that anyone use them as the butt end of a joke while trying to hit at the politician. 

Due to this inappropriate joke, Olive Garden who had previously run ads during David Letterman’s show is pulling them off of his time slot, saying they never get to view the content of the show until it airs, even though it is filmed during the day.  The fact that David Letterman made a crack at Sarah Palin’s daughter (either one) goes against Olive Garden’s “family atmosphere” and they no longer want to be associated with that kind of behavior.

The day after David Letterman made the joke he made an on air apology, apologizing to Sarah Palin, her daughters, and the rest of the viewing public that felt hurt by these comments.  Angry viewers were sending in letters to the network asking to fire David Letterman, but I doubt that will happen.  His joke had a very mixed response.  Half the audience thought it was hysterical, even so with Willow and took it as a joke, while the other half of the audience was angered by this unsure as to why David Letterman would be so harsh as to go after Sarah Palin’s daughters.  It seems to me the viewing audience is very much like in the presidential elections… mostly 50/50 (at least before the final votes) – half of the people taking Palin’s side, half of the people taking Letterman’s side… it is always about politics.