Why Aren't We Angrier at Letterman Labeling Palin an Anti-Semite?

Conservatives4Palin ^ | THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009 | Adam Brickley

[curth]

I realize I'm a bit late to the outrage over David Letterman's vomit-inducing anti-Palin 'jokes', but trust me I have been watching - and the coverage here has been spectacular. That said, there is one other angle to this story which I am surprised is not getting more coverage. This little joke is rightly overshadowed by the outrage over Letterman's perverted sexual 'humor', but I cannot let this issue die without going back to item #3 from the "Top 10 Highlights of Sarah Palin's Trip to New York":

3. Finally met one of those Jewish people Mel Gibson's always talking about

Maybe I'm a little oversensitive about these things, but as both a Palin supporter and a practitioner of Judaism...well...Let's just say that I would tell you how I felt, but that would require me to use a long string of Yiddish profanity and this is a family friendly site.

In my opinion, Letterman was out of line here on three fronts. First, he is assuming that we all get the joke - as if we all assume that people not from the East or West Coasts are bigoted, xenophobic anti-Semites. Unfortunately for Dave, the idea that such comments are funny is actually limited to the elitist circles in which he apparently runs.

Second, he assumes that it's funny to joke about anti-Semitism - and it's not. Frankly, I found this joke about as funny as the time somebody (knowing my religion) asked me what the difference between a pot roast and a Jew is (the answer being that that the pot roast doesn't scream when you put it in the oven).

And finally, I would think that he owes Alaska's Jewish community an apology for just assuming that they don't exist

[curth]

Note: See pix of Governor Palin with "dem Jews" here. The quote is from our pal Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/photos.php?&start=112&total=8

[prismsinc]

Why aren’t we more angry? Because many of us have come to expect vile disgusting behaviour from the likes of Gutterman.

[AuntB]

“3. Finally met one of those Jewish people Mel Gibson’s always talking about”

I noticed that one and I’m glad someone brought it up.

Letterman is despicable!

[Big_Monkey]

I thought that joke was inappropriate when I heard it as well. People have forgotten, including Letterman’s writers apparently, that Palin has Jewish blood on her mothers side, IIRC.

[SolidWood]

Nope. That “Jewish Grandparents” thing is a hoax.

[i_dont_chat]

How can I be MORE angry at Letterman?

I’ve hated him for years — can’t stand the way he made fun of President George Bush. Letterman is an insensitive jerk, and I don’t see how ANYONE can find him entertaining.

[SolidWood]

Probably because the rape slur eclipsed in it’s outrageousness the other usual PDS stuff (that she is a bible-thumping hillbilly).

[Big_Monkey]

"Nope. That “Jewish Grandparents” thing is a hoax."

Really? I did not know that. What an odd-thing to joke about. This isn't 1910. It only would have helped Palin. I can't think of any reason why it would have mattered to the GOP's Christian base, and it only would have endeared Palin to Jewish Americans. Strange.

[vetvetdoug]

I am not angry at Letterman. I just don’t like the prick.

[Ditto]

Governor Sarah Palin and daughter, Piper, visit with Rabbi Yosef Greenberg at the Chanukah Arts Festival in Anchorage.

[SolidWood]

It started on some forum and was spread by mail. They claimed that some of her maternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews, but the names weren't any of her actual grandparents.

Palin's alleged "Jewish Grandparents"

Frankly, I don't know what the point was of that claim. Her ancestry doesn't matter a bit to me. Okay, except for the cool trivia that she has Mayflower Pilgrim fathers in her family tree!

This source:

I looked into this Jewish Sarah Palin claim, and found that no one making it has offered anything approaching evidence. Her dark looks probably come from an Irish grandfather, and the Mayflower claims of both her parents seem safe. (Most of those are on the "Sheigam" side!)

Here is a standard genealogy for Sarah Palin's father and mother.

Note that the author bases part of his work on that of William Reitwiesner and Gary Boyd Roberts, two of the top presidential genealogists in the land, and whom I would trust long before an anonymous contributor at Wiki.answers.com, or anywhere else with "wiki" in the name.

Some sites are saying "Sheigam" was changed to "Sheeran" at Ellis Island. Any experienced researcher will tell you that kind of story is almost always bogus. Immigration officials copied the passenger manifests, which were filled out in Europe before departure.

Her mother's father was Sheeran, not Sheigam, and he appears purely Irish. Her grandmaternal Gowers go back to Norfolk, England, not Lithuania. Her father's mother was a Brandt, not a Coleman. (And even if she was, two of Saint Paul's last three mayors were Colemans, but only one was Jewish.)

I went to Heritage Quest online and found her Sheerans and Brandts on the 1920 Census.

[tumblindice]

Ted Rall, Michael Moore and Dave Letterman are all running for Democratic Homecoming Queen.
This could get ugly fast.

[nikos1121]

I’ve never found Letterman to be funny, and I’m in my 50s therefore I was there when he started.

Johnny Carson, Jay Leno...would never think of telling a joke like he did. And the strange thing is he’s getting away with it unscathed.

IMUS is canned for something unscripted. Letterman’s was a scripted joke, meaning those high priced comedy writers of his, (who crossed picket lines), sat around the table chuckling as they put together the monologue.

Maybe it was Letterman’s idea IN THE FIRST PLACE. Who knows.

I only know is that this didn’t hint of apologizing.

If she goes on the show and kisses that guy’s behind like McCain did, I will be upset.

Let this guy spin a bit...

[stuartcr]

Is it because he’s just a comedian trying to get ratings, and what he says doesn’t matter at all?

[Deb]

I think it was a joke about the lack of Jews in Alaska and Palin’s unsophistication and lack of World travel.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

I think it was a joke about the lack of Jews in Alaska and Palin’s unsophistication and lack of World travel.

I don't think so - Mel Gibson's drunken comments about Jewish people is the reference, thereby implying that there is a connection between what Palin thinks and what Gibson thinks.

[Vaduz]

Proof that the mad dog media only attacks the sane.

[cdcdawg]

What he says actually does matter. It shouldn’t, but it does.

[OK Right]

All excellent points in this thread. Bottom line: the liberal media is behaving predictably, circling in protection of the wrong party — a far-left liberal, so-called comedian — and it’s incensing. Rather than make reparations and apologize, Letterman continues to joke about the issue. Let’s hope that this incident makes his ratings drop beyond all significance.