Should be no surprise that I know some of the players here. Like him or not, Letterman isn't the real story, his blackmailer is. Either way, Dave's not guilty of anything that affects us.

Until I find reason - Reason - to Know otherwise, I agree. Wholeheartedly.

I stayed up to watch the show, even though it was set up to tape. Our local NEWS stations were teasing it @ 9, 9:30, etc. Once I watched, I realized what iLd been waiting for: the reveal. To watch and listen and study and laugh along w the studio audience, but to Know. To Know before them, and to hear it in their voices, even their sighs, when they realized... This, this is Real.

Hmm.

What Letterman did is between him, his family, and the women he was with. What the blackmailer did is between him and society at large. I heard today that he was having difficulties paying his $6000 monthly alimony to his ex-wife. How tragic for everyone that he reacted in the way that he did.

i admit i do find it a little sad, sally. i know hes not a politician, and he may only mean sex in the context of legitimate flings with co-workers. i hope thats what he means. not that he has to be a saint. i just have loved him for so long, that it is a tiny bit disappointing to me, is all.

Standing up and applauding wildly. You nailed this.

What happened to him was horrible. No one has a right to judge him unless they know the ins and outs of his relationships. As we do not, and obviously he's willing to admit them to the public (instead of lying to the public, like so many others do), what's it any of our business?

Connie, Cartrish, thank you. I am SO tired of fake outrage.

Steve, you have a point and it's part of mine. This is more about the blackmailer.

Jane, you have a perfect right to be disappointed. I'm just glad you're not rushing to judgment. That's what the media's doing.

You said it all and echoing your comment:

"Dave's not guilty of anything that affects us".
I read one story on CNN and your post just now--that's all the attention this is going to get from me.
:-)

holly, sorry we crossed. But clearly we're on the same page about this.

Hey, spotted, you sneaked in while I was talking to holly. What's going on here, a conspiracy? You're right though, and thank you... this is all I plan to read, unless it's about the criminal case.

I agree totally. I was so grossed out after his confession last night, not because of his admission but because he was blackmailed for doing something I pretty much assumed everyone in show (and every other) biz does. His blackmailer is the real story and an ugly one at that. I remember when 48 hours was a real news magazine, now it's just salacious tabloid nonsense. Not only that, but when Stephanie Burkitt used to be on Dave's show all the time, I could not imagine why she was on unless she was sleeping with him. Anyway, I had a post about how adorable he and Amy Sedaris were together but I took it down. It was dumb. This is a good post.

I don't have a problem with him. He did nothing wrong. He's a grown up. The others involved were as well. His personal life is his personal life and that should be that.

Doesn't sound like he ventures out much beyond the staff which is rather sad .. . for him and his staff. The sex would always be all about him and it would seem that he would never really get to know anyone.

However, I am glad they nailed the blackmailer. Asshole.

Wow, Dave slept with women that he was acquainted with? Oh my God. Do the right wing boobs want him to force his attention on strangers or perhaps they are merely offended because Dave didn't pressure those page boys into it? The only part of this story that matters is just as you say Sally, a producer at CBS tried to extort 2 million dollars for not going public with Letterman's sex life.

Agree. Let's save our outrage for our lousy health insurance system. It was consensual between adults. Who knows what his private rules were with his girlfriend (s) wife. (I know about sexual bosses, but no sexual harassment issues have come up so far.)

I've never been a big fan of his, but my wife is. So usually, the show is on while we're getting ready for bed. I missed this somehow last night, though.
Regardless, my impression from the news was that these assignations occurred in the past, how far in the past I don't know and I don't NEED to know. The man is married, he has a child, and he isn't the first guy to have sex with co-workers and he won't be the last. As long as everyone was adult, and no marriages were damaged in the process (meaning no one was married when it occurred) who cares? Really?
Well said, Sally. As always.

Hope you're doing well, lady. Still thinking of you every day.

no, i dont think hes some kind of pig. i just cant imagine that. i cant imagine he put anyone's job on the line or done anything except make some girls adore him and want to get wit' him, as i am sure i would have if i had ever worked with or for him.

You cut straight to the chase, Sally. I don't condone what Letterman did, but for pete's sake ... extortion is a criminal offence. Screwing around isn't.

David Letterman -- shall I compare thee to a Vitter, say? Or how about O'Reilly -- one would hope BillO has sense enough to stay away from this one -- but he probably doesn't.

You can bet your hemorrhoid medication Rush and Glenn will jump on this with both feet. And if I may be permitted a catty aside of my own, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to jump either of their bones -- boss or not. In Rush's case, it may impossible to even find his bones.

Sally, you are most right. Private lives are private, until people use faux morality for gain, Letterman does not.

Lord, yes, Sally.

I mean, I see how this is news, but it's tabloid fodder, not real news. WGIFF! All the crap going down across the globe and this is what "bothers" people? Line up and throw that first stone, people.
There a six billion people on the planet. They didn't get here because people are keeping it in their pants. Sheesh!
It's like when they toasted Clinton. None of our effing business.

latethink, I watched knowing already what the "creepy" things he did were and not thinking them creepy. He told his story (no media debunks his account) and simply admitted sleeping with some staff, in the best damage control manner possible. People who think he's a cold fish only have to watch him with Amy Sedaris (put your post back up!), Julia Roberts, Drew Barrymore and a few others to see he likes women. What's wrong with that? Blackmail.

Walk Away, you said it with a lot fewer words than I.

Dorinda, he is what he is, as I said, lots of people are basically defined by their work and live their lives there. Look how he changed when he had a child. Best thing in his life is Harry.

Bob, you too nailed it with fewer words. I need to try your style more often.

Lea, you nailed what I forgot to say, and Saturn did about the news... there are Much more important issues affecting our lives.

Bill, thanks for the support. And for the support. It means a lot. Am trying to be "of the world" best I can for as long as possible.

jane, I hear you. Plus, well, uh, been there, done that. Years and years and years ago. Very. Very. Much. Fun.

B1, how totally pithy. Wish I'd said it that way. (What's up with everybody's comments being better than my post??)

Tom, I will now officially have creepy dreams about Rush. Blech. But you're totally right. Um, left. You know what I mean.

Stellaa, you added to my lesson in how to say this right. "Faux morality" is just perfect.

Verbal, now you bring the Lord into this, jeez... heh

No better way to foul a blackmailer than to come out with the facts. Good for him, bad for the blackmailing ass.

WHO'S NOT RATING??? I WILL HAVE TO START BLACKMAILING PEOPLE. um, sorry, bad taste?

Michael, you're right, but don't bring up Clinton, so to speak, (though I totally agree with you), because people will say they nailed him because "he lied." Everybody lies about extra-marital blow jobs, sheesh. But Letterman (and some smart others) learned a lesson from the Clinton idiocy... better not to lie.

I agree with the story concerning this Letterman controversy being the attempted blackmail/ extortion and subsequent sting operation. He's not a politician. rAted!

I'm sure all your husbands will be glad to hear your responses.

... "awe shucks"... I confess.
I followed the nightly feed:`
Mr. Boreville Redencocker?
`
Over and over:`Cook pocorn:`
I wonder like You:`Why none?
`
Why no girl want Ya/me paw?
You may be millionaire today!
You can lobby @ H&K streets?
`
I'd rather pop:`popcorn alone!
Good night. Oh katydid poops!
I mean:`It's a normal to poop?

Good points, well made, Sally. What do I win for rating? Done, prize or no prize.

The not rating thing has been going around for awhile, Sally. Get used to it. Asking for them doesn't help. It's an odd part of the culture that you aren't going to change. Consider this a bump though to keep this post in the feed. You can't have everything!

I get the feeling that this is reprisal for the Palin comments. Dave will be fine. He's an institution, and where are the women? They had ample opportunity to speak up.

Oh, and I'm getting sick of the not rating thing, too. You are guaranteed that If I commented, I rated.

Exactly how I feel about it. Let's move on, people...

He did what any reasonable person should do. Admit it and move on. Clinton should have. If you say it first it is over, period.

Thanks Sally, smart post, smart man!
R

Cap'n, that's it, nail the blackmailer to the yardarm.

Chuck, exactly, and even politicians get bad raps to sell supposed news.

Boreville, only one husband who likes Letterman, Clinton and well, come to think of it, the rest if NOYB.

AJ, always a treat to try to decode your poems.

Kathy, you win my thanks and a loyal thumb to your good work. Though according to Cartrish, rating's overrated these days.

CT, not being around as much, I hadn't noticed and so did my usual jokes. Sorry they fell flat for you.

Zuma, all the "news" outlets are trying to tie in Palin. She sells too. I agree with you, Dave will weather this. If anybody does come forward at this late date, I would be skeptical of motive.

I love Dave. Two things, he was technically single when he did this (I'm assuming he's stopped of course, maybe he hasn't) and the second point I believe the guilt comes now because of his closeness with his mother and being a father now. I would say the son just starting school is his biggest concern. You are so right though. Who are we to judge? I admire him for stepping up and not caving.

Rated

sweetfeet, Sheila, we crossed, thanks for the agreement. If enough people give it a pass, it should float away. Though I'm not holding my breath.

Rock on, Sally! (And I rated this at least 4 times.)

Zuma, Blue, how quick are you guys?! Thanks for the vote. We're all on the same page. Greg, I do think this is about his single days but lord knows whatever dirt is to be found, will be shoved in our faces. Enough!

Wow, I can't keep up no matter what. Owl, baby, you Rock! More than 4 times.

EXACTLY
A man, a fellow CBS employee, a powerful 48 Hours producer tried to blackmail him. It's wrong on so many levels. And it's against the law.

THAT is a story. Really the only one. The rest is tabloid fodder.

O.K. so this famous, rich, old guy still has a love life and I don't so what do I care.

Whaa! The basterd! Braggart! Whaaa!

conspiracy theory: He made it up to get us to think he still has it.

Roger, that's it exactly.

wschanz, if I'm right (and I think I am, but I've occasionally been wrong), the dalliances were years ago so you can put down your saber, so to speak...

I haven't really given this much thought. You have the right of it, I think.

I tend to admire and respect people who stand up and take their licks, as he seems to be doing here.

Rich, we agree. Though I'm not clear when the licks took place. (Sorry, it's late and I'm punchy).

Dear Sally, I agree, Dave was Blackmailed... thats the story.

Your story on the other hand used it to attack the Palin daughters.
The Palin's didn't ask Dave to make a joke about the daughter she took to the Yankee's game.

The daughter Sarah took to the Yankee's baseball game was underage 14 year old Willow. The joke Dave told never mentioned Bristol. The joke Dave told pissed the Palin's off and if it was your daughter wouldn't you be pissed?

As for the bad behavior comment, you assign blame to both daughters.

One daughter got pregnant. Sarah's seventeen year old daughter Bristol was "punished" with a pregnancy for having sex with her boyfriend. Teenagers having sex. Wow what a surprise!

But you said daughters... plural. Calling the 14 year old Willow's attendance of a baseball game with her mother "bad behavior" is ridiculous. Maybe you know something bad she did that I don't. Otherwise, you did exactly what Dave did to the Palin's.

You put your foot in your mouth about an innocent little girl named Willow Palin because you don't like her mom.

Not rated

Sally, excellent points and I agree with you completely! He's human as the rest of us....the only difference is that he is famous and rich.

"He's had girlfriends. He had sex with them. Who gives a damn?" Right on. Maybe if some people had their own sex, they might not be interested in the sex lives of the famous. I really don't want to hear about someone else's sex life *unless it comes from them*. This small-minded peering into things that people don't choose to share is pathetic. I guess I must be missing the gene that makes you fascinated by celebrity marriages, kids, houses, clothes and affairs. Frankly, they have to shoot someone to get my attention.

Letterman has been known to be a very private man and I would assume that he chose his sex partners accordingly. Notice how none of them have made any public claims or accusations over all these years? The point is, he and the women he slept with probably engaged in consensual sex or we would have heard otherwise a long time ago. It's none of our business (and frankly, who cares?).
Blackmail is another story. It's against the law. It IS the story. Nothing else.

Ha! Everything you wrote is what I just ranted to my sweetheart. Then I came on here to find somebody to rant with. Perfect! I am just astonished that hte fact that Dave had affairs at work is anything he could possibly be judged on. SO WHAT IF HE DID???? Arrrggghhhhhhhhh! Hopefully he cut this story off at the knees by addressing it and it will go away fast. Because this is making me crazy :-)

good for you!

poorsinner (not that you'll listen), I was talking about Sarah Palin keeping her daughters in endless news cycles for her own political gain. And Willow, at the time, was having issues of her own. What good mother ignores --and keeps public-- her children's pain for her own agenda? Plus, Willow's pregnancy was 'news' because of her mother's hypocritical, public, self-righteous stance on teen abstinence. Which, of course, rarely works. Anyway, this post is about DAVID LETTERMAN.

patricia k, he's human, famous and rich... of course women want to have sex with him. And we agree, who cares.

Sirenita, that's something else I forgot to mention in my post... the people making the most self-righteous noise might need to get laid themselves. And some do that in illegal ways as we well know. Nothing like a hypocritical asshat to make my day.

O'Really, my point precisely. Letterman's private life has always been private, except for what he's chosen to tell us. His style of woman is a private person too. Otherwise, we'd have heard *something* during his almost 30 years in show biz. It's the blackmail that should be the focus.

Kelly, let's jump up and down and yell together. Or hold our breaths til we turn blue. This pisses me off in so many ways. O'Reilly and dozens of Wingnut politicians get a pass and Letterman's the "bad guy"? Give me a freakin break.

lefty, thanks for support. Perhaps you'd like to spar with poorsinner about Sarah Palin? Sheesh.

REVISION: poorsinner and all others, sorry, I meant to say BRISTOL'S pregnancy, not Willow's. Just an honest mistake.

Sally,

I listened and I get it. You hate Sarah Palin. You feel empowered and obligated to defend those like Dave who make fun of and joke about her children.

It's all Sarah's fault. She shouldn't have had children that get pregnant while underage and unmarried. It's her fault she couldn't stop a 17 year old from having sex with her boyfriend. It's her fault for loving her children and wanting to have them with her during the GOP convention. It's her fault for loving her Down Syndrome baby instead of aborting it. It's her fault she's a middle class mother that had to work her way through college instead becoming an ivy league affirmative action community organizer. It's her fault she's just one of the folks and not some elitist pompous pontificate that knows better than us ignorant masses.

Dave messed up, you messed up, and I messed up for even thinking you would see the hypocrisy of your post.

So get on your high freaking horse, and ride Sally, ride.

poorsinner, you don't know anything about me yet you make sweeping generalizations based on your own personal prejudices. I don't hate Ms Palin, I simply don't like that she uses her family as political accessories. She didn't "mess up" with her teenage daughter, she's like any other mother trying to instill good values whose children don't always listen ... *except* she told other people what to do about their children with self-righteous authority while not looking inside her own family. It's not a joke, it's sad.

Again, please do NOT put words in my mouth, especially about Downs children. You don't know me. And again, this isn't about Sarah Palin, or me, or your anger... it's about David Letterman being blackmailed, which is a crime.

Sally,

I'm not putting words in your mouth about the Palin daughters. You brought them up and lamely attempted to excuse those like Dave that make them the butt of their jokes.

You don't know what Sarah did or didn't discuss with Bristol about sex. Alaska is not an abstinence-only education state. And since when did promoting abstinence become such a bad thing? And what the hell does it matter to you how she does or doesn't feel about sex education?

Do you support gay marriage? Well Obama doesn't. It's a difference of opinion. I suppose his self-righteously authority on this matter makes his children fair game for jokes about their sexual preferences. What? You mean to say his beliefs on sexual matters don't have a freaking thing to do with his children. And we should leave them alone. They're not fair game and we should shame those that make them the butt of bad taste jokes and humiliating gossip.

Finally, we agree on something else. Because I stated right off the bat that I agree with you that this about BLACKMAIL. You're the one who decided to weigh in the Palin daughters. And you never should have gone there!

I basically agree with the general tenor here -- I was a little disappointed, but not surprised, and Dave was done far worse than he did by the blackmailer . . .

And yet, I can't get the thought out of my mind: one day, this *will* be a movie.

Amen.

I don't get the whole "he MUST have coerced or harrassed these women into having sex with him" thing. Uh, Dave Letterman's funny, wealthy, and from what I've heard, a pretty decent and likeable guy. What's the surprise there? I don't think gapped teeth really matter that much to most women.

Letterman's also telling the truth about "Lutheran, Midwestern guilt." The Catholics and the Jews got nothing on the Missouri Synod Lutherans. Trust me--my Dad's entire family is made up of them. They got around looking for things to beat themselves up over.

I also think that if you took a poll of married folks and asked them where they met their spouses, "at work" comes in third, just behind "in school" and "introduced by friends."

I don't really understand why this is controversial. It seems a slam dunk thing, where Dave Letterman did the honorable thing in spite of the embarrassment it would bring him and the women. But here come the people who want to turn women into victims all the time, assuming that he, because he was their boss, had some kind of control over their careers. Besides the fact that we don't even know what kind of authority he had over them, I don't like to assume that women are naive and/or stupid and need protection. I felt that way about the Monica Lewinsky thing, actually. When two adults have sex, they are smart enough to navigate the land mines of who's got power. The answer to that question is often not nearly as obvious as an organizational chart might indicate.

Diotima, they made a TV movie about the Letterman-Leno Tonight Show story, so you might be right about this chapter.

Leeandra, if you saw it, there's no doubt what he said about guilt (quoted above) was 100% sincere. I know some of the players and very seriously doubt Anybody was coerced. It's not Dave's style. He's not the aggressor.

Lainey, we agree, many people meet sig others and spouses at work. In Letterman's case, there'd be nobody for him to date *above* him, unless at CBS, so logically his dating pool was employed by his company. He focused on the show, not so much the company or the employees. Mostly, back in the day, he dated writers. I so totally agree about the victim nonsense. I said so re Monica... powerful men have women throwing themselves at their feet. Adults who consent are not victims... except of self-righteous media hacks and blackmailers.

poorsinner, for the FINAL time, Sarah Palin preached abstinence to the country as one of her firm religious beliefs as a VP candidate. One would have to assume she said the same to her children. *She* used her children for publicity, people who do that reap what they sow. And again, let's agree this is about BLACKMAIL. No more Palin. Enough. Finished.

Dave is a whore. Prostitution should be legalized.

Um, T.S., huh? Could you elaborate or is it just late and I'm missing the irony? More likely. Time for Demerol and bed. Which Dave is Not in.

I believe you are ready for the meds and missing the irony as Dave has chastised everyone from Clinton to Newt Gingrich for extramarital affairs....calling the kettle black...he is a whore himself but prostitution as William F. Buckley called for should be decriminalized of legalized. There should be no law against being a whore...just as there evidently are no laws against being a Roman Polanski.

Nice talking points. LINK

Dave's own words. LINK

I think it is despicable that someone would consider "outing" these women, including his own girlfriend, just to make money off of Letterman.

T.S., another day, more clarity. Yes, he's made jokes about many people's sex lives -- including his own. Most of those who were the butt of his jokes were either overtly public with their antics or were self-righteous deniers of their own bad behavior while telling the rest of us what to do. The word we're looking for here is Hypocrisy.

Here's what stands out the most to me: David Letterman never told people how to live or love or even vote. He makes jokes for a living, not policy. And, until proven otherwise, his acts weren't illegal, his *blackmailer's* were.

iam, you and me both. The guy's a sleaze. Some news outlets report he got a lot of his info from Stephanie Birkett, who always seemed like a hard-working, nice girl but reportedly had an affair with Dave. Another woman who now claims she did too, says she was "madly in love" with Dave and would have married him. Just as I said, nobody appears to have been coerced. And, trust me, Mrs Regina Letterman knows her husband. She doesn't need --or I'd bet anything-- want our help.

I don't know Sally. When you are the one paying people, you hold the power. These are employee's of his and I don't think he gets a pass just because mentally he is 14. Bill O'Reilly harassed a producer and I found that repugnant and despicable. Rarely are women on equal footing with the men who screw them [in more ways than one, David] or harass them.
I'd call it consensual if the women were not his employee's. Cuz that's how it rolls in the real world.

I think Letterman handled this brilliantly. I think he is a genius. And, like most successful comedians, there is a dark side...hence the "complicated" nature. Now the big news is that 58% of his viewing audience is women. Will they dump him? I for one will watch him more. Great post Sally!

Great post and I totally agree. Thank you!

You know, I tried to find out what he did and this whole blackmail thing and I just got bored. So I don't even know what he's accused of or what he did.

I just know that I want dinner. I'm simple like that.

Sally,
Even David Letterman is entitled to his privacy. I agree with you: what went on is between him and his partner, between him and the people with whom he had affairs, and that's it.
Time to move on; nothing to see here.

It's like you were in my head with this post. Perfectly articulated. Look, I know it's not about Palin, really I do. That being said I think you should consider penning a review of "Going Rogue." Better yet, one of those book club guides full of talking points. It. Would. Be. Awesome. Rated!

Deborah, I have to respectfully disagree. Many woman are attracted to men with power and actively pursue them. Words like "coercion" and "harassment" don't apply in those cases, most especially if no job or career is in jeopardy. Bill O'R is a pig whose advances were unwanted. Part of Letterman's public persona is an outgoing, "clever little bad boy" but in real life he's serious and rather shy. He's also rich and famous, and in the real world women chase him.

Mary, I'm with you, he's a master at expressing himself which also makes him very attractive to women. It's no surprise that the other half of his audience is men... it's that devilish silliness that attracts them. He's a grown up Cartman.

katbron, welcome and thank you!

Beth, it's about sex so I'm surprised you're not paying just a little attention... what IS for dinner tonight anyway?

flw, I think he handled it well but the whole thing was doomed to becoming a traffic accident. And of course it'll be on the side of the road for quite a while.

Ellen, I've been tempted to do something with 'Going Rogue' but, well, that would mean I'd have to read the book. Not sure my stomach or my nervous system could take it...

This nails it, although I would add another contingent I wish would be quiet, which were those who did NOT suggest there was any power imbalance in the Lewinsky thing who are now decrying it in the workplace given he is NOT a politician who votes the right way. (And, no, I did not think Clinton deserved to be impeached, but knew damn well had he been president of IBM rather than the country would have been calling for his head rather than defending him.)

Lettermen seems totally genuine and private to me. I could be wrong, but will wait to attack him once there are facts suggesting he merits it.

Well done, Sally.

yep. level-headed take on this.

I very rarely comment on "celeb" stuff as, I enjoy my REAL life.
However, I need to exercize my right to pun fun.
Since whatever occurred between Letterman and whoever was obviously consensual, we need to point out that the woman/women was/were also sleeping with his staff which makes all "things" equal..

Back to
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Poorsinner101 said:
Dear Sally, I agree, Dave was Blackmailed... thats the story.

Your story on the other hand used it to attack the Palin daughters.
The Palin's didn't ask Dave to make a joke about the daughter she took to the Yankee's game.

The daughter Sarah took to the Yankee's baseball game was underage 14 year old Willow. The joke Dave told never mentioned Bristol. The joke Dave told pissed the Palin's off and if it was your daughter wouldn't you be pissed?

As for the bad behavior comment, you assign blame to both daughters.

One daughter got pregnant. Sarah's seventeen year old daughter Bristol was "punished" with a pregnancy for having sex with her boyfriend. Teenagers having sex. Wow what a surprise!

But you said daughters... plural. Calling the 14 year old Willow's attendance of a baseball game with her mother "bad behavior" is ridiculous. Maybe you know something bad she did that I don't. Otherwise, you did exactly what Dave did to the Palin's.

You put your foot in your mouth about an innocent little girl named Willow Palin because you don't like her mom.

Not rated

Firstly, let me apologize for reproducing this comment in its entirety, but I wanted to make absolutely certain that everyone got a good look at the context. Context is everything.

Poorsinner101, you have taken a post about a celebrity being blackmailed and tried to twist it into an attack on Sarah Palin. Listen, McCain/Palin was a losing ticket - time to get over it. Sarah Palin time and again was caught spouting bullshit from the campaign pulpit. Some of it was outright lies and half-truths. America spoke in November 2008. That's all there is, bud.
Dave Letterman is a comedian. It's his job to make fun of people, particularly politicians. For the very last time, the joke he made was in poor taste as was noted by a bunch of people.
Nowhere did he call Sarah Palin's daughter a prostitute, as your link so nicely tries to claim. If anything, his jokes were more direct statements on the behavior and character of Elliot Spitzer and Alex Rodriguez.

Now how about you grow up? If you object so vociferously to this post, why not go write your own damn post? You act like it is your G-d-given right to continuously spout your rhetoric in comments - it's not. You've had your say, and Sally has been more than polite in indulging you.

Sally, my apologies for the length of this comment. I know you don't need me to defend you.

So what? Letterman's adultery is classified under "So What"? Are there no moral standards in this country anymore? And why do we just hear about male adultery. Do they so need to be flattered by sexual affairs that marriage vows mean nothing? If I were his wife, I'd walk out so fast!
And now I see Jay Leno has jumped on the adultery train. What is this, a contest? Disgusting.

I wholeheartedly agree. You said it better than anyone could have. Thanks for this!

Who cares about this crap? Kill your televiswion. Get a life.

This is one of the best PR tactics I've ever seen. It's right up there with how Johnson and Johnson handled the Extra Strength Tylenol capsule poisonings. Now let me say I could care less about this.

Alaska is not an abstinence-only education state.>>>>>>>>>>>.

If Palin had her way, it would be.

Geoff, Greg, XJS, thanks for getting it. As I noted above, which (she said modestly) is quite pithy: Do not forget, David Letterman represents viewers, not voters. Do not judge him until you have all the facts.

Bill, I love it when you defend me. It makes me feel all girly and protected. Especially when we're both right. :)

Barb, you're entitled to your outrage but I think it's a little over the top. Nobody here, including me, is saying adultery is okay. In fact, based on Dave's remarks last night, the incidents, as I've posited here, took place before he was married. You say nobody mentions women adulterers? Um, Madonna, Jessica Simpson, even Barbara Walters.. there are many, many more. Dave's wife doesn't seem to be going anywhere. IMHO, none of us is in a position to pass unilateral judgement here. Unless we're called to serve on the blackmailer's trial jury.

Thank you, Palindrome. Nice to see you.

OES, yes, the PR's been great. No, it's not the health care debate, but it's certainly taken on a multiple news cycle life and they continue to handle it well.

keenplan, I have a life, and I like television. Rude people, not so much.

I keep wondering why so many people,especially women who ought to know better in my opinion, keep on excusing Letterman! He's a f*&&% sleaze ball and in the area of his personal life he DOES NOT INTEREST ME AT ALL, except when he does his "aw shucks, boys will be boys act.." Boy is that irritating! It's a man's world, in case we all didn't notice, and schtupping an intern for ANY reason is, in my book, overstepping the boundaries. After all he's the guy in charge, he has the power, what he says goes, for the most part, which means a girl F*^&(*^ Letterman could either lose her job or get "advanced" by the involvement. Either way it isn't based on her talent or hard work or expertise or lack thereof! It's shocking how much denial we have about this guy! I happen to like his show by the way and find him entertaining, but I DO NOT find his admission of sexual exploits entertaining. It's obvious we just haven't got it yet, eh? However, be that as it may, the fact that some other sleaze ball producer is extorting him with revelations of this behavior DOES NOT EXCUSE the behavior itself! I'm sorry, but we need to train our daughters better than this--say no to those a-holes who know that power is an aphrodisiac for some young women! (and some foolish old ones as well, I might add.) That's my take. I don't think he's cute, I think he's depressing.

He is an entertainer. He stands on no stool of hypocrisy of moral certitude. His adultery is between him and his wife. Although, his affairs with staff members could cause problems for him and the station. Haldeman is a blackmailer. He tried to extort money for personal gain. He is a criminal and coward. It is to Letterman's credit that he did not "just pay up", which is probably what his lawyers would have advised.

Poet, I'm a bit surprised by the extent of your anger, but as I said to Barb, you're entitled to your outrage. Nobody here, including me, is saying adultery is okay. In fact, based on Dave's remarks last night, the incidents, as I've posited here, took place before he was married. As far as the staffers involved, I think you have it backward... they are attracted to His power, he didn't use his power to get them. Believe me, there's a difference. I was taught better, but still found myself attracted to Some powerful men at one time in my life. Reality is that power is an aphrodisiac to many, many people. As I also said in my post, it's the blackmailer who's the bigger scumbag. At least Letterman stepped up.

Maryellen, we seem to be on the same page.

Sorry I missed you earlier, T Rex. Are there any abstinence-only states?

Sally - I agree with you that the blackmailer is the criminal. But I dont understand why Letterman should no come under some criticism.
DL is not immoral dor having sex. But i used to have a college professor that always liked to ay "I don't have morals but I have ethics"
Is it possible he behavior was unethical and causes harm to others.
It eas reprted today that all CBS employees have to sign an agreement hat if this occurs it must be made known to management, but apparently he has a loophole because he technically does not work for CBS. Most employers have such rules and do not allow bosses and subordinates to have relationships.

Here is a story that happened to me at my employer.
I worked for a 3rd level manager that assigned me and another person on a grueling engineering project that cost me a year of 60 to 70 hours weeks. To keep it short the project was not popular with the rest of his organization. My friend and I were successful at creating a new advanced technology. Two patents were received eventually.
Now at the same time the 3rd level started having an affair with a woman 2nd level that reported to him. He had a male 2nd level reportee as well. The male was one of the opponents of the project.
He was not to discrete and many became suspicious.

When the opponents of the project could not stop it based on and good business reason (after all he was the boss), they complained to HR about the affair. The male 2bd level actually did a reverse on the normal sexual harassment saying he was unfairly treated because he was NOT having sex with his manager but his pier was.
he was shortly removed and then immediately my year of hard work was just canned.
What is my point? It is that I was hurt because he violated the rules od my employer. These are not moral rules but ethical rule and they are there for a reason. This episode thew my career as a senior engineer off track because I was the idiot that worked my ass off for the technology that now was tainted because the boss was tainted. Typically the hard work I did would have been rewarded. Instead I was given the cold shoulder and hod no project to work on. All because my manager could not simply handle this better.

Lets also consider Bill Clinton. One must admit that unfair or not the Lewinsky thing had to hurt the dem party and possibly cost the party the next election. Think about how many people (not that I care about this a lot) that devoted tireless work to the party with some hope that success would gain them some favor. Well Clinton screwed them all because he just had to have a blow job.

Is DL a criminal or immoral, no? But is it possible his actions will or have hurt others personally? My guess is there is someone there that is hurt. It think it is almost impossible for it not to be true.
So basically I just don't like his actions. Couldn't he just check his actions and find women outside the workplace.
And now he continues to use it as jokes. Maybe the women involved would like it to just go away. The more he keeps it up the more likely someone will get hurt or embarrassed.

He could have behaved much better and he certainly now is not in a position to poke jokes at anyone else that behaves questionably but within the law.
His attacks on Palin and many others he does not agree with politically are just mean spirited and to get laughs. Cant he get a laugh with a good joke that does not involve any public figure. Yes he can, he has writers to do that. But he enjoys trashing people.
To me that is lacking ethics and common decency.

These affairs could and probably did happen before Dave was married. I believe he is devoted to his wife and son. Sex betwen two consenting adults is no one's business, unless you are a politician who hides behind his faith and proclaims himself to be so pure that he can judge others, but in secret is committing adultry and paying off people. These are the real deceivers and menaces to society. I , for one, am proud of Dave for facing up to the blackmailer and exposing him. There would have been to end to the demands, and Dave did the courageous thing. I will continue to watch Dave and enjoy his show.

Sally, you have stimulated the most reasoned, thoughtful and fair minded comments I've yet read in Salon. Now, you smart writer, how do you spell the sound of a yawn?

Best yet.

Great post, Sally!!! Rated

Joseph, I'm very sorry for what happened to you. It was totally unfair. That said, in Letterman's case it appears no one gained or lost anything. No jobs or projects were in jeopardy. We'd have heard about harassment long ago if that were true. Regina Lasko (who was a writer on the show) gained a husband and a child. Other women have said they'd have married Dave too. I won't get into the politics angle. It's not about ethics, everything is fair game for comedians That's show biz.

Ina, you said in one paragraph exactly how I feel. Thank you!

Elizabeth, I'm not sure if you're complimenting or skewering me. I tried to figure it out but I've never seen a yawn in print, and it's often just as hard to see sarcasm. Or not?

Ralph, as always, thank you!