David Letterman is scornful of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, which is certainly his right. That he continues to use the bully pulpit of his late-night talk show to crack wise about the former vice presidential contender is acceptable also, if not exactly cutting edge comedy.

Clearly a public figure, Palin is fair game.

But Letterman went beyond the pale with his recent jokes about Palin’s daughter being “knocked up” by a New York Yankee player while attending a recent game.

Letterman claimed to be referring to Palin’s 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, who had a child out of wedlock. However, Bristol wasn’t at the ballpark that day. Her 14-year-old daughter was. Logically, that makes her the focus of the wisecrack, which would be truly disturbing.

Either way, Letterman’s attempt at humor strikes us as unnecessarily and unacceptably nasty. Neither of the Palin daughters were fit targets for that kind of material.

So, what now?

We’d like to see the matter dealt with the old Scots-Irish way.

With Father’s Day coming up next Sunday, how about the two dads, Letterman and Todd Palin, having a private, man-to-man meeting in some quiet, out-of-the-way place to discuss the matter. Todd strikes us as the kind of dad who would cut to the point quickly, not wasting much of Letterman’s valuable time.

The men would meet, make their points and then Letterman’s assistants could pick him up and carry him back to the limo.

Matter closed.

The Daily Citizen