David Letterman apologizes; Sarah Palin accepts (The TV Zone)

(Getty Images Photo)

On last night's show.

For the jokes.

You know which jokes.

The relevant part of the transcript is below, followed by the full transcript on the jump.

This all comes after the first commercial break. Meanwhile, in the monologue, there were a handful of Letterman-in-the-volcano jokes from the host himself:

"I got a call from mom and she said she's supporting the governor..."

"Bernie Madoff...the most hated man in America...[he pauses] ME, Bernie Madoff..."

Re: The Iranian elections..."violent protests, national outrage. No, wait a minute: That's me."

His apology was delivered straight-ahead, without comic flourish (or just one), in stark contrast to last Wednesday's defense. It was Letterman like you've never seen him.

And why, you ask, didn't Dave apologize last week? Because - I am reliably told and as he explains here - perception had overtaken reality. No one believed him when he said that the joke wasn't about Willow, so...time to clear the air.

Also told: Dave made this apology on his own; no pressure from those whose job it is to apply pressure, notably Leslie Moonves, his boss. (Do I believe this? Does it matter what I believe?)

Nonetheless, a rally - sponsored by the people who got those tea parties up and going in April - is happening outside the Ed Sullivan tomorrow, and at this moment, it's STILL going forward...

Here's the key question: What has Gov. Palin got to say about this? She released this statement very early this morning:

"Of course it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve," she said.

"Letterman certainly has the right to 'joke' about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction," Palin said. "This is all thanks to our U.S. Military women and men putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's Right to Free Speech - in this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."

Here's another question: Why did Dave refer to only one joke tonight, when there were actually two - the Rodriguez one on Monday, and the Eliot Spitzer one on Tuesday?

Here's Dave:

"Well, my responsibility – I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. That it was misunderstood.” (audience applauds) “Thank you. So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much."

How big a deal is this? At this point, it's huge. Clearly, CBS has been under intense pressure, and that means Les Moonves has been under intense pressure, and that means Dave has been under intense pressure. No one - and I do mean NO ONE - knew this would get to this point, and by apologizing now, Letterman is almost feeding the firestorm.

His critics - they've been everywhere, and they have been vocal - were infuriated by his semi-mea culpa on last Wednesday's show. His efforts to thread the needle, by saying the joke was really about Bristol and not 14-year-old Willow, have almost made the problem worse.

Reason is, the conservative cultural warriors who are out for blood now say he shouldn't have made the joke about EITHER. In fact, some liberal culture warriors agree.

This apology seems to have addressed this, but will it be enough?

Dave's Palinpalooza may not be over yet. Michael Patrick Leahy, an organizer of the so-called "tea party" tax protests in April and behind tomorrow's rally, told me after the apology was made public: "If he has sincerely apologized, that's a good first step," but said the rally will go forward, and that other steps need to be taken; declined to say what those "steps" might be.

On to the jump, and more coming...

Letterman: “All right, here – I’ve been thinking about this situation with Governor Palin and her family now for about a week – it was a week ago tonight, and maybe you know about it, maybe you don’t know about it. But there was a joke that I told, and I thought I was telling it about the older daughter being at Yankee Stadium. And it was kind of a coarse joke. There’s no getting around it, but I never thought it was anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure in fact that she is of legal age, 18. Yeah. But the joke really, in and of itself, can’t be defended. The next day, people are outraged. They’re angry at me because they said, ‘How could you make a lousy joke like that about the 14-year-old girl who was at the ball game?’ And I had, honestly, no idea that the 14-year-old girl, I had no idea that anybody was at the ball game except the Governor and I was told at the time she was there with Rudy Giuliani…And I really should have made the joke about Rudy…” (audience applauds) “But I didn’t, and now people are getting angry and they’re saying, ‘Well, how can you say something like that about a 14-year-old girl, and does that make you feel good to make those horrible jokes about a kid who’s completely innocent, minding her own business,’ and, turns out, she was at the ball game. I had no idea she was there. So she’s now at the ball game and people think that I made the joke about her. And, but still, I’m wondering, ‘Well, what can I do to help people understand that I would never make a joke like this?’ I’ve never made jokes like this as long as we’ve been on the air, 30 long years, and you can’t really be doing jokes like that. And I understand, of course, why people are upset. I would be upset myself.

“And then I was watching the Jim Lehrer ‘Newshour’ – this commentator, the columnist Mark Shields, was talking about how I had made this indefensible joke about the 14-year-old girl, and I thought, ‘Oh, boy, now I’m beginning to understand what the problem is here. It’s the perception rather than the intent.’ It doesn’t make any difference what my intent was, it’s the perception. And, as they say about jokes, if you have to explain the joke, it’s not a very good joke. And I’m certainly – ” (audience applause) “– thank you. Well, my responsibility – I take full blame for that. I told a bad joke. I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception. And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke. It’s not your fault that it was misunderstood, it’s my fault. That it was misunderstood.” (audience applauds) “Thank you. So I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I’m sorry about it and I’ll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much.” (audience applause)

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David Letterman apologizes; Sarah Palin accepts

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