Ripped From The Headlines

I don't often copy straight from newspapers. I prefer to astound you with my own wit and wisdom. But, this is a gem. I couldn't have said it better myself.

From The San Jose Mercury News.

In this age of out-of-control political correctness, it never ceases to amaze me how thin our skins have become. Can anyone around here take a joke anymore?

I’m referring to the latest — and utterly ridiculous — furor being made over the comments David Letterman made last week about Sarah Palin’s daughter.

Palin, of course, went ballistic. And then so too did her devoted followers. And now comes word that a Website called FireDavidLetterman.com is organizing a rally outside Letterman’s show at the Ed Sullivan theater on Tuesday. They want the acerbic host gone.

Give me a break.

Leading the torch-bearing mob is New York State Assemblyman Brian Kolb (R), who clearly has too much time on his hands. He’s a co-sponsor of the site, which features a list of major advertisers and CBS bigwigs, to whom people can complain.

“Firing Mr. Letterman would send a clear message that CBS will not tolerate any of its employees, even an established media figure like Mr. Letterman, making demeaning and degrading comments about women,” Kolb wrote in a letter to CBS chief Les Moonves.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Letterman, and as a parent, I agree with detractors who believe his remarks were rather tasteless. They did not make me laugh. I also side with EW.com critic Ken Tucker, who says Letterman (who has already apologized) needs to “clam up” and move on.

But so does everyone else. Letterman, after all, was JOKING. And he was joking in a late-night monologue — a venue where barbs and gags often get a little edgy and occasionally dip below the belt. Can we all just lighten up a bit?

Granted, the chances that Letterman will be fired are probably pretty slim. Still, it should bother us all that a small group of overly agitated, politically-minded people can stir up this much of a ruckus over a couple of lines in a monologue.

Somewhere in all of this, I sense there’s another joke — and it is on us.