HOW MANY WEEKS DID THIS TAKE? - AT 9:51 P.M. ET:  David Letterman, involved in a controversy over a joke he'd told at the expense of Sarah Palin's younger daughter, has surrendered and apologized:

David Letterman directly apologized to Gov. Sarah Palin and her daughters on his program Monday night, saying he took responsibility for a joke that had offended Ms. Palin, her family and her supporters.

Mr. Letterman opened the desk portion of his show with the apology, in which he said he wanted to say he was sorry 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.” Two weeks ago on his “Late Show” program on CBS, he had joked about Governor Palin’s attending a Yankee game with her daughter.

The joke, in which Mr. Letterman seemingly confused Willow, who is 14 and attended a Yankee game with Governor Palin that week, with Bristol, who is 18 and an unwed mother, had to do with the Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez impregnating Ms. Palin’s daughter.

COMMENT:  Does this mean there's hope for our negotiations with Iran? 

Look, Letterman finally did the right thing, but it took much too long, reflecting the remarkable double standard in the media.  If that joke had been told about a liberal's daughter, the roof would have come in, and Letterman would have been explaining himself to a firing squad led by Anita Hill.  Remember her?

June 15, 2009