10/5/09
Ever since Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky was exposed to the public in 1998, America has become accustom to sensational sex scandals with politicians. We’ve long been desensitized to the fact that politicians are often corrupt and involved in scandal. So it’s usually the details and key players within the scandals that interest us. Just how big of a politician was involved, what exactly did they do, was tax-payer money used to fund the scandal, was there a cover up, and what about wives and families? We may not always be surprised when a politician admits to wrong doing, but once they do the media and public are often quick to criticize and condemn them for their actions. We hold strong standards to politicians. They’re supposed to be making important decisions that will benefit the entire nation so when they commit an offense that is widely frowned upon their integrity is compromised and we want them out of office. When it comes to offenses like extramarital affairs which aren’t exactly illegal in any way, the offense is still treated as if it were illegal given the politicians high standing. But will America impose these same standards on a comedian? We may soon find out as the scandal involving late night talk show host David Letterman continues to unfold.
Last Thursday, on his Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, Dave told his audience about an extortion case he had recently become the victim of. Former 48 Hours producer Robert Halderman is accused of trying to blackmail Letterman, threatening to release details about Letterman’s affairs with women that have worked on his show in the form of a novel and screenplay. Halderman who had been living with one of Letterman’s former assistants discovered the details of their affair by reading her diary. Letterman sought the help of a Manhattan district attorney’s office and the investigation ended on Thursday when a fake check for $2 million was issued to Halderman and he was arrested.
When one thinks of sex scandals in politics naturally the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal will come to mind as one the most widely covered and discussed instances. But more recently two particular scandals dominated the news when they first hit the press. The first of which would be the scandal involving former North Carolina Senator and 2004 Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards . In October of 2007 The National Enquirer began reporting allegations that Edwards was having an affair with a former campaign worker Rielle Hunter. At first the story was given very little coverage as The National Enquirer isn’t always thought of as the most reliable news source. But on August 8, 2008 in an interview with ABC News Edwards admitted that he had indeed had an affair with the woman, but he continued to deny that he was the father of Hunter’s son. The incident has had a tremendous effect on Edwards’ political career. Some speculated that Edwards was one of the considerations for Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008, but that after the scandal he was cut out of consideration. Edwards has since dropped out of the public light. When Edwards apologized some pointed out the possibility that his wife was unable to forgive him when she wasn’t present during his apology, as most politicians’ wives stand by them during times of scandal. Edward’s wife was not present, however he claims that that was on his request. Regardless of if his wife forgave him, it’s safe to say that the American people will not for quite some time.
Another recent political sex scandal took the media by storm recently. The scandal involving South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford received quite a lot of attention not simply because it involved a major politician and a sex scandal, but rather from the way it unfolded. In June of 2009 the whereabouts of Mark Sanford were unknown by both his staff and family for six days, an unheard of amount of time for a Governor to be off the grid. He finally returned to the sates after hearing from his staff that his disappearance had gained quit a lot of media attention. When he returned he called a press conference where he admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife with a woman in Argentina. Nothing new there but one aspect of the scandal that was new to everyone was the way Sanford defended himself. He tried to portray his affair as a romantic love story, rather than just a sleazy affair. He told reporters that he had meet the woman sometime in 2001 and they started off "very innocently" but that it developed into a romantic situation about a year before the time of the scandal. Edwards also made statements like he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate." He also described the affair as a "hopelessly impossible situation of love.". The other strange thing about Mark Sanford is that he has still refused to step down from his position as Governor like many have and would when in his situation. "Backroom political maneuvering may keep him in office another 18 months, but everyone knows his governorship, and likely any political future, is over," opined Dr. Benjamin Ladner in The State on July 2, 2009. It also seems that Sanford’s marriage may also be in danger of ending. Unlike most politicians’ wives who stand by their men in tough times it has been reported that Sanford’s wife and children moved out of the Governor’s mansion on August 7, 2009 leaving him behind.
Several months ago David Letterman was involved in a much smaller scandal, more of feud between him and former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. The feud was started when Letterman made some crude jokes about Palin’s daughter. Palin fired back at Letterman on the grounds that it was not okay to make sexual jokes about young girls. Often Letterman’s jokes were along the lines of calling Palin “a slutty flight attendant” and others involving her daughter being “knocked up” by Alex Rodriguez. Letterman later apologized to Palin’s family but has since still made a target of Sarah Palin herself.
Now that we know that Dave himself has been involved in extramarital affairs, can we call him a hypocrite for having made Top 10 jokes about Sanford’s similar snafu and Palin’s daughter? Will there be a backlash from his fans demanding that he no longer joke about other people’s affairs give that he is now guilty one of himself? The answer is most likely, no. Dave will not be held to the same standard as politicians, not only because he isn’t one, but because he’s the exact opposite, a comedian. It’s the man’s job to poke fun at what’s in the news and to make us laugh, he isn’t entrusted with important decisions and isn’t considered a role model to young children. While most politicians have to make the sacrifice of having their personal lives become a part of their professional lives, most comedians become regular people when they exit the stage and are entitled to their own lives and privacy. We have to invade the life of someone like Mark Sanford because being a politician he may have used tax-payer money to fund his affair, which is illegal and a major concern to the American public. While a comedian like Dave has no obligation to tax-payers and no control over public money and affairs.
Another factor that will most likely lead to Letterman being forgiven is the way in which his scandal unfolded and the way he handled it. Even though Dave has done some questionable things he’s still a victim in this case. Robert Halderman tried to blackmail Dave and thus Letterman has become a victim that most people will want to sympathize with. We should also consider that there was no attempted cover up. We heard no rumors in the weeks leading to Letterman’s apology and Dave never denied any wrong doing. When we first heard about the scandal, we got it straight from Dave who may have been a bit too jocular when discussing his affair, but still had the guts to explain himself to his audience. Some criticized Dave for failing to mention his wife during his original apology last Thursday night, but Letterman included his wife’s feelings in another apology this last Monday and also apologized to his staff. For the foreseeable future David Letterman may need to watch what he says in regard to anyone else’s sexual indiscretions, now that he can be accused of hypocrisy. But it’s also likely that David won’t have to fear any kind of long-term reprisal or backlash from the American people. We may not be ready to forgive a politician who we gave our trust to, but when it comes to a late-night talk show hosts we’re likely to forgive and forget on one condition: they make us laugh about something else.
