TV talk host David Letterman has gone off on Sen. John McCain again. The aging, unfunny comedian’s arrogance clearly knows no bounds.
David Letterman has continued his on-air attacks on Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain on his Late Night with David Letterman show, as the Los Angeles Times reports:
[I]n tonight’s "Late Show," Letterman once again spouted off about the feud. And in the process of scornfully recounting it—"war hero," "economy," "rush back to Washington," "spent the night in New York," "Katie Couric," yadda, yadda—he revealed details about the negotiations to bring McCain back that … well, it’s hard to imagine that the McCain campaign will like this.
The story quotes Letterman as follows:
Now here’s this thing with John McCain…you know a couple of weeks ago, John McCain was supposed to be on the show. And at the last minute he calls me up –- and I’ve got a lot of respect…you get a call from a senator –- you get a call from a guy who is a bona fide war hero –- all of a sudden, you know, your lips start to vibrate. So I said “Sure, whatever you want.” And he says, “Look, Dave, the economy is about to crater.” It’s about to “crater,” his word. “And I have to rush back to Washington to save the economy.” And so it made me feel puny. So I said, “OK, Senator, do what you have to do. Rush right back to Washington.” And then I hung up and I felt like a patriot. I felt like I had done my part. And he was supposed to be on the show like an hour later. So now, we’re in a hole but everybody has to pull together in economic hardship times. So we all pull together and we get that guy with the big head from MSNBC. What’s his name? Keith Olbermann, yeah. Giant head. So he comes over. He’s good. He’s very good. So now it turns out, not only did he not rush back to Washington, he spent the night here in New York City. He went on Katie Couric…he was on Conan…he was on Regis…he was everywhere. So now, in an attempt to save his campaign, they’re talking about coming back. You see what I’m saying? So we said, “Sure, we would love you to come back.” And even on the phone, he said, “I’ll bring….Sarah.” But they’re being squirrely. Politicians can be squirrely. Because we have a date picked. We do this show every afternoon at 5:30. He wants to do the show at 5. So one –- we have no guarantee he’s going to show up, period. And we’ve kind of already rearranged our schedule on his behalf to save the economy, right? By getting that big-headed kid in here to talk about the politics. You know what I’m driving at? I just don’t know if we can trust him. And by the way, I don’t need to remind you that the road to the White House runs right through here."
Interestingly, the initial reader comments on the L.A. Times report were highly critical of Letterman, characterizing him as an arrogant, spoiled, partisan jerk. Soon, however, Democrat partisans heard about the item and flooded it with comments supporting Letterman.
The initial commenters were right, in my view, and I believe that they probably more accurately reflect the general public’s opinion on the matter.
Update, Sunday, October 12: CBS is now showing promotional spots indicating that Sen. McCain will appear on Late Night with David Letterman on Thursday, October 16.
Great point, Warren. It’s easy to mock other people, but not so much fun being the butt of the jokes. Of course, having a daily forum for your opinions and being highly paid for it are great comforts, as I’m sure Mr. Stewart finds them to be.
I remember what John McCain did to John Stuart on his talk show where Stuart kept making fun of John McCain’s policies and program. At the end, McCain casually said “What about this? If you believe John Stuart, you’ll believe everything”. Stuart was tongue-tied and the audience booed. That’s when I started laughing. It seems that they can dish it out but they can’t take it.