I agree with Victor on David Letterman’s “explanation” of his joke.
It’s very difficult to be a state ironist, which is the role America’s establishment comedians have volunteered themselves for. If you’re going to do jokes about statutory rape and to trash families of leading politicians, Jim Treacher points out that the president’s brother, Samson Obama, has been banned from the United Kingdom because of attempted assault of a 13-year-old girl.
So now that the Tiffany network has opened up this promising new seam of comedy gold, wouldn’t it be way cooler if Letterman had joked about Sarah Palin’s daughter getting raped by Obama’s brother? That’d be hilarious, right? Not just ’cause it’s a bipartisan rape gag but because it would be — what’s the word? — “edgy.” You know, like they used to say about Dave three or four decades back . . .