This David Letterman-Sarah Palin...

...controversy has more legs than I would have thought. But I guess it's understandable; it's in both their interests to keep it alive. Letterman needs the ratings boost just as Conan O'Brien is getting started and Palin needs a straw man to maintain her visibility. Everyone else seems to be weighing in on it, with most people agreeing that Letterman's jokes crossed a line but at the same time that Palin needs to move on.

I'll concede that the jokes were in questionable taste, but so what! David Letterman is a comedian who tells jokes for a living. He hosts a late-night talk show that is hardly known for serious conversation. People watch it just before they go to bed at night to get a few laughs and ogle the latest starlets. It's not exactly Bill Moyers. And I don't think he should apologize for it, either, except to keep the controversy alive. Let's face it, he could have worse enemies than Sarah Palin.

I much prefer how Bill Maher handled a recent audience reaction. When interviewing Richard Haas of the Council on Foreign Relations, he inquired as to what exactly the Council was. When Haas answered him, Maher responded, "Oh, a bunch of Jews." The audience groaned and Maher (who's mother is Jewish) turned to them and reminded them that "it's comedy."

Palin, for her part, needs to get a thicker skin if she is serious about the national stage. Just think about how many jokes--in good taste and bad--that have been told about W. and the Clintons. If they responded to a fraction of them they wouldn't have time to do anything else. Palin, and everyone else for that matter, needs to get over this. It's just not that big a deal. In a time of economic crisis, two wars, pending energy and health care legislation, Palin needs to get serious if she wants us to get serious about her. I agree with Chris Matthews when he said that she needs to stop going to all these dinners and "hit the books." After eight years of George Bush, the last thing we need is another mediocrity in the White House.