Dear David Letterman,
I am writing this to you as a man who has been a fan of yours for 25 years, who does not go to sleep until I see the Top 10 List. I cracked up when you came to Los Angeles, and threw tacos at people on the 405 Freeway. I loved it when you sent two guys dressed as bunny rabbits into an H and R Block on April 14th one year, only to see them get screamed at by stressed out accountants. Only you would be crazy enough to have a guy dress as a bear, stop traffic, and ask a New York City cab driver to dance the waltz.
Dave, for a long time you were the best. You joked about “mailing it in,” but I never thought you did. When ABC and CBS were in a tug of war, you told Paul Schaffer, “Can you believe two networks are fighting over this cr@p?”
Yet something has happened to you Dave. You are getting snarkier, and not in a fun way. You are becoming a grumpy old man. Ironically enough, you have made a career out of painting Republican presidential candidates this way. Yes, it was hilarious when you said, “Some people see the glass as half empty or half full. Bob Dole sees the glass as a great place to put his teeth.” Yet politically speaking, you are letting your ideology get in the way of your show.
I am a conservative Republican and die hard George W. Bush supporter, but I genuinely laughed when you got irritated upon finding out that Governor and Presidential candidate Bush went on Leno. You turned to Paul and said, “Dubya’s on Leno? Well there’s a real meeting of the minds.” Since this was right after your heart surgery, it was even better when Paul said, “You just don’t give a d@mn anymore, do you?”
Dave, I truly think you have finally begun to mail it in, especially on political topics. I don’t mind conservatives being teased. Yet your political humor has developed two flaws, and they are both tragic.
First of all, your bias is showing. You can barely hold what appears to be your contempt for Republicans.
You were tough on Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Yet you have not laid a pinky finger on Barack Obama. In fact, you are still making George W. Bush jokes.
I will be the first person to admit that Barack Obama does not have anything as painfully easy as Bill Clinton’s lechery or John McCain’s age. So what? You have a writing staff that should at least make an effort.
I took 15 minutes by myself to come up with an entire routine poking fun at President Obama. None of it was mean. Yet it was funny.
Dave, you could make fun of his effeminate side. You could make fun of his occasional pompousness. For crying out loud, make fun of his ears. The Presidential plane is now known as Ear Force One.
If you think making fun of his ears is a “cheap shot,” that would make no sense given the John McCain dementia jokes, and the ever creative “humor” emanating from Rush Limbaugh being portly.
If you are going to make a fat joke, be creative. Target a liberal for once. For instance, George Clooney has an ego so big, that people have confused him with his mother Rosemary Clooney.
Secondly, humor against private citizens is cruel. Don Imus got in trouble over the Rutger’s basketball team remarks because they were private citizens. Your remarks against Bristol Palin simply go beyond the bounds of decency. If you disagree with me, then perhaps you might wish to make jokes about scandals involving the children of Al Gore, and very recently, Joe Biden. Why were the Bush twins fair game, when Chelsea Clinton was left alone? You would be distraught if somebody mocked your lovely son Harry. Doesn’t Sarah Palin deserve the same humanity regarding her lovely family?
Dave, I will say it again. For a quarter of a century I loved your show. Yet lately, I feel that you are more interested in humiliating conservatives than in being an honest biting critic of politicos everywhere.
I want to see you as the guy who, with help from Mayor Rudy Giuliani, pelted subway tokens at the audience.
Yet I am sadly beginning to conclude that if you have so little regard for a large part of this country, maybe they should cease watching. After all, the true liberals are already watching Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The conservatives might not be your base, but some of us like your hard hitting nature.
I just want you to be fair. Please start mocking Barack Obama. Enough with the George W. Bush jokes, the Sarah Palin jokes, and the Rush Limbaugh obesity jokes.
If 2010 becomes 1994, and the Republicans win Congress, go after the new Speaker with as much toughness as you did Newt Gingrich, if they are controversial. Just make sure to remember that if you are not making fun of Barack Obama, then you are not doing your job as a comedian.
That would be a shame, because you were one of the best.
Sincerely,
eric aka the Tygrrrr Express
blacktygrrrr@earthlink.net