David Letterman is scandalous???

I hate to the be dissenter and take a different perspective but I really don't think David Letterman's current issue is all that scandalous. I rarely watch the Letterman show as I don't care for his act & I rarely watch late night TV as I usually go to sleep the same time these shows begin. But for whatever crazy reason I was awake & did watch the Letterman show when he brought up the blackmail situation. Letterman takes ten to fifteen minutes to describe the situation in a humoursous monoluge where he makes fun of himself through in his usual style of self demeaning humor. What is weird is the audience laughs when he admits to having sex with staff members of his show, granted it was difficult to tell if he was making a joke or not.

If any one would care to view the episode it can be seen online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SriJ3WOZ

I have listened to a few bloggers, talk show personnel, and radio hosts discuss this event and most of them talk about how awful it is and how much of a scandal it is and how they are shocked. I won't disagree with most any thing they said but I do want to make a few points.

First of all Letterman didn't have to make this public. Granted it may have become public news eventually but he didn't have to annouce it to the world on national T.V. which he did. He could have denied it & probably had it covered up enough that when news about it got out it would have come across as a rumor or gossip. Instead Letterman addresses it on his show.

One thing I have not heard many news shows address was the style or manner in which he admits his past indiscretions. He does it through a humorous monologue but he does not glorify sex, cheating on his wife, or anything that he did. He does not give any specific details nor does he give any names. He tells the story in a straight forward this is what is going on type manner. On one hand the comedy makes it awkward but at the same time it is almost like a confession. At no point does he acknowledge it was wrong or express any regret but it appears he is not proud about what he did. At one point in the monologue he admits he is a massive blob of quivering guilt.

Before I go any further I do have to acknowledge a few possibilities. Not many people know why he admitted it on his show. It is possible the story would come out through news paper reports or some other news media and Letterman wanted to beat them to the punch. It is possible Letterman knew on his show he could portray himself any way he wanted to portray himself. In the comfort of his own show he could tell the story in such a way that he apprears not proud and appears to be confessing. We don't know what is going on inside David Letterman and we don't know his motives but I like to think that David Letterman is trying to do the right thing by admitting his indiscrestions and is not proud of them. I may be off base on this assessment and it may not be accurate but that is my opinion.