Thursday, October 01, 2009

He may be a dirty old man...

...And he's turned into a political hack in the last few years, for which I can fault him greatly. I once watched Letterman nightly, but that stopped more than ten years ago; and he has become unwatchable over the past few years.

...but Letterman handled that with what I thought was good grace, and as much class as could be attached to such a tawdry and frankly ridiculous situation.

He was honest, and forthright, didn't try to pretend it didn't happen; and I think that's really important. I think it counts for something with the American people, and it certainly counts for something with me.

On the air tonight, Letterman said that yes, he had sex with people who worked for him, and (not in so many words, but it was clear) that it's nobody elses business but his, his family, and the people he had those relationships with. That it's up to them if they want to go public, but he wasn't going to talk about it.

So long as his relationships were consensual, and not sexual harassment (though in any power relationship that can be a hard determination); I agree it's none of anyone's damn business, excepting his wife (who was his girlfriend at the time. They only married a few months ago, but they were together for 23 years before that, and they have a six year old son).

I think it's clear that the audience agreed, and I'm willing to bet that America agrees.