The second that Jesse told me that conservative pundits and bloggers were getting wrapped up in a faux outrage over David Letterman’s infidelities, I knew that the next step was accusing feminists of hypocrisy because we’re not going to get outraged, and they’ve determined that feminists should. Because any time unauthorized sexual behavior that was mutually pleasurable happens and a woman’s feelings get hurt, feminists are supposed to be outraged. Conservatives have not and will not get that adultery falls out of feminist outrage jurisdiction, even though it fits their vague idea of what we’re about, some combination of curtailing male behavior and treating women like perpetual victims.
Feministing and Broadsheet have covered the outrage, pointing out that the pearl clutchers undermine their own case by calling Letterman’s wife ugly, and equating this with the Polanski case. Which answers the question plaintively asked by a disingenuous wingnut in the comments here: Where did you get the idea conservatives don’t care about rape? Well, that answers your question. The second you equate Letterman’s deal with Polanski’s, you’ve basically admitted that you’re only interested in getting outraged if a celebrity you don’t like has unauthorized sex. Issues of consent don’t ever seem to quite crack through the thick right wing skulls.
Here’s the thing: Wingnuts don’t care about what Letterman did, not one bit. This is and always has been about scoring points against the other “team”, and even though Letterman is an entertainer and not a politician, they’re out to get him. He’s a target for two reasons. One, he makes fun of politicians they like, and he took a cheap shot at Our Lady Of Teenage Pregnancy, Bristol Palin. (Their weak excuse was that he made the joke about a younger Palin daughter, but we all know that was a mistake, and wingnuts are being disingenuous. His joke writers probably didn’t see the footage, and assumed that “daughter” meant 18-year-old Bristol, who has a public career as an abstinence-only activist and is fair game.) The other reason is that they enjoy destroying people’s careers. Letterman is Van Jones, ACORN, Yosi Sergeant, and now they’re targeting Kevin Jennings on the grounds that he’s gay. They enjoy collecting scalps when they’re in power, as I learned personally, but their blood lust gets out of control when they’re out of power, and right now they’re demanding 2-3 sacrifices of someone’s career and dignity a week.