Within days of David Letterman's high-profile apology to Sarah Palin, the CBS "Late Show" host went back to bashing the former Alaska governor.

I guess all those who felt his October 5 mea culpa -- which also included apologies to his wife and the staffers he had an affair with -- was all a gag were quite right.

His newest attack is an ongoing routine where he shows graphically "Things More Fun Than Reading The Sarah Palin Memoir."

The folks at the Huffington Post compiled a collection of some of their favorites (video embedded below the fold comes from Wednesday's "O'Reilly Factor" Back of the Book segment on this subject):

This ought to get the folks at the left-wing noise machine all wound up.

Fox News host Glenn Beck on his Oct. 14 show, after being a regular recipient of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann's "Worst Persons in the World" on his "Countdown" program, decided to have a little fun by mocking Olbermann and his MSNBC colleague Chris Matthews.

Beck mocked Olbermann's "Shakespearean" performance he puts on nightly on his "Countdown" program and also mocked Chris Matthews for his February 2008 "Obama gave me a thrill up my leg" comments.

"Now, the President has an entire network devoted to singing his praises," Beck said. "There is a guy at night I love, he's like Shakespearean, he is waxing poetic about his oratory skills, writing soliloquies - got another one I must say about the greatness of Obama's speaking ability. And then another guy is like, ‘I got a thrill is going up my leg' when they just hear him speak. It is incredible."

In the wake of the arrest of director/rapist Roman Polanski comes the sex-with-subordinates scandal of David Letterman. The timing was a blessing for Letterman, since his aggressive excuse-makers now could quickly assert that the female employees he exploited were all adults and all gave their consent.

Letterman’s habit of engaging in sex with women who are his employees only emerged because of an ugly extortion threat from a longtime CBS News producer who lived with one of Letterman’s conquests. That’s doubly embarrassing for CBS, which has character problems coming and going. Letterman added to the embarrassment by revealing the extortion and his behavior in a jokey manner on his show. CBS had enough distaste for the explanation to have it pulled off YouTube and try to keep people from seeing it. (Wouldn’t it be nice if CBS had similar standards for its other programming, like, oh, most everything on MTV?)

In a second attempt at an apology, Letterman was more sincere. But in the morality-challenged entertainment community, Letterman knew he could surround himself with friends who found nothing to condemn, or even question.

Poor David Letterman. Not only did blackmail force him to publicly admit unseemly workplace sexual trysts, as a simple talk show host, he's not in a position to buy off feminist condemnation with legislative goodies.

National Organization of Women released a statement on Oct. 6 about the recent Letterman sex scandal, condemning Letterman for creating an "awkward, confusing and demoralizing" work environment.

But back in 1998, when Bill Clinton was perjuring himself about Monica Lewinsky, NOW (along with other feminists) was strangely silent. Even Maureen Dowd noticed. She called them out in her Pulitzer Prize winning article "The Slander Strategy," saying, "Ms. Lewinsky must die so that the women of America can have better child care, longer maternity stays, toll-free domestic violence hot lines and bustling mutual funds."

For the second time in four months, the National Organization for Women has come down on CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman, this time for his extra-marital affairs with staffers.

Readers should remember NOW putting Letterman in its Media Hall of Shame back in June for his disgusting remarks about former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her daughter. 

Yet, despite their concern this incident raises "serious issues about the abuse of power leading to an inappropriate, if not hostile, workplace environment for women and employees," the women's organization asked for no specific actions to be taken against Letterman by his employer (h/t NBer QueenMum):

There's nothing like a sex scandal to attract television viewers, and David Letterman's mea culpas concerning his extra-marital affairs with staffers have been a ratings bonanza for the "Late Show" host. 

In fact, more people saw Letterman's bizarre apology to his wife, his staff, and former Governor Sarah Palin on Monday "than watched anything on NBC in prime-time" that night.

As reported by the Associated Press Tuesday:

David Letterman's "Forgive Me For I Have Sinned" tour took an interesting turn Monday evening when the "Late Show" host spent part of his program making fun of the controversy surrounding his extra-marital affairs while also apologizing to his wife, the female staffers involved, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

In his opening monologue, Letterman joked:

There's a possibility that I'll be the first talk show host impeached. It's Fall here in New York City, and I spent the whole weekend raking my hate mail.

Later, he awkwardly tried to explain his predicament while apologizing to those he's hurt...oddly including Palin (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript):

Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales assembled all of his excuses for David Letterman’s sexual relations with staff subordinates in Tuesday’s paper. The website headline: "A Clown, Not a Congressman: David Letterman is going to be lumped in with other misbehaving celebrities. Is that fair?" Shales feels that comedians who makes jokes about sexually reckless politicians like Bill Clinton should not be mocked when they act exactly like Clinton. He began:

One of many sad things about recent stanzas in the ballad of David Letterman is that now, in all media, Dave will be lumped in with other sexually misbehaving celebrities, even though he stands head and heart above most of them.

The echoes of Roman Polanski swirl in the Shales piece – the keenest comic minds should be allowed to think with their traveling pants. Shales can’t grasp the elementary-school rules of mockery: a fat kid can’t exactly laugh at another kid for being fat. An old man having sex with much younger women in the office can’t make fun of Bill Clinton very effectively, either. But Shales think clowns and jesters should be free of the charge of hypocrisy:

Despite David Letterman's on air admission of sexual encounters with staffers being all the rage last week, CBS apparently has done everything in its power to eliminate the record of his Thursday evening mea culpa from the popular video website YouTube.

It appears the host of CBS's "Late Show" might have been at the heart of the decision.

Such was reported by the New York Times Sunday:

Jay Leno went after his former late night rival on Friday using some of his opening monologue to poke fun at David Letterman's recently disclosed sexual escapades with staffers.

As Friday's program began, Leno quipped, "If you came here tonight for sex with a talk-show host, you’ve got the wrong studio."

But that was only the beginning (video embedded below the fold with transcript, h/t Mediaite):

Radio's Don Imus on Friday attacked a litany of present and former CBS personalities including Katie Couric, David Letterman, and Dan Rather.

In an interview with Fox News's Neil Cavuto, Imus called CBS "Evening News" anchor Couric "a little rodent," the "Late Show's" Letterman an "angry, mean-spirited jerk," and former "Evening News" anchor Rather "crazy."

The outspoken shock jock also said the thought of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin becoming the Republican nominee for president is "horrifying" because "she's a dope."

Imus also had some very interesting things to say about his own controversy with CBS surrounding the Rutgers women's basketball team and "nappy-headed hos" (videos in several parts embedded below the fold with transcript, h/t Story Balloon):

Just to be ... fair to David Letterman, I figured it'd be only just to treat him to his very own Top Ten list dedicated to his current ... "situation." (The list was sent in by a loyal NB reader who didn't want attribution.) So, here it is -- "Top Ten Things About Letterman's Trysts With Staffers":

10. Learned everything he knows about interns from Bill Clinton.
9. Was jealous of A-Rod, if you know what I mean.
8. Well on the way to becoming the next ex-governor of New York.    
7. Makes Mark Sanford look like a rank amateur.
6. Because he’s a liberal, endorsement from NOW was never in jeopardy.
5. Didn’t care about the book, but wanted the movie rights to ‘The
Scarlet Letterman.’
4. Is so glad he didn’t have a ‘morals’ clause in his contract.
3. Has great story for his support group, ‘Philanderer’s Anonymous.’
2. If he had to do it over again, he’d collect cars like Jay Leno.
1. Gives company name “Worldwide Pants” a whole new meaning.

Just contrast the current David Letterman sex scandal against the 2004 Bill O'Reilly sex scandal.

Last night, left-leaning CBS Late Show Host David Letterman announced on his program that he had sex with female staffers. Letterman's announcement was spurred by the plot of a CBS producer to force the host to pay $2 million in exchange for his silence on the matter.

ABC, CBS and NBC largely portrayed Letterman as a victim on the morning shows.

CBS, Letterman's network, unsurprisingly went to bat for the comedian. "Early Show" guest host Chris Wragge even used it as way to plug Letterman's show.

A shocking announcement last night. The big headline today for the ‘Late Show' with David Letterman should have been that for the first time in over 15 years since the ‘94 winter games in Lillehammer his biggest ratings gap over ‘The Tonight Show,' but instead he wakes to headlines like this, ‘I had sex with staff' and other various papers here and around the country that are going to lead with this story today.  It is big, shocking news.

Correspondent Kelly Wallace began her report by putting Letterman in the victim's spotlight.

Video Below Fold

On Thursday's Late Show, David Letterman recounted how he testified before a Manhattan grand jury earlier in the day about how a man, whom he did not identify, left a package in his car three weeks ago and subsequently demanded $2 million or he would write a screenplay and book detailing, in Letterman's words, “all the terrible things that I do” – specifically, “that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show. Now, my response to that is: Yes I have.” (In March, Letterman married the mother of his five-year-old son.)

Just before midnight EDT, TMZ.com posted:

TMZ has learned the identity of the alleged extortionist who was arrested today for attempted grand larceny in the first degree. His name is Robert Halderman. He's 51 years old and lives in Norwalk, CT. Halderman has a business in Manhattan, where he was arrested today. CBS just issued a statement saying the suspect is an employee of "48 Hours." Halderman has been suspended pending results of the investigation.

Radar Online, in “EXCLUSIVE: Man Arrested For Extortion Lived With Woman Who Slept With Letterman,” reported: “An NYPD source has told RadarOnline.com that the suspect under arrest in the David Letterman extortion case was a producer for CBS’s 48 Hours, Robert Halderman. Halderman often went by his middle name Joe...”

UPDATE: New York Daily News article for Friday's paper: “David Letterman reveals $2M extortion plot; CBS News producer busted in scheme to reveal sex secrets.”

David Letterman is not just wearing his political views on his sleeve, as a one of his shows production executives recently pointed out. Now he's allowing his show to be used as a platform for leading Democrats to advocate action on liberal causes.

On Sept. 21, President Barack Obama appeared on CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and used his show to promote his health care/health insurance reform initiatives. But the very next night on Sept. 22, he had former President Bill Clinton on to publicize the efforts of the Clinton Global Initiative, one of which is to give aid to nations with rampant poverty.

Letterman set up Clinton to make a point about global warming. The "Late Show" host said he didn't understand how in this day and age people can still not have access to clean drinking water.

David Letterman, who still regularly ridicules former President George W. Bush – and has even accused him of committing “war crimes” and lacking “humanity” – didn't hide his affinity for Barack Obama during his Monday night Late Show interview of the President, while remaining unable to contain his disgust for Bush. “I can't tell you how satisfying it is to watch you work,” a beaming Letterman gushed to Obama at the conclusion of the program.

When Obama, who took two weeks of vacation in late August and early September, displayed some jealously as he quipped that his two daughters “basically just goofed off all summer, which I couldn't do,” Letterman interjected, in an obvious jab at Bush which delighted the audience: “Others have.”

In the midst of Obama reciting the benefits his health care quest would deliver, Letterman mocked Obama's opponents as he expressed befuddlement at criticisms of single-payer, government-run systems: “I know whenever you invoke like Great Britain or Canada people start to shudder, people go 'oh my God, it's socialized medicine, oh my God, it's socialized medicine.' And I'm not a socialist, but it don't sound that bad to me.”

In case you hadn't gotten enough of Barack Obama plugging ObamaCare on any of the five Sunday talk shows yesterday, your eyes can continue to glaze over tonight when the President appears on David Letterman tonight to continue his seemingly endless shill routine. And if you think Letterman somehow bowed to White House pressure to allow Obama on to continue talking about a subject that many are already growing weary about, think again. This was actually Dave's idea according a story in the New York Times:

Mr. Obama, of course, famously was the first sitting president to visit any late-night entertainment show when he dropped by “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” in March. The Letterman bookers have been diligent ever since in arguing for some fair play — and equal booking — for their guy.

Critics love David Letterman. They love him because he’s mean and liberal and does everything they demand: further the leftist agenda through the brutal use of humiliation to target any public figure (or their child) who might derail Leftist causes.

And contrary to conventional wisdom, Letterman’s not edgy. In fact, he’s just the opposite. Doing exactly what those who can criticize you want you to do is not edgy. Kissing the big Manhattan/Los Angeles bi-coastal [rear] of the elite is not edgy. He’s their jester; their puppet. Worse, he’s about as funny as watching your old, half-deaf Uncle intimidate, humiliate and demean your Aunt and then smile at the rest of the family as though he’s just reaffirmed his manhood. Letterman reminds me of the Jason Robards character in “Parenthood” in more ways than you can imagine. In other words, he’s a jerk, but in a sad end-of-his-life kind of way.

Oh, and how the elite critics resented nice ole’ Jay Leno for cleaning Letterman’s ratings’ clock all those years. And now that Jay’s back eating up primetime, they couldn’t wait to jump all over him with sniffing disapproval fed through a filter of wrist-flicking dismissal.

After exactly one show the knives came out:

David Letterman "jokes" about Sarah Palin's teenage daughter having sex with A-Rod during a baseball game.  For good measure he suggests the daughter would be of interest to Eliot Spitzer, infamous for soliciting a prostitute.

If Ed Schultz condemned Letterman, I missed it.

But let Sarah Palin's acceptance of Letterman's belated apology include thanks to the US military for making freedom of speech possible for all Americans, and Schultz condems Palin as "nothing but political slime."

Yes, that's precisely what the MSNBC host called Palin on his show tonight . . .

[Update, 9:00 pm EDT: Audio and video clips added.]

President Obama isn't nearly liberal enough for HBO's Bill Maher. On Tuesday’s Situation Room on CNN, Maher repeated the focus of his rant on his show last Friday night about how Obama hasn't been adequately aggressive. When Wolf Blitzer asked what he was most disappointed about with President Obama, the HBO host went into full denial mode: “Barack Obama is not a socialist -- he’s not even a liberal....this country needs a left wing. It doesn’t have it, and part of the reason is the media.”

After Maher gave a bit of a criticism of the Democratic President, the CNN anchor asked: “So where are you most disappointed, because...a lot of liberals are disappointed he hasn’t done more to advance gay rights, for example- but where- where are you most disappointed in this president?” The HBO host first joked about his sexual identity, and continued by expressing his bewilderment with Obama: “I don’t know if this administration has really caught up to the idea that Americans are a lot more liberal, perhaps, than we think they are- or they think they are....I think part of the problem is that we don’t really have a progressive party in this country. We have the Democrats, who are what the Republicans used to be when I was a kid. They’re a pro-business party, a corporate-friendly, pro-business party. And then we have the Republicans, which are just a club for angry white people and Jesus freaks” [audio clips from interview available here].