Let's put our hands together for David Letterman.
The star of
CBS's Late Show confessed to his live audience that he has had sexual relationships with female members of his staff in the past.
(I had a video posted here, until CBS took it off of YouTube - fair use, people! But you can watch it
here from The Guardian.)
So why should we applaud him?
Not because he usurped the
slimy producer who tried to blackmail him, although that's a good reason.
Not because his explanation was actually pretty funny.
Not even solely because he has taken control of his own scandal and will now be able to steer it where he wants.
We should commend Letterman for relegating the issue to where it belongs: out of the news. The media will cover this event for sure, and investigators will dig into the details, try to get the women to come forward, construct a timeline, get comments from Letterman's wife, harass his family a bit, the whole shebang. But Letterman deflated the issue before it even came out. With any luck, it will die a quick and painless death, and we will all be spared the months of tabloid coverage something like this would get if Letterman tried to sweep it under his big wooden desk.
Sex is only a big deal to the people engaged in it. Let's all get over it. Extortion, on the other hand, is unacceptable. So thanks, Letterman, for directing our attention to the more important issue at hand. Is it a self-serving move? You bet. Will it also, in its own
minuscule way, improve our media landscape? Let's hope.