David Letterman and John McCain: The Drubbing

David Letterman really has disgraced himself this time.

John McCain was scheduled to appear on Late Night tonight, but he cancelled his appearance due to the economic crisis.

Letterman had a hissy fit. Wow.

Transcript

LETTERMAN: Maybe you heard the big news. John McCain, Sen. John McCain, Republican candidate for president was supposed to be on the program tonight. Were you aware of that? Yeah?

But he had to cancel the show because he's suspending his campaign because the economy is exploding.

And you know who John McCain is... He's the running mate of Sarah Palin. You're aware of that?

So John McCain calls up and he said, 'I'm not gonna be there kids because everything is going to hell.'

And here's the funny part -- nobody told his vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and honest to God, right now, she's still circling the theater in the white mini-van, gonna pick him up later, drive him...
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LETTERMAN: Now we're all running around here a little ragged at the last minute because Republican presidential campaign nominee John McCain was gonna be our guest and we were looking forward... We always like having the senator on the program.

Here's a guy, by the way, I have nothing but the highest regard for this man because a true American hero, and as Bill Clinton said the other night, gave everything but his life for American during the Vietnam War. And we're in sorry need and short supply of actual heroes like John McCain.

PAUL SHAFFER: So true.

LETTERMAN: So I love and respect and admire the man for that. And who among us doesn't wish they had that kind of steel, that kind of commitment? In a North Vietnamese prison camp for 4 years, and the North Vietnamese come to him and say, 'Well, guess what? You're time's up.'

And he said, 'Well, does everybody get to go home?'

And they said, 'No.'

And he said, 'Well, I'm not going home 'til everyone gets to come home.'

SHAFFER: Imagine.

LETTERMAN: Who could do that?

SHAFFER: Imagine that. Wow. Let me tell you something...

LETTERMAN: So... This is why we love that man.

SHAFFER: We love the guy. I'll tell you, if I was in a prison camp and they said to me, 'Your time is up,' and I would say, 'Well, does Dave get to go home, too?' And they would say, 'No,' I say, 'Bye.'

LETTERMAN: What? What?

SHAFFER: You know...

LETTERMAN: You're in the car.

SHAFFER: I'm outta here. Taxi. That's me.

LETTERMAN: But when you call up, and you call up at the last minute and you cancel a show... Ladies and gentlemen, that's starting to smell. I mean, this... this is not the John McCain I know, by God.

SHAFFER: It's not the same guy who said, 'Does everybody get to go home?'

LETTERMAN: It makes me believe something is going haywire with the campaign.

SHAFFER: What do you think it could be?

LETTERMAN: I don't know. Something's gotten to him. And somebody said, 'You know what? Blow Letterman off. He's a lightweight.'

SHAFFER: Blow him off.

LETTERMAN: Yeah. But here's what you do... Sure there's an economic crisis, and here's what you do if you're running for campaign in the middle of an economic crisis, and it's about to crater. That's a quote from him. I love that expression: 'The economy is about to crater.' Boy, I'd like to see that. Here's what you do...

SHAFFER: Crater? I barely know her.

LETTERMAN: You see? He's at home watching... McCain's at home watching this now thinking, 'Boy I'd like to be there for fun they're having.'

So, here's what happens: The economy is about to crater. You're a senator, a 4th term senator from Arizona, you go back to Washington. You handle what you need to handle. Don't suspend your campaign. You let your campaign go on shouldered by your vice presidential nominee. That's what you do. You don't quit. Where? What? Or is that really... is that really a good thing to do?

SHAFFER: Well...

LETTERMAN: See what I'm saying?

SHAFFER: We don't know. We don't know.

LETTERMAN: This guy doesn't have an ounce of quit in him. So all of a sudden we're suspending the campaign? Look, if I drop dead right now, my hand to God, Paul's taking over the show.

SHAFFER: I'm there.

LETTERMAN: Paul is taking over the show.

SHAFFER: In all seriousness, thank you, and I would be there.

LETTERMAN: You say, 'I got to get back to Washington to save this country.' Good for you. 'And while I'm gone, campaigning in my stead will be my great running mate from the state of Alaska, Sarah Palin.' And she comes out and campaigns.

Well, what happened there? What's the problem? Where is she? Why isn't she doing that?

SHAFFER: She is a good looking babe. You've got to admit that.

LETTERMAN: Exactly. That's the point I'm trying to make. So I don't know. But you heard it here first. This doesn't smell right, you know. This just doesn't smell right. This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil.

And let's say there's a time of crisis, and the poor guy, because he's a little older, I mean, he's about my age, and then Sarah Palin takes over as president. Well, she ought to be ready because she's... she's handled crises like this in the past. Oh, wait a minute... She really hasn't handled the crises like this in the past. You don't suspend...

Let me just go through this one more time to make my point absolutely clear: He can't run the campaign because the economy is about to crater. Fine, you put in your second string quarterback. Well, where is our second string quarterback? Yeah. Thank you. Hey, don't get me started.
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LETTERMAN: So now I wonder if he'll ever come back. Do you think he'll come back?

SHAFFER: Not after the drubbing that you have just delivered. That guy is never... never coming back.

LETTERMAN: A hero, an honest to God hero, an American hero. Maybe the only actual hero I know. I've met the man and I know the guy, so I'm more than a little disappointed by this behavior.

SHAFFER: Yeah.

LETTERMAN: We're suspending the campaign. Are we suspending it because there's an economic crisis, or because the poll numbers are sliding?

SHAFFER: Whoops. Whoops.
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Letterman with guest Keith Olbermann--

LETTERMAN: I don't mean to cut into your time...

OLBERMANN: No, no. Please...

LETTERMAN: ...and your generous visit, but when John McCain, and he was nice enough to call me on the phone and said he was racing back to Washington, and our people here were told it's so serious he's getting on a plane immediately and racing back to Washington, and now we've just been told, here take a look at... Do we have it on the thing?

This is going live... This... There he is right there. Doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?

(Live feed of woman applying makeup to McCain as he's on the CBS News set with Katie Couric)



This just gets uglier and uglier. I'm feeling bad for the man to have participated in this. I mean, you can... First of all, the road to the White House runs right through me.

SHAFFER: Always has...

LETTERMAN: Well, let's just punch up Katie Couric's interview, and Keith, you can go back to wherever you came from.

OLBERMANN: OK.

LETTERMAN: Let's just see what he has to say here. This will be interesting. I wonder if he'll mention me. Hey, John! I got a question: Do you need a ride to the airport?

Now this stinks. Now you tell me, you know how things like this work. Is it his fault, or is it something that CBS News got a hold of him and said, 'You gotta come in here and do that'?

OLBERMANN: Oh, boy. How much trouble can I get into how fast? I would be speculating. There's very little done in that campaign without his knowledge. I think he ditched you.

LETTERMAN: Yeah. Absolutely.

OLBERMANN: Unless... unless her first question is, 'Now senator, why did you cancel on Dave?' Now then... Or the other possibility is that she has all the money that's required to fix the economy.

LETTERMAN: Well then... If he's going there looking... She's bailing him out.

OLBERMANN: If that's it, I'm voting for him. So, there you go.

LETTERMAN: But now I don't want to keep beating this thing but it just...

OLBERMANN: Yeah, you do.

LETTERMAN: It really is starting to smell now because he says to me on the phone, I took a phone call from John McCain... A lot of senators don't call me and so I felt like, 'OK, as part of the national good, I understand,' and I said, 'Good luck. Thank you for being attentive to the cause.

He said, 'Maybe next time I'll come in. I'll bring Sarah Palin.'

I said, 'Fine. Whatever you need to do, that's just fine.'

He said, 'Yeah, we're going to go save the country.'

And then you got... It's like we caught him getting a manicure or something.

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LETTERMAN: Uh, we're told now that the Senator has concluded his interview with Katie Couric and he's now on Rachel Ray's show making veal piccata. What you gonna do?

Letterman was merciless.

He comes off like a spoiled brat and a partisan hack.

I think he believes that the road to the White House does go through him.

His words about McCain being a hero don't provide cover for him to bash him the way he did.

Letterman claims that he loves McCain.

He has a very weird and disrespectful way of showing it.

Letterman is an egomaniac. He's proud of the way he reacted to McCain's cancellation. He's promoting the video on his website.



What a coincidence that Letterman just happened to tap the rabid, liberal, Dem partisan hack Keith Olbermann to replace McCain!

In my opinion, Letterman was incredibly disrespectful. He cut McCain no slack at all. McCain is not some dippy celebrity who cancelled at the last minute. He's a U.S. senator and the Republican party's nominee for president.

And Letterman is a late night talk show host, not a head of state, not a world leader, not the Pope.

McCain made changes to his schedule and he chose to cancel his appearance with Letterman. Big deal.

Obviously, Letterman's ego couldn't handle it.

He went beyond his usual snarkiness. The Top Ten List was vindictive. Booking McCain nemesis Keith Olbermann was vindictive. Letterman's remarks throughout the show were vindictive.

It was possibly Letterman's lowest moment on TV in terms of revealing poor character and using poor judgment.

Letterman was factually wrong when he said McCain spent 4 years in a prison camp. It was over five years. Saying that someone put something in his Metamucil was cheap.

Letterman's attacks on Palin were unwarranted. She has a schedule, too. Did he really think that McCain could send her over to do the show in his stead?

He clearly was questioning McCain's honor.

Letterman said, "I've met the man and I know the guy, so I'm more than a little disappointed by this behavior."

"This just gets uglier and uglier. I'm feeling bad for the man to have participated in this."

How pompous!

Letterman asked, "Are we suspending it because there's an economic crisis, or because the poll numbers are sliding?"

Even his adoring audience wasn't pleased with that remark.

McCain didn't blow off Letterman. He personally called and said he wouldn't be there.

It's was Letterman who really blew it last night.
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Letterman's TOP TEN QUESTIONS PEOPLE ARE ASKING THE JOHN McCAIN CAMPAIGN

RECAP: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, Show #2987

CBS News Ticked Off at Letterman