What do Jon Gosselin, John Edwards, and David Letterman have in common? They are all very high profile men, they've all cheated on their wives, and they've all been caught. The carefully crafted "good guy" reps the Two Jo(h)ns once enjoyed, completely melted away when their antics were exposed, leaving them with the douchebag sheen that Jon now sports along with his Ed Hardy shirts, and John has become mired in as tidbits like the "I'll throw you a rooftop wedding with entertainment by Dave Matthews after my pesky wife finally dies" promise to his mistress are reported.
Dave, on the other hand, seems to have not only dodged the douchebag bullet, he has taken on a new glow, burnished by his admission that he, too, slept with a woman, women, who were not his wife. So far, there have been no breathless TMZ reports of Dave being kicked out of his house by his wife, his stuff in a box on the curb. There is no angry mob picketing outside the Ed Sullivan Theater as there was when he cracked wise about one of the Palin daughters. There hasn't even been so much as a peep from the women who partook of Dave's pleasures, no recounting of lurid tales of their trysts in the love nest rumored to be in the very theater in which he tapes his show. Nope, Dave's infidelity has actually made him hip again. It's as though we found out that our dad, whom we always thought of as the goofy guy who would stand out in the front yard in shorts, tennis shoes, and black dress socks, was actually trystin' the day away with the hot girls in his office.
So What's Love Got To Do With Dave Letterman And Getting Away With Cheating?
First, let's talk food. What's the most important thing about a meal? Taste? No. Aroma? Try again. It's presentation. Looking for a new house? It's all about location, location, location. The food on the plate might only be mediocre, the house reminiscent of Cary Grant's nightmare in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, but if something is packaged well, chances are, you're gonna like it. And that, kids, is why David Letterman has escaped the shower of slime under which the two Jo(h)ns are currently drowning.
Here's how Dave turned a fall into a rise: Dave is told he will have to come up with 2 meeeeelion dollars to keep his sordid affairs out of the media. Dave contacts the police and asks for their help. The police help. Dave is called to testify before a grand jury about the 2 meeeeelion dollar extortion attempt. Dave goes on his show and spills his guts about the extortion attempt, the grand jury, and his infidelity without ever uttering any words or phrases that even remotely sound like "Man, I'm really sorry that this whole infidelity thing came out because my wife is sure mad about it. I wonder how long I'm going to have to pay for this!" The food tasted like crap, and the house was falling down around his ears, but Dave served his dirty little secret on a gleaming silver platter in Kern Place. If he had whined about being a target, or made fun of his wife in any way, he would have been Jon 2.0. But by falling on his sword and, oh God, bear with me as I go to clicheland one more time, taking complete ownership of a really grubby situation, Dave stood out in front of the firing line, took his hits, and showed everyone how these things are done.
When Dave went in front of the cameras, he never said he was sorry that news got out about his infidelity, he said he was sorry he had hurt the people closest to him with his actions. It's called an apology tour, and since he's been on it, Dave hasn't given some much as a wink or a nudge to the guys watching so they would know he was only trying to get the little woman off his back. No, David Letterman let the whole world know he dishonored his wife by acting like a little boy and cheating on her. But he is a man because by humbling himself in front of the whole world, he might have a chance of saving his marriage, and he's taking that chance. I don't know if Dave used his position of power to coerce those women into sleeping with him, I doubt that he did. But I do know he used his position of power to protect the wife he hasn't done a very good job of loving or protecting up until now. Hopefully, she'll give him the chance to show he can do better.
Oh, and about those other women, were they at fault? Yes, because they didn't say no, but the plain fact of the matter is that Dave is the one who should bear 99.9% of the blame. He is the guy with the wife at home. He is the guy with everything to lose, therefore, he is the one who never should have entertained entertaining anyone else other than his wife. So should Dave be forgiven? Yes, because, he's finally got that man thing down. Bring on the black dress socks!
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Patricia Martinez is the co-host of the Mike in the Morning Show on 93.1 KISS FM. If you are looking for some love advice from Patricia, or want to raise an issue, please send an email to info@epmediagroup.com with "Love" in the subject line. Click here for the WLGTDw/it archives.
