Palin defends her daughter vs. Letterman joke

The face-off getting a lot of air time on the cable news shows and prominence on political websites is the battle royal between Sarah Palin and David Letterman.

It started when Letterman made a joke on his late night show this week that one of Palin's daughters had been "knocked up" by Alex Rodriguez at a New York Yankees game. He later acknowledged that the joke was in poor taste, but said he was referring to 18-year-old Bristol Palin, an unwed mother.

However, it was her 14-year-old sister Willow who attended the game - and that set off Palin, the Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee last year.

Palin complained that Letterman made fun of statutory rape and of older men preying on young women. Yesterday on NBC's "Today," Palin called on Letterman to apologize to young women. "It's no wonder girls have such low self-esteem in America when a comedian can make a remark like this," she said.

Palin said Letterman's explanation was "a weak excuse" that one would have to be "extremely naive" to believe.

The National Organization for Women agrees with Palin, adding Letterman to its hall of shame and chiding him for "wallowing in the juvenile, sexist mud that other comedians and broadcasters seem to prefer."

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Gerald Walpin said in an interview that he reported facts and conclusions "in an honest and full way" while serving as inspector general at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

In a letter to Congress on Thursday, Obama said he had lost confidence in Walpin and was removing him from the position. His move followed an investigation by Walpin finding misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group led by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star. Johnson and a nonprofit education academy he founded ultimately agree to repay half of $847,000 in grants it had received from AmeriCorps. Walpin was criticized by the acting US attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled the investigation.

The president didn't offer any more explanation, but White House Counsel Gregory Craig, in a letter late Thursday to Senator Charles Grassley, cited the US attorney's criticism of Walpin to an integrity committee for inspectors general.

Walpin said he gave the integrity committee "a full and complete response" that was also signed by several people who worked on the case. "I know that I and my office acted with the highest integrity as an independent inspector general should act," he said.

Grassley had written Obama a letter pointing to a law requiring that Congress be given the reasons an inspector general is fired. Grassley said Walpin had identified millions of dollars in AmeriCorps funds that were wasted or misspent and "it appears he has been doing a good job."

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