letterman last shw

 “There’s only one requirement of any of us, and that is to be courageous.

Because courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior.

And, I believe – because I’ve done a little of this myself – pretending to be courageous is just as good as the real thing.

==

David Letterman

————-

 

 

Well.

 

 

This is my one and only tribute and respectful ‘nod’ to David Letterman who has his last show tonight.

 

 

I admit.

 

I will not watch.

 

Why?

 

speak blahsNot because I dislike Letterman … but … I am just not a late night talk show watcher. I honestly don’t get it. To me it represents a stilted set up and interviews with <mostly> people I could care less hear talking.

 

 

 

Regardless.

 

 

 

All talk show hosts have their ‘moments.’

 

 

 

Those moments where instead of entertaining they are … well … well-spoken articulate people.

 

 

What the hell … while being in the entertainment business you have to assume they are mentally sharp and they certainly have the gift of gab if they have this kind of gig.
For all I know the Letterman show may have had a lot of great moments <I sure as hell did not watch enough to know for sure>.

 

But … one moment is etched in my mind forever.  I consider this moment the pinnacle of Letterman.

 

 

The most poignant thoughtful insightful moment … his first monologue after 9/11.

 

 

 

Now.

 

Apparently over his many decades on television he’s only shown his personal side a few times. His post-9/11 monologue is one.

 

 

 
letterman 9-11——–

 

 

 
“The reason we were attacked, the reason these people are dead, these people are missing and dead, and they weren’t doing anything wrong, they were living their lives, they were going to work, they were traveling, they were doing what they normally do.

 

 

 

As I understand it (and my understanding of this is vague at best), another smaller group of people stole some airplanes and crashed them into buildings.

 

 

And we’re told that they were zealots, fueled by religious fervor… religious fervor.

 
And if you live to be a thousand years old, will that make any sense to you?

 
Will that make any Goddamned sense?

 

 

 

Whew.

 

 

 

I’ll tell you about a thing that happened last night.

 

 

There’s a town in Montana by the name of Choteau. It’s about a hundred miles south of the Canadian border.

And I know a little something about this town.

 

 

It’s 1,600 people. 1,600 people.

 

 

And it’s an ag-business community, which means farming and ranching. And Montana’s been in the middle of a drought for… I don’t know… three years?

 

And if you’ve got no rain, you can’t grow anything.

 
And if you can’t grow anything, you can’t farm, and if you can’t grow anything, you can’t ranch, because the cattle don’t have anything to eat, and that’s the way life is in a small town. 1,600 people.

 

Last night at the high school auditorium in Choteau, Montana, they had a rally, home of the Bulldogs, by the way … they had a rally for New York City.

 

 
And not just a rally for New York City, but a rally to raise money … to raise money for New York City.

 

 

 

And if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about the… the spirit of the United States, then I can’t help you.

 

 

 

——

Here is the full clip … about 8 minutes long:

 

 

 

As I said before … I don’t ‘get’ talk shows.

 

 

But.

 

 

I got this.

 

I get it so much I still can tear up a little when I read it.

 

 

 

So.

 

I want to thank Letterman not only for all his years making people laugh … but maybe more importantly … for what I believe was his greatest moment.

 

A moment where he made us all think a little.

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Written by Bruce