Countries and cities have borders. We know when we leave one and enter another one. Today's Comedy Around the World travels to a place where there are no borders. It's called today's culture.

This week I asked for input on the Letterman/Palin fracas. At first, I thought Letterman was out of line. Crass. His remarks were uncalled for. Then, after a few days of thinking it over, I changed my mind about Letterman. The entire scenario is a lot larger than just Letterman.

Letterman is a comedian, an entertainer. His is solidly out of prime time. Or, so it used to be. The problem occurs when our media runs out of important things to tell us, and instead reports on what the late-night talk show hosts had to say the night before. So, essentially, every second of every day IS prime time. There is no "safe" time to keep our kids from hearing things that are questionable for children to hear.

Letterman's jokes were funny--IF they would have been told in a comedy club. People go there specifically to hear off-color, questionable and objectionable material. It is a platform for free speech, and patrons know this on some level. Sixty years ago (or more?), there were burlesque theaters, where people could listen to off-color jokes, uncouth sayings, and general free-speech rantings. The problem is that these two places are now collectively called TV. Kids are now allowed into comedy clubs and burlesque shows, because their world consists of this.

Finally, speaking from a solidly creative standpoint, I say that no one's sense of humor is wrong. Just more or less appropriate in different venues. Letterman's joke was out-of-bounds because it occurred out-of-place and out-of-time. His joke was offensive because he--like most comics do--told us things we don't like to think about. But that is the most important job of the comedian--to highlight those types of things and bring them to the light of inspection. You are allowed to disagree; but you will have to look at the item in order to disagree. It is a matter of consciousness-raising. We have to ask ourselves: Who benefits from keeping silent about statutory rape, illegal immigration, crime, drugs, or other fodder for late-night comics? The only ones who benefit are the very people who commit these offenses. Our silence means they are safely unscrutinzed.

Unless a show is specifically labeled, "Clean Comedy" you had better be prepared to be shocked. Offended. And given a different twist on things. Instead of railing against Letterman, whose show airs at 12:30 a.m., we can be outraged at what regularly is aired on prime time shows like "Two and a Half Men." We can't blame Letterman for giving us what our appetites have informed him that we need. After all, he probably didn't even write the joke.