David Letterman’s crass joke about Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter is really no different from when Don Imus called a group of women essentially whores. You call my teenage daughter promiscuous as a joke, and all politics aside, I’m going to loose it. Before you start commenting already, set aside your political views for a moment — table the right-wing anger and the liberal defense — and let me explain why Letterman will never apologize.

First off, a crisis or faux pas like this can usually be smoothed over and reputation repentance achieved within 24 hours. I can, and have, helped individuals who have stepped in it walk away pretty much unscathed after making a crass or stupid comment or jumping into the blunder pit. Reputation management techniques exist to make something like this better. Hell, I probably could have helped Imus; it just would have taken longer.

No, Letterman doesn’t want any reputation repair for his remarks. Why? Because he needs to generate controversy. He needs someone to talk about him, good or bad. Letterman’s show is being beaten by an upstart, Conan O’Brien. And Letterman needs people to talk about him to boost the ratings. It’s an age-old strategy; attract attention by being a bad boy, or by doing something controversial. Letterman must generate attention at all costs and take a gamble that in six months the audience will only be talking about him and not about his bad deed. Unless, of course, no one is left watching the program. Letterman will never apologize; he may come close, but only close enough to keep the attention coming his way.