Screaming over David Letterman

I don't watch David Letterman, except once in a while by default if the news is on. He's a little doofus, a little Buster for me. There is nothing however, simplistic about his actions with the women who worked for him. He is no better or worse than most men who sit in a seat of power and misuse the power for sex, or just misuse the power in general. That he is making it all into a rating bonanza for himself by continuing to talk about it is venal, but what do you expect? But what got me into a frenzy today came as I was in my genius hairdresser Maria's chair. I am sitting there waiting for the bleach to cook; two old women were discussing Letterman. One of them dismissed it all as "well, it takes two to tango." The other one agreed that the women didn't have to sleep with him if they hadn't wanted to. At that one, my head whipped around like the possessed one in "The Exorcist." "Are you totally nuts?" I demanded. I proceeded to suggest that since she was a Beverly Hills matron and never had to work for a living could be she had never been subjected to a man weilding his power over her money and position. Wait! Beverly Hills? Ok, sister, have you always done what you wanted to do or did the fact that your husband held the big ole purse strings cause you to do anything you didn't want? Oh wait, again. Tell me you only slept with your husband when you wanted to, never when only he wanted to? I was shrill and they were glaring daggers. One of them said "What makes you think they weren't just trying to get ahead in their career?" Maybe they were trying to use the position they found themselves in --flat on their back with their feet up in the air -- to help with their career. But what if they weren't? These old girls, and sadly, many others think the women in Letterman could have done what they wanted to do, weren't coerced or manipulated. Consenting adults means different things to different people at different times. I'm Ruth Adkins Robinson