interesting article... about how dave became a cynical leftist anti Dave. http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollyw...termans-bitterness-cost-him-his-indiana-soul/ intro paragraphs... then this: The reason for Letterman’s fall is not rocket science. The kid from Indiana wanted to be Johnny Carson, the kid born in Iowa and raised in Nebraska who grew into a beloved American icon and as much a part of the fabric of our lives as our neighbors and communities. When NBC and Leno took that dream away from Letterman, the sweet, charming, irreverent Indiana kid became the angry, bitter, lazy New York asshole. Letterman’s ugly transformation startled me. With high school over and a life to build, watching Letterman’s show every night just wasn’t possible. As the years passed, I could only catch him now and again, which gave me a better vantage point to witness his change than those who watched regularly. Letterman hadn’t lost his edge. On the contrary, he was more caustic than ever (more on that below). What he had lost was his cutting edge. After Leno won the ratings game, the air went out of Letterman’s ambition. He was beat, seemingly tired of trying and losing, and forevermore seemed satisfied to rest on his role as The Guy Who Was Cheated Out Of The Tonight Show. His audience was what it was — enough to make him fabulously wealthy, and suddenly he seemed satisfied with coasting on the legend. That was no sin. Letterman was a little young to throw in the towel but he’s not the first aging superstar to confuse a rut with a groove. Dave jumped into a safe little bubble and never again had the courage to look back or rebel. No, Letterman’s sin (note how I don’t refer to him as Dave anymore) was something entirely different. NBC chose Leno over Letterman under the assumption his appeal to mainstream Americans would draw a bigger audience. Letterman’s “Late Show” failed to steal the “Tonight Show” crown because NBC was correct. Once Letterman figured this out, he blamed us — he turned on us, his fans, at least those of us who weren’t urban, left-wing hipsters. After raging himself out against NBC; after raging himself out against Leno; sometime after his 2000 heart attack (that told him he was no longer a young man and running out of time), Letterman blamed America’s Heartland for his failed dream. I haven’t changed. There isn’t a comedian from my youth I don’t still revere, including the left-wing George Carlin. Cosby, Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Dennis Miller, Pryor, the first five years of “Saturday Night Live” — still love all of it. I didn’t leave David Letterman, David Letterman left me.