Thank (or Blame) Bush for Dave's Left Turn

The most telling thing David Letterman has said in a while may have been a brief comment he made last Monday, as he wrapped up an hour with President Obama: "I can't tell you how satisfying it is to watch you work," the famously crotchety Late Night host said matter-of-factly. George W. Bush lies behind the transformation of Letterman from a Clinton-bashing admirer of Bob Dole and John McCain to an unabashed Obama fan, Brian Lowry writes for Variety.

"Letterman appeared to mirror the country's growing doubts about the war in Iraq, and his antagonism toward Bush began to go deeper than the barbs that latenight comedians customarily hurl at politicians," Lowry writes. After candidate McCain stood up Letterman, "swift, brutal and extremely funny" payback ensued, and Dave's tangles with Sarah Palin appear to have sealed the deal. "Call it the political education of David Letterman."