Dave, Rachel, and JoAnn

By Rick Yencer
David Letterman, Rachel Maddow and JoAnn Gora offered talk of sex, politics and alcohol to keep a crowd at Ball State University laughing and thinking about today's world and tomorrow's election. A sold out crowd of more than 3,000 people at Emens Auditorium were entertained learning that Letterman was once a hopeless alcoholic, that Maddow was a gay child growing up in San Francisco and that Gora drank in moderation. "It is an inadvertently hilarious season," said Maddow, MSNBC television news talk show host, about the ongoing folly of the Republican presidential primary. Today's headline was about billionaire Donald Trump moderating an upcoming presidential debate just before the Iowa caucus while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was surging ahead of favorite Mitt Romney. "We look forward to Mitt and Newt sucking up to the Donald," she said. Letterman, host of the popular Late Show,  could not resist asking about Gingrich's and Romney's real names. "Newt is for Newton, and Mitt is for Mitten," said Letterman. Actually, Romney's first name is Willard, which is much funnier. Maddow got even more laughs mentioning how Republican John Huntsman cannot get any covered and probably could not get any coverage even if he campaigned naked everyday. Maddow also could not understand why Trump was ever seriously considered as a presidential candidate as someone in the crowd shouted, "It's the hair." Letterman added that the hair would be moderator. The 90 minute conversation had Letterman asking Maddow questions ranging from the child sex scandals at Penn State and Sycracuse to police pepper spraying students at an Occupy protest at the University of California. Maddow said she had not talked about the college sports sex scandal, describing it as horrible and disgusing and an example of institutions like the Catholic Church that cannot police themselves. Gora, BSU president,  agreed the schools were delinquent and only acted when they had to. Maddow even went as far as saying both schools should have ended their seasons. Letterman also asked Gora if the pepper spray incident could happen at Ball State. "Oh no," said Gora. And Maddow raised concerns about campus police forces being armed like SWAT teams from more than 20 years ago On politics, Letterman had a tweet about whether the 99-pervent or Occupy Wall Street will get it together and elect politicians. Maddow did not think the movement was as much about electing politicians rather than asking questions. And the Occupy movement already is making a difference in the upcoming election as Maddow said the New Hampshire Times Union endorsed Gingich over Romney, referring to the billionaire as the 1 percent. Maddow got the crowd's attention when she talked about growing up gay in San Francisco during the AIDS crisis. She became an activist and helped get inmates with AIDS treatment instead of isolation in prison. And Maddow's work got the last two states of Alabama and Mississippi to end segregation of AIDS inmates. Letterman also poked Maddow about her education as a Rhodes Scholar. "That's someone who went to Oxford," said Maddow. Of course, Letterman told of his days of missing class and barely graduating from Ball State with a 2.0 grade average. The conversation moved to alcohol when Letterman asked if Maddow liked to drink warm beer as the English do. Maddow said, "I enjoy all alcoholic beverages," that got a laugh out of the crowd. When the question was turned, Letterman told of his days as a hopeless alcoholic and when he stopped drinking nearly 30 years ago. Gora admitted she drank in moderation, liking wine. Maddox offered some advice to the college crowd that Letterman said had to skip class to see the conversation. The tyanny of romance among young people has to stop, while history and philosphy are underrated in college. "The study of history and philosphy will help you through out life," she said. Maddow later broadcast her MSNBC show from the Ball State Teleplex that was funded by Letterman after he gave millions to upgrade the school. And she broke more news with the help of NBC News that reported Republican presidential contender Herman Cain was dropping out of the race after widespread reports of sex and even paying for sex with numerous women while married. It was not just minutes later that Maddow recalled how Romney's company took over SCM in Marion more than 25 years, got rid of the workers and made millions in profit. That story was among those that led to Romney's defeat by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass. in 1994. Of course, she ran that recent clip of Gingich telling Occupy folks to get a job after they take a bath. Talk about a hard charging wild liberal and that defines Maddow.