I know that Republicans say 75% of what they say simply because it pisses people off. Being an a-hole gets you points with conservatives. I get that. But at some point they gotta realize that there aren't enough white male a-holes out there to win elections.
Or am I giving them too much credit?
After all, they are a-holes.
******
Rush has apologized, saying that he didn't mean it to be a personal attack by calling a woman a slut and prostitute.
For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.He was being funny, that's all. See?
I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit?In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone's bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.
My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.
LIMBAUGH: What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex. What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex.I wonder if he calls his wife that when he's feeling particularly funny?
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18 comments:
There are no assholes with hearts of gold; it's just asshole all the way through.
Remember that old saying? "It depends on whose ox is being gored."
Limbaugh is unquestionably a pig...and an a-hole.
But, I don't remember anyone calling for a boycott of David Letterman a few years ago when he compared Sarah Palin to a "slutty flight attendant" and joked about Palin's teen daughter getting "knocked up" by A-Rod.
I'm not now, nor have I ever been, a fan of Sarah Palin, but I can also understand why people on the right might use the terms "double standards" and "hypocrisy" when speaking about those who are calling for Limbaugh to be taken off the air and for a boycott of his sponsors.
Flashback: in 2009, David Letterman joked about Sarah Palin’s “slutty” look. He also joked about Palin's daughter being "knocked up" by baseball player Alex Rodriquez.
President Barack Obama went on Letterman's show himself about three months later.
...........
On Friday, two days after Limbaugh's tirade, President Barack Obama called student Sandra Fluke to commend her willingness to speak out and share her dismay over the slur.
Limbaugh doesn't care about winning elections. He cares about his bank account. His bank account has gotten bigger with a Democrat as president.
@Bill: There was plenty of outrage at Letterman, and he contritely apologized the following week. Limbaugh doubled down. In addition, Palin is a public figure who sling s a few insults herself. Fluke is a private citizen that testified before Congress. Not the same thing by a mile.
Funny how the first line of defense of conservatives is always a non-existent double standard. How come you are not talking about Bill Maher losing his show on ABC?
"Fluke is a private citizen that testified before Congress."
But when she injected herself into the debate, she became a public figure. And she's not exactly shunning the limelight these past few days either.
"Letterman, and he contritely apologized the following week."
Perhaps Limbaugh will apologize. And perhaps he won't. If he doesn't, perhaps he'll lose more sponsors and join Glenn Beck in cyberspace.
"Funny how the first line of defense of conservatives is always a non-existent double standard."
Just to be clear, I am not a conservative. But I understand why they claim there is a double standard when it comes to things they say.
"How come you are not talking about Bill Maher losing his show on ABC?"
Ask the right wingers.
I think the DNC should send him candy and a stripper. Rush has turned the conversation from a debate about religious freedom to slut shaming and misogyny. Does the RNC want to spend the next seven months explaining that to the women of America?
I thought Bill was smarter than this ^. Sad to see him making a completely wrong comparison...
There's no hypocrisy; there was an outcry.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-06-15/entertainment/17926157_1_sarah-palin-jokes-les-moonves
"A Web site called FireDavidLetterman.com is organizing a rally outside Letterman's show at the Ed Sullivan theater on Tuesday June 16 at 4:30 p.m."
And Letterman was man enough to apologize:
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-207_162-5090747.html
"David Letterman said his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he's sorry."
But the "fire Letterman" movement didn't accept it, although Palin did:
http://www.examiner.com/tv-in-washington-dc/letterman-update-palin-accepts-apology-but-fire-dave-rally-still-on-video
"...the "Fire David Letterman" movement says the mea culpa delivered last night was not enough. They're still planning to hold a protest rally this afternoon in front of Ed Sullivan Studios, where the program is taped."
The chief difference is that David Letterman is a comedian; nobody is expected to take him seriously. Rush Limbaugh is a conservative pundit who professes to speak for conservative Americans.
And of course, Limbaugh hasn't apologized so far.
At best, Limbaugh has simply libeled a college student in order to discredit her. There's no defensible position, he has no moral high ground. There's no double-standard. David Letterman made a bad joke because that's what he does. Rush Limbaugh tried to counter a political position by defaming the other party.
Libel is never protected as free speech.
Gotta say, I'm losing a lot of respect for you here.
What C.L.J. said up above, but I have to second what Bill initially said. There most certainly is a double standard. Just take a look at what Rush Limbaugh said about Letterman's comments regarding Palin.
Now THERE'S your double standard. It goes something like this...it's horrible when Letterman makes jokes about women using the word "slut" but it's okay when I maliciously smear and attack a woman using the same word.
My point is that it's wrong to use words like that against people, no matter what the context. Letterman and Limbaugh both used the same words.
The difference is that Letterman was joking, Limbaugh was not.
But in both instances, the words were uttered by people who know the power of words when they are spoken into a microphone and broadcast to millions.
But as I write this, Limbaugh has apologized to Fluke saying he "did not intend a personal attack" on her.
Oh, so what you are saying is that ol' Dave gets off the hook but he's just ol' Dave making a joke. But Rush is evil because he used the same words as Dave but in a political context. Calling someone a slut is wrong. Period.
As I've written below, in both instances, the words were uttered by people who know the power of words when they are spoken into a microphone and broadcast to millions.
Letterman's been in the business for a long time and knew exactly what he was doing. In that respect, he's just like Limbaugh.
Yeah, I read Rush's "apology." He sounds like an eight-year-old caught in a lie, and he's the victim. And if he "did not intend a personal attack" on her, then why did he use her name? I think his lawyer explained to him the libel laws and his exposure to a lawsuit. That's where this comes from and nothing else.
We have to wonder what kind of attack did he intend, then?
Letterman said something stupid and insulting.
"Letterman joked in his opening monologue that the governor visited Yankee Stadium, sitting in "far, far right field" with Rudy Giuliani. "They had a wonderful time," he continued. "The toughest part of her visit was keeping Eliot Spitzer away from her daughter."
Spitzer was implicated in a sex scandal, and Palin's older daughter was an unwed pregnant teen. Palin had long been a proponent of "abstinence only" sex education. All the elements of a joke were there. A joke in poor taste, one made worse by the fact that the knocked-up teen wasn't the daughter that was at the game with the Palins.
But that's not necessarily defamatory. Insulting. Crude. Sophmoric. Yes, yes, and yes. But not defamatory; it was in his monologue, and it was a joke, with all the set-up and framing that entails.
Fluke testified that there are solid medical reasons for hormone based contraceptives outside of actual contraception; the ease painful menstruation and prevent mood swings, among other things.
To which Limbaugh responded:
"What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex. What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex."
Limbaugh responded by calling her a slut and a prostitute. He claimed - falsely - that she testified that she "had to be paid to have sex."
It's not letting Letterman off the hook to point out that his remarks, while in poor taste, were of a markedly different nature than Limbaugh's.
Letterman was attempting to make a joke at the expense of two politicians and an innocent teen. Limbaugh was slandering someone. In no respect can any rational person equate the two.
The republican party has a bigger problem in Mr. Romney.The christain right believe that mormonism is a cult.This means that it is a satanic counterfeit.They will have to find a way to justify their allegiance to a spiritual authority through Mr.Romney which they believe is not the HOLY SPIRIT.Futhermore they are trying to find a way to justify before GOD a spirit which has revealed itself as one which does not believe in the absolute authority of the BIBLE and does accept JESUS as Lord AND SAVIOR.
The best is that Obama called her to wish her well, express his support, and opine that her parents should be very proud of her.
Bill Clinton called 10 minutes later.
But seriously folks, this is from a letter sent out to Georgetown University stakeholders:
In an earlier time, St. Augustine captured the sense of what is required in civil discourse: “Let us, on both sides, lay aside all arrogance. Let us not, on either side, claim that we have already discovered the truth. Let us seek it together as something which is known to neither of us. For then only may we seek it, lovingly and tranquilly, if there be no bold presumption that it is already discovered and possessed.”
If we, instead, allow coarseness, anger – even hatred – to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders. The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance. This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another.
Sincerely,
John J. DeGioia
President
Georgetown University
A good man quoting a wise man. We need more of that.
What I think has been missed in all of this, and maybe I'm the one misunderstanding, is that the request by Ms. Fluke and others is not to have the government or tax payers pay for anything. It's for privately run, for-profit health insurance providers to pay for things. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that was the point of the whole kerfuffle.
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