TV's Frink said:

Anyone want to try and defend anything Rush said?

Not really.

Here's my results. Probably not a big surprise to anyone.

This test, while interesting in theory, is very unscientific in execution.  I performed it once long ago, and the questions are clearly quite leading.  The front page of the website make clear what is only subtle in the test itself: the creator(s) is a very biased liberal, which would skew the results.

On the other hand, the phrasing supports my definition of liberal and conservative (contained in that one essay I wrote but won't bother finding and linking); conservativism in politics is not the same as a narrow mindset and unwavering opinion per se, nor is political liberalism the opposite.  Rather political conservatives and liberals are inflexible and open about different topics.

greenpenguino said:

 Haha ! Haven't read the discussion but I guess it sums up the whole thread.

CP3S said:

I'll try harder next time.

 ... As always. ;)

TV's Frink said:

Mrebo said:

TV's Frink said:

Anyone want to try and defend anything Rush said?

Not really.

It was supposed to be a joke?  Please.

And the comment section under the article is just sad.

As noted by the blogger, "The emphasis of it really just seems to be finding a way to name-call her in the thin garbings of a 'joke.'"

That is how it comes across. Limbaugh was being extreme and hyperbolic about a woman with little particular knowledge on the topic she was talking to members of congress about, as she offered second-hand accounts ( based on some false assumptions) and her assertion that birth control can cost $1,000/year, when it can easily cost far far less absent some medical condition, which apparently Georgetown would cover. Based on this, Limbaugh started making the childish joke that she was a "slut." That doesn't sound like he was being serious, as rude and unfunny as it is.

Comment sections on political blog sites tend to be sad. Though that blog does takes particular glee in being a hive of scum and villainy (Breitbart loved the comment section there). It is a little rough, as they say. The commentors mostly reflect the irreverent style of blogger Ace. It can be especially jarring when one doesn't agree with the underlying politics. It's full of dumb memes, inside jokes, and hyperbole.

This is what I don't like about radio or TV personalities, right and left.  They are compelled to use sensationalistic verbage to attract a wide, emotionally-driven audience.  Rush has made several good points, but when he makes statements like this, he undermines his very valid point in the eyes of so many.  It was truly an idiotic thing to say.

That said, it infuriates me how the likes of Olbermann and Maher get free passes on whatever sexist, horrible names they call, and they aren't even doing so in jest (clearly Rush was making a joke, albeit a stupid one, and I think the outrage is disproportionate to his obvious intent).  To call Palin a b**** or c*** is equally reprehenisble, but I don't recall every other article on the Huffington Post being devoted to it and tying all liberals such characters.

And finally, it's bothersome that Rush's statements have made Ms. Fluke a martyr, when in reality she is a whiner with an overdeveloped sense of self-entitlement.  Limbaugh's real point is perfectly reasonable: birth control is cheap and her argument that it causes financial difficulty is bogus; if someone really can't afford it, they should simply cut down on sexual activity.

RING RING.

bdndne ddhhdd ehehehehe ehhehwhwhwh.

I'm sorry to hear that, we try to keep our prices as competitive as possible...

hdhdd dhdhdhdhd Limbaugh shshshss gghff.

Oh I see, well I will have a word with a co-worker she may have some leverage.

It may take a while to get her out out of the lobster costume, back in a minute.

darth_ender said:

This is what I don't like about radio or TV personalities, right and left.  They are compelled to use sensationalistic verbage to attract a wide, emotionally-driven audience.  Rush has made several good points, but when he makes statements like this, he undermines his very valid point in the eyes of so many.  It was truly an idiotic thing to say.

That said, it infuriates me how the likes of Olbermann and Maher get free passes on whatever sexist, horrible names they call, and they aren't even doing so in jest (clearly Rush was making a joke, albeit a stupid one, and I think the outrage is disproportionate to his obvious intent).  To call Palin a b**** or c*** is equally reprehenisble, but I don't recall every other article on the Huffington Post being devoted to it and tying all liberals such characters.

And finally, it's bothersome that Rush's statements have made Ms. Fluke a martyr, when in reality she is a whiner with an overdeveloped sense of self-entitlement.  Limbaugh's real point is perfectly reasonable: birth control is cheap and her argument that it causes financial difficulty is bogus; if someone really can't afford it, they should simply cut down on sexual activity.

Aside from the errors and her lacking expertise, her testimony was largely irrelevant anyhow. The issue is whether religious organizations can be compelled to pay for birth control for its employees. The law compels employers to provide insurance to employees, else pay significant fines.The proposed regulation tacks birth control onto what must be covered. I can find nothing that educational institutions must provide insurance to students. Put simply, the law does not affect people in her situation - the people for whom she spoke. Well, actually, it could affect them. If all plans must contain birth control, religious schools can simply stop providing insurance to students without penalty. But that's not what she was there to talk about.

A female student who happened to attend a religious school commented on the importance and cost of birth control. That's all well and good but didn't add anything new. She offered nothing pertaining to the law in question, no valid information about her school's policies, and grossly exaggerated the cost of birth control.

But now we're all talking about her and that evil Limbaugh. I predict she will win a seat in congress in the next few years.

Have you seen a video of him saying these things? There is no way he was joking. That's like backhanding someone and saying"just kidding."

walkingdork said:

Have you seen a video of him saying these things? There is no way he was joking. That's like backhanding someone and saying"just kidding."

There is "no way"? We can find worse examples of humor in shows like South Park and Family Guy. How about the time Family Guy jokingly suggested that the parents of Jon Benet Ramsey (real people, by the way) had killed their daughter? It's as if people have developed a collective amnesia of what passes for humor in today's culture.

Rush's joke was that this woman went before congress to claim birth control costs $1,000/year and that the government better pay for it. Given the typical costs of birth control, there is a humorous observation that can be made. I can imagine South Park dealing with a discovery that Cartman's mom spends $1,000 on birth control a year and then Cartman's playmates informing him of his mother's cultural status because of it. It's crude. Directed at a real person, it easily comes across as simply mean. But step back for a moment and accept that there is the potential for a joke, however unfunny.

walkingdork said:

Have you seen a video of him saying these things? There is no way he was joking. That's like backhanding someone and saying"just kidding."

Heard the audio.  I'm not defending his statement, but look...he said that she was a slut and a prostitute because she wants insurance to pay for her birth control.  He wasn't saying, "That dirty slut!"  He didn't say she was literally a prostitute, wanting sex for money.  He was using very poor wording to make a point.  And now he actually completely distracted from the point.  It was a dumb thing to do, but considering he has no real reason to hate this woman, and considering that he has been known to say outlandish things in jest, I think it's liberal selective oversensitivity that finds no room for tasteless jokes in cases like this while overlooking the most outrageous slander and misogyny from left field.

He goes beyond just saying slut and prostitute. Imus using the phrase "nappy headed ho" was a joke, this was not.

I found some other comments Limbaugh has made in jest.

http://newsone.com/nation/casey-gane-mccalla/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/

darth_ender said:

I think it's liberal selective oversensitivity that finds no room for tasteless jokes in cases like this while overlooking the most outrageous slander and misogyny from left field.

Which slander and misogyny? That's not rhetorical or sarcastic. I can't think of any recent controversy about such comments and may have missed the news/discussion.

Kirsten Powers, a fair-minded and liberal commentator, wrote about some of the more egregious cases.

Saw this story about the infamous "pink slime" meat heading to school lunches.

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/03/05/030512-news-pink-slime-1-3/

The USDA, which plans to buy 7 million pounds of Lean Beef Trimmings from BPI in the coming months for the national school lunch program, said in a statement that all of its ground beef purchases “meet the highest standard for food safety.” USDA officials also noted that the sole role of the food inspection service is to determine the overall safety of the nation’s food supply, not to make judgments on a product’s relative merits.

But Zirnstein and Custer say that the USDA now finds itself in the odd position of purchasing a product that has recently been dropped by fast-food giants McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell.

This is almost as dumb as Congress deciding that pizza is a vegetable, but much worse for health concerns. Who are these numnuts in our government, honestly?

We all get the politicians we deserve.

If you are really upset with these numb-nuts set up your own internet based political party and replace them.

You'd be called a numb-nut by somebody else within a week.

That's politics.

You need to get rid of democracy and replace it with a more honest form of Government.

Like a machine.

Break everything problem down to a series of Yes And No Answers and get a waterwheel to drop a pebble into a bucket.

georgec said:

Saw this story about the infamous "pink slime" meat heading to school lunches.

http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/03/05/030512-news-pink-slime-1-3/

The USDA, which plans to buy 7 million pounds of Lean Beef Trimmings from BPI in the coming months for the national school lunch program, said in a statement that all of its ground beef purchases “meet the highest standard for food safety.” USDA officials also noted that the sole role of the food inspection service is to determine the overall safety of the nation’s food supply, not to make judgments on a product’s relative merits.

But Zirnstein and Custer say that the USDA now finds itself in the odd position of purchasing a product that has recently been dropped by fast-food giants McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell.

This is almost as dumb as Congress deciding that pizza is a vegetable, but much worse for health concerns. Who are these numnuts in our government, honestly?

To nitpick, Congress never decided pizza was a vegetable. The existing law says that two tablespoons of tomato paste counts as a vegetable. The argument was over whether that measurement should be raised. Tomato paste is a component of sauce, used on pizza, I don't know that there is 2 tablespoons of it on a slice of pizza. The argument was whether the paste should constitute a lesser amount of vegetable.

I agree that serving non-meat that must be treated with harsh chemicals to be edible is just crazy.

It's meat Jim but not as you know it.