The Republican party is skittish enough with the muddy primaries so that the Limbaugh flap has quickly turned to a panic. The Democrats hold a large advantage with women voters in the recent polling, and the ad hominem attack on a single woman does not move the needle back toward 50-50. Am told by Lara Brown, Villanova, that women split evenly between Bush and Kerry, and that was why Bush prevailed. In 2008, Obama enjoyed a huge women vote advantage over McCain. Am told that the women vote in 2010 favored the GOP. Does this scandal promise positive women vote for 2012? Unknown but also unlikely. Limbaugh has not used fresh information for a long time. Limbaugh is about edgy performance. When Limbaugh uses ad hominem on public officials, it is old-fashioned, off-the-shelf, 20th century trash talk. Limbaugh has grown lazy as well as sloppy. Fluke is not a celebrity, not a pol, not even known to the public before these days. The early signs are not positive that Limbaugh can survive this contest without damage to his brand. POTUS phone call to Sandra Fluke was cunning. The indignation by the Democrats does not look determinative. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich will establish how Limbaugh fares in the GOP season. Thumbs up or down on Limbaugh vulgarity for Mitt, Rick or Newt? Just now, the Limbaugh narrative is radioactive. Georgetown President John DeGioia struck hard and cleverly, using the word "misogynistic." John Boehner used a cut-out to say "inappropriate." Romney tried a meaningless phrase, "not the language I would have used." Scott Brown launched on Limbaugh. This is about electioneering. Does it signify that Limbaugh's remarks were incoherent about Fluke and the facts of testimony? Nope. This is culture speak, culture trash talking, and the winner is the best one polling. The polls are in the field. Piers Morgan was quick to capitalize on the perceived Limbaugh weakness. Sunday shows beckon. Cynics, pop your popcorn. Doesn't add up to much what we figure at this point. Game on for the Independent vote in VA, NC, OH, CO, NM.
If the report that the "law student" is a long-time activist for abortion/contraception/the whole fem-lib kit is true, the Republicans are doing their usually exceptionally bad PR in not getting the story out. If it's true, activists deserve any sympathy for getting the mud they stir up on themselves when they create a flap. Activists are Players and Players don't get the benefit of the doubt. Once again the Stupid Party is sucker-punched.
I would like to go on the record here; I prefer that NOONE drop a nuke on anyone. What a mess that would be! I would also prefer that I not be forced to pay for someone else's birth control pills. Bad PR from Limbaugh. Having said that the "law Student" sitting there in front of the nation cry-babying because some college kids can't figure out a less expensive way of contraception was at once sad and laughable. The mindset of entitlement emanating from this "law students" mouth was mind-boggling to me. I have heard that post graduate school can be very stressful. Shall I then be required to pay for alprazolam for all graduate students?
While I agree with most of what Limbaugh says, he is primarily an entertainer and does not try to be measured with his phraseology. On the contrary, bombast is his stock in trade. He does tap into an audience that vicariously enjoys the fact that he tweaks the mainstream media and politicians. This audience is the Middle/Southern Americans that Nixon first tapped into - they feel left out whenever they turn on a TV, belittled by the pundits for feeling good about a life where they try to adhere to traditional values, and angry about a President that is trying to tell them how to live their lives down to every little detail.
I do believe these folks intersect with Ron Paul acolytes to form a segment I call traditional values libertarians. They want to be left alone to live as they see fit, and do not want to intrude on other people's lives unless what those people do or want to force others to do impacts the traditional values libertarians. What the Republicans should do is re-frame the arguments along the lines of:
"really, are we saying that who you have sex with, in what manner, and how often is the defining factor in one's life, and further, that the government should see to it that your sexual appetites are satisfied at taxpayer expense..."
I believe when framed in these terms, the sheer chutzpah of these activists demanding the American taxpayer pay for their libertine lifestyle will not meet with approval, except from the mainstream media and MSNBC.
I have no stop-gap with Mr. Limbaugh. I understand his subtle, and at times bombastic comments for what they are. Outrageous responses to an obvious libertine lifestyle demand for entitlement is for the most part called for and in the context of what is going on in politics today sorta what's known as fighting fire with fire. But you are absolutely correct in that the "professionals" within the party that so many depend on to frame this great debate ought to use some restraint, and common sense. And, oh yeah. Pick their battles a little more cleverly. By framing this obvious win/win for conservatives into "ammo" for the mainstream media is just plain 'ole dumb!
Brava Michelle Malkin:
http://michellemalkin.com/2012/03/02/sandra-fluke-is-not-a-slut-shes-a-femme-agogue-tool/
Last night Lara Brown effectively granted moral equivalence to the years of MSM/Lib abuse dumped on Palin, Bachmann, Malkin, Ingraham, etc. and that which is now so richly deserved by Fluke and her backers who demand that G-town Law (or its insurer or all medical insurance buyers like US) pay for her $3K law school cost for contraception. Oh.... the faces of students' worry that Sanda sees. Boo Effin Hoo! Ummmm.... what about asking her partner(s) to drop some money in the kitty. Or Emily's List? Or Nancy Pelosi? Wait.... that would be a form of payment for her having sex. Which would make her....... what? Here is an idea Sandra... go to Planned Parenthood where condoms are free and thus funded mostly by folks who are proud of you.
Want to see the tiniest camel's nose of ObamaCare and the statist Ameritopia it will usher into the lives of your children and grandchildren? Here it is. A world of camels are breeding.
Limbaugh does what I do. We are not theologians or politicians or physicians. We are public speakers. Professor Brown and I focused on the professor's Politico blog about how it is unacceptable for public speakers (a long list of celebrity speakers in the blog) to attack women in the public space with vulgar language about sexuality. This is a controversy about public speaking power and its abuses. Limbaugh abused his office, his space. Limbaugh launched an ad hominem attack in the public space on a woman on the basis of her sexuality.
What I do is to speak in public with other public speakers about policy, authority, commerce, history, philosophy, usw. At no point is it necessary or acceptable to speak vulgarly of the female gender in order to to my job. Limbaugh's remarks are fail.
In my world, you step out of line this badly on air, it is time for a break.
JB,
You are right about Limbaugh exceeding the bounds of common decency, much like some of the lib journalists who within hours of Andrew Breitbart's death tweeted and opined that the world was a better place with him dead. The infuriating part about this is that while the former incident has gotten large parts of lib news media shows devoted to it, only Fox News has seen fit to provide information about the latter. At least that is what I am seeing so far.
Why would Obama get in the mud and roll around in this debacle? My view is that he's a rigid ideologue, he wants to and it excites the progressive activists he will need to win. And it changes the subject for a while.
JB,
Your so out of touch on this score it's tough to make that connection but I will endeavor to try. Went to the movies last night. Saw "Act of Valor." In front of me was a woman about 20 to 24. With her father. She's checking me out. No big deal. Just got a hair cut. Must be the hair. Women, apparently, only want one thing. I used to think it was security and love. Any way they give each other a kiss. Now I know what is happening. This is a man who is dating a woman that could be his daughter. Same with Fluke and the liberal left. They concoct these attacks in advance on society and those of your ilk defend it by attacking those who are challenging it using what is common knowledge to fight with. Watch Snooki. Go to a movie on a friday night and watch and listen. Limbaugh is on time, on target, and he did not even have to fire for effect.
All the best,
JD
ps.
I enjoy "fluking" as much as the next guy. Someone tell Penn Gillette that.
:)
This is beginning to feel like a firefight, a kinda bulletstorm with words. I'm not talking about these posts, but rather the whole political process and the upcoming prez campaign that I'm sure is going to be one of the most vicious, and just plain 'ole ugly campaigns we will witness in our lifetime. Just listening to both sides one would think that the whole future of our way of life is in jeopardy. Well? Is it? If it is, it's time for all to pick a side, and lock and load...so to speak.
"Why would Obama get in the mud and roll around i this debacle?"
You're right. What's the point. He's already filthy.
Sheriff Arpaio just held a news conference this week in which he basically called the POTUS a liar and a fraud and I never heard a vulgar word come out of his mouth. Now, I don't know if he actually has the goods or not, but he is one fearless dude, and has caused as much damage to this administration as anyone I can think of, with the possible exception of Andrew Breitbart. ...just a small observation. I just don't see how getting political mud all over our faces helps us see any better, or gains us any more respect, or more importantly, more votes.
IF SOTHEBY'S AND CHRISTIE'S CAN CONSPIRE TO FIX PRICES, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
A few years ago, a group of 'journalists' conspired to get Obama elected.
It's no fluke that this did not get much media play.
George Stephanopoulos worked alongside Obama at Harvard to promote involvement with community institutions. [Sagauro Seminars, 1997-2000].
It's no fluke that this fact is not in his CV. It's also not a fluke that Stephanopoulos brought up the issue of contraception at one of the Republican debates.
"According to a bio on Georgetown's website, [Sandra] Fluke's professional background is in domestic violence and human trafficking advocacy. At Georgetown law, she is the former president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice, an editor for the Journal of Gender and the Law, and vice president of the Women's Legal Alliance. She has a bachelor's degree in Feminist, Gender & Sexuality studies from Cornell. http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-02/politics/31115859_1_contraception-democratic-women-rush-limbaugh
It's no fluke, the Dems created a flap at Issa's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee over Sandra Fluke's testimony. It's also no fluke that the Dems have changed the debate from freedom of religion to contraception.
The Dems are currently sending up test balloons to see what issues give them the greatest bang for their buck in the November election.
Whether it's the economy, women's rights or healthcare, the Dem strategy is a variation of class warfare: Divide and conquer.
FLUKE IS NO FLUKE
(though she may be a flake)
"unacceptable for public speakers (a long list of celebrity speakers in the blog) to attack women in the public space with vulgar language about sexuality"
Wake me when the Liberals are held the same standard vis people they don't like. I'm with Hy. Boo-Friggin-Hoo for Fluke and her fellow-travelers.
Begin Chapter 2, the reckoning: will this answer the tumult? Cynics, pop more popcorn, the vulgar speaker throws himself on the ground and asks for mercy:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/03/03/a_statement_from_rush
CD: I left my Templar costume at work. Am measuring the panic by the GOP and the surge by the Democrats. The electioneering is all. Limbaugh flees in defeat. POTUS wins the joust.
JB, your comments have a strong whiff of censorship. Want to know how the Republican Party can gain in popularity? Stop acting and sounding like "Obama Light".
I understand that el Rushbo offends your sensibilities. He offends mine, too. But not as much as Howard Stern does. Not as much as Rachel Maddow does. Or Harry Reid for that matter. Picking and choosing whom to silence..... not what America is or should be about.
I think our way of life has been under fire for a long time. Most importantly, people calling for your job if you dare to speak an idea or a philosophy they disagree with. We shall make no law against speech ... Except for hate speech ... and hate speech is defined as anyone who disagrees with me. Nice.
Is broadcaster behavior here an issue? If so, then Mike is spot on. We have been played, bigtime. Advance man broadcaster Stephanopoulis was complicit, a Dem op. He prepared their battlefield by trying incessantly to blindside Romney re contraception in the Jan debate. He had to have known what was coming imminently in the BHO/Pelosi theological and economic war against (1) the Catholic Church and (2) the private insurance industry.
To fill out some details.......see Fluke's testimony:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/what-did-sandra-fluke-really-say/408191
The Dems' Congressional sandbag:
http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/gop-dems-played-games-over-sandra-fluke/408036
Victim Fluke. Not:
http://marklevinshow.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/03/stunner-georgetown-coed-sandra-fluke-is-a-30-year-old-womens-rights-activist/
The cost of free health care:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/high-price-free-health-care_633129.html?nopager=1
LF: blame-shifting is stampy footy. limbaugh got caught off base, and no the penalty. shrug. I am watching the election. cannot find a case that this unforced error episode advances the GOP case to Independent women voters who will determine the swing states. gee. your list of celebrities are not on the ballot. romney or so forth will be, and this sloppiness does not answer. gee.
It's easy enough to take potshots at people who apologize for having taken a stand and gone too far, when your style is to basically agree with whomever you're talking to at the moment.
???? Limbaugh's not on the ballot either .....
LF: limbaugh preens as the voice of the rightniks. you pretending the Independents see separation between limbaugh's folly and the GOP presidential candidate? gee. my talk radio colleagues are not geniuses. I see what I see. these are ordinary 1% characters with routine educations and show biz instincts to steal scenes. gee. limbaugh and clear channel also have to satisfy the markets, and good luck to them. I focus on the GOP electioneering. you want to address public speaking, then I am thinking that vulgarity and misogyny and ad hominem are ineffective at best.
"I understand that el Rushbo offends your sensibilities. He offends mine, too."
The only time I've ever heard Rush was some 20 years ago when a young, very liberal colleague and I were TDY to FLETC in Georgia and, as the driver of the rental car, he chose what we listened to on the radio during our commute. He always listened to Rush so he could yell epithets at the radio.
As JB notes, Rush is an entertainer, not a deep thinker or even a spokesman for the Right. It's all about ratings as far as he and his sponsors are concerned. I think he's an embarrassment, but unfortunately, no more so than about 90% of the Republicans in Congress, and 100% of the current gaggle running for the Republican nomination.
As much as we want to see Obama tossed, the Republicans have collapsed into complete incoherence, proving that as a party they are not ready for Leadership. None of the Fluke-LImbaugh Rumble has any bearing on the salient issues in this election, but here we are, wasting political capital on it. I dispair.
@JB: I know complaining about the double standard doesn't do any good. I just can't help myself. That the rules about Players matter only if the Player is a Republican will always infuriate.
So now Obama decided he'll give the commencement at Barnard. Think he'll talk about jobs? "As the father of two daughters, he's a leader of women." Hmpf. Remember when Val Jarrett had to call an intervention at the WH to stop the condescension. I think women will go for Mitt over Obama. He's steady and safe. And, if I hear "contraception moms" one more time, I'll scream.
"As much as we want to see Obama tossed, the Republicans have collapsed into complete incoherence, proving that as a party they are not ready for Leadership." The whole lot of them, Rs and Ds, are dinosaurs. Boehner blew the biggest conservative wave in decades in 2010.
Limbaugh can speak for me. I agree with maybe 95% of what he says. I would say it differently, is all.
Let's put it this way: If I woke up one day and the country operated exactly the way Limbaugh envisions it, I'd be very happy indeed. Now, whether that type of thinking wins the independent vote is not my problem. I think it's a mistake to court the independent vote (at least exclusively), as I've said before. What you have to do is inspire the conservative base to come out in record numbers on election day. And nominating some milquetoast like Romney ain't gonna accomplish that. For every one independent voter you attract to the polls, you'll lose 1.5 -2 conservatives who can't bring themselves to vote for somebody who apparently stands for nothing.
I don't understand "ordinary 1% characters" ... seems a tautology.
Marina, I'm curious, what would you have had Boehner done differently? (Apart from the payroll tax fiasco at the end of 2011, which I admit he mis-handled - by caving.)
I agree in principle. The way to deal with a flake like Fluke is to expose her background, and challenge her stats publicly. "There are lies. There are damn lies. And, then there are statistics." Benjamin Disraeli. Then dismiss her publicly with a good 'ole fashioned laugh-off. Then get off the subject and get back on track. Do not count on the MSM for anything except what has been handed out for years; bitter herbs.
I dub thee:
THE FLUKE FLAP
I think it's a 100% manufactured controversy by the Dems. And I think Corlyss had it right from the start: The Republicans were 'sucker-punched'. But that's OK. Forewarned is forearmed.
Great work,Mike!
"Forewarned is forearmed."
At what point do we start holding the Republicans responsible for actual or constructive knowledge of the facts that the enemy is far more sophisticated and owns the media thru which Republicans have to make their points? This is what I mean by not being ready for Leadership. This double standard crap has been going on since Reagan's days and was exposed for all to see when the Republicans took Congress in 1994. And still they act like they are engaged in a fair fight. To paraphrase Jim Malone, when are we going to start bringing guns to these encounters instead of dull knives?
What we'll be hearing from now until the election and the next election and the next election ...
WHERE IS ANDREW BREITBART NOW THAT WE NEED HIM?
Why Free? Why compel Churches to offer abortificants (RU486)? No other prescriptions are free. My Supermarket offers free antibiotics, but that is their choice, not imposed by bigoted fiat.
Churches can and will speak strongly from the pulpit over this issue.
Any woman can walk across Fordham Road, or U Street, or any Catholic College town and get contraceptives, just like men have been doing for centuries. Forcing these Colleges to pay for it is beyond intolerance. This proves the Democrat Party hates Catholics and their values.
[This letter is dedicated in honored memory to Mr. Andrew Breitbart]
Fluking 101 . . .
March 3, 2012
Dear President Obama,
I want to commend you for calling up Ms. Fluke and trying to comfort her after those of your ilk so successfully and publicly fluked her without the benefit of protection, let alone paying for it, you sir are an officer and a gentleman, and that Mrs. Pelosi is a real lady for putting a person of her gender in such a compromising position. All of you should be proud of yourselves for prostituting this young woman for political purposes. I’m not perfect, and will never make any aires about that. But I will never make another citizen pay for my stupidity. If I fluke up. That’s on me. It’s my problem.
You see; what has gone on for too long is making common everyday responsibilities of individuals the prevue of the government. As a father and a husband I have some basic jobs. Shelter. Food on the table. Hold down a job. Be a good father by raising my children to not behave like Ms. Fluke, but if they do to be there for them come h*ll or high water. My old man taught me by experience that your child is your responsibility even if in their opinion you are a moron. In Ms. Flukes case she made some voluntary decisions, she decided to fluk with what ever “Tom, Dick, or Harry” she found attractive. Cool. Been there done that. Got the T-Shirt and the love letters from the chicks. One ought not kiss and tell though, when did that go out of style? Then she voluntarily decided to make a spectacle of her fornicating, while advocating every citizen pay for it. Ok. I’ve read that EBT cards are accepted at strip clubs now. So if we are paying for lap dances and beer,; why not pay for Ms. Flukes fluking?
I’ll tell you why. Because if trillions in debt, and trillions in deficit, plus a decades long war for one side of the same muslim/arab coin is not enough for a society to deal with what is necessary in some right and proper way. Then let’s all fluke our brains out. In fact tomorrow I’m going to apply for food stamps get my EBT card and go hit my favorite strip club and make a video and post it on youtube! And with free abortion we don’t even need the protection any more! Bad humor aside. What about all the veterans, what about all the people, who legitimately need our tax dollars? What about the mentally disabled guy that died because his 86 year old father died after spending his whole life taking care of him? He died of starvation because his father died in the apartment with him. I guess social services dropped the ball on that one! You see liberals don’t understand something. We don’t care who you fluke. How you fluke. When you fluke or with what hand. Whether or not your alone fluking with your iphone on vibrate. Have at it. But in the end, after the fluking is over. You better have enjoyed it. Because some poor bXXXXXd has paid for with an eye, a leg, or his life.
Respectfully,
Joe Doakes
Providing contraceptives isn't healthcare, because sex isn't a disease.
The Dems are executing a two-fer Cloward-Pivens -- one on the Catholic Church, another on the private health insurance industry. Overwhelm with chaos. Disable private health insurance. Spiral premiums upward. Wound the Catholic Church. Get the Catholics out of schools, hospitals, charities. Make government health insurance, a green planet and spreading OUR wealth the new secular, statist religion.
http://news.investors.com/article/603121/201203021903/obamacare-puts-private-insurance-in-death-spiral.htm
Want to help stop it? Be a Breitbart. If a broadcast journalist is the story, then it is apparatchiks Stephanopoulis et al.
Storm clouds darkening over Clear Channel. The GOP hesitates. The market corrects.
http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2012/03/03/pr-weasel-words-from-carbonite-ceo-david-friend-re-limbaughs-slut-shaming-libel-of-susan-fluke/
A Message from Carbonite CEO, David Friend Regarding Ads on Limbaugh
Over the past two days we have received a tremendous amount of feedback on Rush Limbaugh’s recent comments. I too am offended and very concerned about his comments. Limbaugh’s remarks have us rethinking our future use of talk radio.
We use more than 40 talk show hosts to help get the Carbonite message out to the public. The nature of talk radio is that from time to time listeners are offended by a host and ask that we pull our advertising.
This goes for conservatives like Limbaugh and progressives like Stephanie Miller and Ed Shultz. We even get customers who demand that we pull the plug on NPR. As an advertiser, we do not have control over a show’s editorial content or what they say on air. Carbonite does not endorse the opinions of the shows or their hosts.
However, the outcry over Limbaugh is the worst we’ve ever seen. I have scheduled a face-to-face meeting next week with Limbaugh during which I will impress upon him that his comments were offensive to many of our customers and employees alike.
Please know your voice has been heard and that we are taking this matter very seriously.
Sincerely,
David Friend
And then the market decides:
Update from Carbonite @ Facebook/Carbonite Website:
A Statement from David Friend, CEO of Carbonite:
“No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show.
We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.”
From Via Meadia. Not really off-topic. Just what we need.
Family-Friendly Neo-Nazi Runs for Congress
There isn’t much to say beyond the obvious about Arthur Jones, the Holocaust-denying former member of the Nationalist Socialist Party who is now a candidate for the Republican nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ third Congressional district. Suffice it to say, Via Meadia hopes to be spared the sight of Mr. Jones being sworn in as a member of Congress. We do have one question for his campaign, though. JTA reports that
In addition to his past party affiliation, Jones regularly organizes family-friendly neo-Nazi events scheduled to coincide with Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
We can’t help but wonder: what do family-unfriendly neo-Nazi events look like?
Nasty forms of anti-Semitism are all too prevalent today, from Hugo Chávez’s ugly anti-Semitic invective to the Jew-demonizing rhetoric of some of the people politically empowered by the Arab Spring.
America remains a country where Jew-hating is seen as sign both of a weak mind and flawed character. That’s a good thing; any sign of increased social tolerance for anti-Semitic rhetoric and ravings would be the worst possible news. Anti-Semitism remains a leading indicator for authoritarianism and poverty. We wish Mr. Jones an eye-opening moment of insight followed by deep and sincere repentance. Failing that, we predict an unsatisfying life of futility and frustration on the political fringe.
Amen! Death at such an early age is a tragedy, but for us to lose him now is just awful.
I remember before the 2008 election, the 'progressive' radio station here in LA, KTLK, one of the talk show hosts would get on these rants in which he would routinely say such things as "I hope all Republicans die, I hope they all burn in hell." Doesn't seem like Limbaugh's recent comments were all that serious by comparison. We live in a time where you can publicly state that you hope an entire block of voters, tens of millions of them, burn in hell, but you can't call one person a slut (or in the case of John and Ken here in LA, you can't call Whitney Houston a crack-ho.) There have been a rash of these silencing of conservative talk-show hosts just in the last couple of months. John and Ken, Scott Kaplan and Billy Ray Smith, now Rush ... John and Ken fortunately made it back on the air. I do see, if not a conspiracy here, at least an atmosphere in which it's considered proper to silence right-wing talk radio, but never left-wing talk radio. Hmmm ..... How long before they come for you, JB? Is that why you keep John Avlon around? So when the censors come for you, you can point to Avlon and say "Some of my best friends are closet progressives"?
Finally, after only forty-four posts, someone gets to the heart of the matter. I should have known it would be you, Lou.
This miserable situation reminds me of an incident in the nineteen-nineties in which Presidential candidate Bob Dole attacked the Tarantino-scripted movie True Romance for what he claimed to believe was its violence and sexual immorality. With his usual devastating precision, Paleoconservative writer Samuel Francis responded that of course the Senator from Archer Daniels Midland failed to appreciate the film, given that it dealt with loyalty, a concept utterly unknown to Republicans.
If Mr. Batchelor were to take time off from speaking up for the far-off Tibetans, a people to whom we owe nothing, and instead stood up just one time for Pat Buchanan or Rush Limbaugh or some other embattled colleague, would it not be a refreshing change of pace?
IF I WERE TO CALL SANDRA FLUKE A 'DIRTY TRICK'
WOULD THAT BE THE SAME AS CALLING HER A 'HO'?
We are living in a center-right country controlled by a small bunch of Leftys, where the Leftys are the protected class. They will do anything to stay in power. 'Dirty tricks' are just the beginning.
We need a Spring uprising of the Radical Middle. Or we'll become more and more Third World.
Ah, markets. One of my favorite things in life. Markets evolve. Products compete. Imperfections arise. Corrections happen. Spontaneous order. Governments intervene.
Monday will draw the highest ratings ever for the Limbaugh show, the increment consisting mostly of haters.
Orders for Two If By Tea, a recent Limbaugh product, will fly off the charts this week.
Web traffic on Drudge, Hot Air, Instapundit and Daily Caller will increase.
Lefty circles excel at community organization and threats but are not so generous actually parting with their own bucks compared to spending other peoples' coerced money. Carbonite will experience a HUGE wave of service cancellations and non-renewals. Those $ losses will pale in comparison to any incremental service revenues from flukey fans.
The Left, emboldened by its victories over Limbaugh, Beck, Buchanan and others will ramp up its sponsor boycotts, community organizer led silence and intimidation activities, fund raising letters, back door content regulation by Fairness Doctrine surrogates. No one is public voice is exempt from their intimidation tactics.
Be a Breitbart.
"Be a Breitbart"
Drop dead of a heart attack?
Sharks circle when they smell blood.
It's right up there with the missing matter in the universe and the cause of the Cretaceous-Paleocene discontinuity as to why Avlon is considered worthy of our attention. As a humble servant I merely offer hypotheses, "submitted for your consideration."
It's like Tale of Two Cities, remember, Dr. Manette was spared the guillotine because he had spent all those years locked up in the Bastille. John Avlon is JB's "Bastille exemption."
I realize with some irony that I'm guilty of the same thing I'm complaining about in Rush's case: attempted censorship of airtime content. I would plead that in Rush's case, the censorship was because of his offensiveness; in Avlon's case, it's because of his worthlessness. A distinction without a difference? Perhaps.
Amazing comment thread here. Reminds me of my favorite bumper sticker, (well second favorite next to "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Obama) - "If it weren't for double standards, Liberals would have no standards at all." So how come Bill Maher is on the air after call Sarah Palin the C--- word? Could it be that the HBO advertisers don't have the same sense of morality held to by Rush Limbaugh advertisers?
The reason we no longer have any civil discourse is because the Cloward-Piven cum Alinsky school of political theory epitomizes "the ends justify the means." If only your cause is seen to be just, then anything you do in pursuit of that cause is reasonable. The liberal progressive is more than willing to forcibly compel you to do what they believe the cause requires; just don't expect them to follow the same rules. One of my favorite recent books is "Underdogma." Read it and understand why liberals hate anyone with power, except themselves of course, because they alone possess the just cause. The current situation also reminds me of the recent Eric Metaxas biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In it he recounts Bonhoeffer's disgust at the state of American Protestantism, particularly when Bonhoeffer recounts attending services at some of the Protestant establishment's most beloved Manhattan churches. Progressive-Liberalism is just like the Mainstream American Protestantism Bonhoeffer observed, whitewashed tombs that look elegant on the outside but have the rotting stench of death within them.
My favorite bumper sticker: "Glass Harbor, Alaska. A quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem."
"I do see, if not a conspiracy here, at least an atmosphere in which it's considered proper to silence right-wing talk radio, but never left-wing talk radio."
Maybe that's because nobody listens to left-wing talk radio. Conservatives listen to conservative radio because they like the ideas they hear there. Libs/Progs listen to conservative radio because they hate it and like to yell at the radio. So who listens to left-wing radio? Other left-wing radio talk show hosts? This whole Fluke-Limbaugh show is about symbols, not substance.
@ Dan - Great bumperstickers. Great post. Thanks for the book tip.
Brava Kathryn Lopez:
http://www.lauraingraham.com/b/Kathryn-Lopez:-Where-are-the-women/-564674150372916785.html
And Michelle Malkin:
http://michellemalkin.com/2012/03/05/the-anti-rush-revival-revived-and-barack-obamas-petty-presidency/
And Ann Althouse:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/03/rush-limbaugh-show-is-on-in-few-minutes.html
And Ann Coulter:
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/05/coulter-and-odonnell-face-off-in-live-debate/
And Tina Korbe:
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/03/05/sandra-fluke-on-the-view-rushs-apology-changes-nothing/
Noticing a pattern here? OK. There are some guys withl some moxie and brains too. Even, gulp, an economist. Crazy world, eh?
http://cafehayek.com/2012/03/if-you-forcibly-take-my-money-you-cant-complain-if-i-protest-vigorously.html
[BTW - My sole connection with this cafehayek website is being an avid reader: I linked it over 5 years ago after a Kudlow recommendation and now read the site regularly. Importantly, the Hayek-Keynes video was shaped by a GMU prof on cafehayek. BRAVO]
Liked Michelle Malkin's "Conservative women don't need coddling phone calls from Obama. We just need him to get out of the White House."
I listened to Rush's first couple of hours this morning, and I thought he did a great job. (And, yes I am a hater, and proud of it, but that's not why I listened in particular this AM). He did what the GOP candidates should have been doing all along: He stood the attack on its head. He said, "Several sponsors have chosen to withdraw their support from the show. Those sponsors have enriched themselves greatly over the years by sponsoring this show. They choose to no longer do so. Their choice."
Nice!
By framing the ObamaCare contraception mandate as an issue of of religious liberty, conservatives have played right into their antagonists' eager phalanges: the young, liberated, free-thinking modern women vs. dried-out, repressed old males (and likely deviants) imposing a Taliban-like moral code on the 99%. Yes, google "war on women": It yields, among the 1st ten of 1.2 million results, 4 or 5 variations of "The Republican party declares war on women" (The Guardian); "Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP's War on Women" (MoveOn.org); "A War on Women?" (asks The New York times in I guess a genuflection to impartiality); a slightly more leading question in Politico's "Has the 'war on women' gone too far?" and my favorite, The Daily Kos' entry, "This week in the War on Women: Sluts unite!" Yee Ha. Oh, and don't forget the catchphrase's eponymous digital base stopthewaronwomen.com where one is exhorted to "tell Republicans no!" and prevent us from "moving right back to the dark ages under this congress." (In something of a tabloid or Cosmo mag style section called "Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP's War on Women", the reader is informed about "Republican"proposals such as "a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care" and apprised that "Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids" as well as the real shocker: the hypocrite repub (Dan Burton) "who has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses" while having the cajones to [push] "to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program")
Somehow, I think, we've lost command of the conversation. The focus must be economic commonsense only, and leave the squishy sexuality and ethics questions for another day. Ms. Flukes's $3000 pill bill, versus an estimated $324 the generic pharmacy value ($9/month at a local Georgetown pharmacy) was not "misleading", nor was it "a lie" , but an unintended perhaps gaffe revealing the ObamaCare bottom line compared to the direct cost.
Think of two fictional women, Sue and Alice. They each need birth control pills. They are both employed making $60,000 per year. Sue calls her doctor and makes an appointment for some weeks hence. She pays a $20 copay and the MD prescribes a months supply with 11 refills. She bills the insurance company and Sue visits the pharmacy where the pharmacist fills the Rx for zero cost to Sue and his ass't bills the insurance company. The insurance company processes the bills. The total tab? $24.99/month is billed to the provider.
Alice simply goes to the druggist, consults with the pharmacist or nurse practitioner and buys over-the-counter birth control pills and pays cash. $9.00 for a month's supply.
Am I missing something?
Youze Guyze are in rare form today !!
Love some of those gems you put out there Corlyss !!
"...when the Liberals are held the same standard vis people they don't like..."
If Rush gets fired, Maher should be fired and his salary clawed back from him by comparison... and Palin should be holding the claws.
vsk
FLUKE WAS NO FLUKE, pt 2
From Aaron Klein:
Dots connect: Is this why Sandra Fluke picked to testify? Progressive groups snagged in birth control debate
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 6:35 PM EST
image
By Aaron Klein
Prior to her testimony to Congress, did Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke have any prior connection to Obama administration officials?
Did the Congresswomen who pushed Fluke’s testimony coordinate with a marketing outfit that recently conducted polling to determine whether contraception mandates can become a possible presidential election issue?
According to reports, it was Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, who pushed for Fluke’s testimony. Maloney also initiated the call for Fluke to sue Rush Limbaugh for his on-air derogatory remark about Fluke, according to The Daily Beast.
Maloney is tied to a progressive pollster, Celinda Lake, who recently ran extensive polling in an effort to gauge voters’ reactions to including birth control or contraception in insurance coverage.
Lake heads Lake Research, which lists both Maloney and Nancy Pelosi as recent clients.
During the hearing, Maloney thanked Nancy Pelosi “for bringing Sandra [Fluke] to this hearing and for your commitment to these issues that are so important to tens of millions of women and men across our country.”
In a Politico article two weeks ago entitled “2012: The year of ‘birth control moms’?” Lake was quoted as saying Obama’s stance on contraception is enough to “really irritate” independent suburban moms and “re-engage” young, single women who haven’t tuned into the campaign so far.
Lake said that she and other Democrats see the strong Republican opposition to contraception as a way to win women back after they swung right in 2010 even though they backed Obama in big numbers in 2008.
Politico also quoted Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University, as warning of a major female backlash if the Republicans overreach on contraception.
Lake, quoted by Politico, is no bystander on the contraception debate.
KleinOnline has found that her Lake Research is one of the driving forces behind the progressive strategy to use contraception as an election.
According to Lake’s website, her company conducted polling on the contraception issue in conjunction with an organization called the Communications Consortium Media Center, or CCMC, and the Herndon Alliance marketing firm.
KleinOnline previously reported how the Herndon Alliance helped to market Obamacare, even providing suggestions on which words supporters should use to promote the bill.
Lake’s research on voters attitudes on contraception found Catholic voters tend to mirror voters overall when it comes to reproductive healthcare services that the Affordable Care Act will cover.
Related Lake’s website: “Not only are Catholics favorable to including birth control or contraception in insurance coverage, these inclusions also make them more favorable toward the Affordable Care Act.”
“Moreover, a majority of Catholics say that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ criticism of the requirement to cover contraception and birth control with no co-pay or deductible makes no difference in how they view the Affordable Care Act.”
Lake also found affirmative reaction on the following issues, according to the Women Donors Network.
*Can communicating these new preventive health services to women boost public support for the Obama Administration’s premiere domestic policy initiative?
*What are communication strategies to shift the discussion on health care to a winning one for progressives?
The Women Donor Network noted the polling was funded by Lake and conducted by the CCMC and the Herndon Alliance.
CCMC says its work focuses on a cluster of issues, including “children and families, early education and child welfare reform, health care, women’s equality, reproductive rights, global population, the environment, voting, civil rights, and immigration.”
CCMC is funded in part by the Fulfilling the Dream Fund, which is a project of the Public Interest Projects.
Prior to Georgetown, Fluke previously worked with Sanctuary for Families in New York City, where she launched the agency’s pilot Program Evaluation Initiative.
Another Sanctuary employee was Berta Colón, who now serves as president the Public Interest Projects that funded the CCMC.
Fluke’s Georgetown bio, meanwhile, says that through Georgetown’s clinic programs, she “conducted proposed legislation based on fact-finding in Kenya regarding child trafficking for domestic work, and has represented victims of domestic violence in protection order cases.”
Fluke is also co-president of Law Students for Reproductive Justice, where she has been helping lead the push to have the Georgetown student health-insurance plan cover contraception.
More possible Obama ties?
This week, faculty members, staff and students of Georgetown University Law Center and other law schools signed a statement that “strongly condemn[s] the recent personal attacks on our student.”
One signatory was Georgetown Law Professor Rosa Brooks, who served from 2009 until June 2011 as the Obama administration’s adviser to Michelle Fluornoy, the undersecretary of defense for policy, a position described as one of the most influential in the Pentagon.
Brooks serves as faculty director of Georgetown Law School’s Human Rights Institute. Brooks may have worked with Fluke, who co-founded a campus committee addressing human trafficking, according to her Georgetown bio
Brooks previously served as special counsel to the president at billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Institute. She has consulted for Human Rights Watch and served as a board member of Amnesty International USA.
Another close Obama associate, John Podesta, is currently the visiting professor of law Georgetown.
Podesta is chairman of the Center for American Progress, which is influential in helping to craft Obama administration policy. Podesta co-directed Obama’s transition into the White House in 2008.
A Time magazine article profiled the influence of Podesta’s Center for American Progress in the formation of the Obama administration, stating that “not since the Heritage Foundation helped guide Ronald Reagan’s transition in 1981 has a single outside group held so much sway.”
With research by Brenda J. Elliott
http://kleinonline.wnd.com/2012/03/06/is-this-why-sandra-fluke-testified-progressive-groups-behind-obamas-contraception-strategy/
Kudos to Aaron Klein. His "Manchurian Candidate" was a pathcutter to outing the radical roots of this Admin. Corlyss was correct. This was a suckerpunch. A long, intricately planned suckerpunch. The fingerprints of BHO, Pelosi, Soros funding, and MSM ops led by Stephanopoulis are all over this Democrat sandbag. http://news.investors.com/Article.aspx?id=603460&p=1&ibdbot=1
The math above from lcdlover is correct. Others have independently exposed the gross, myriad errors of fact, math and logic in Fluke's statement. However, solely aside from the incompetence, duplicity and dishonesty of this carefully groomed, doe-eyed political activist, the overriding issue is the extra-Constitutionality of this Admin.
http://news.investors.com/editorialcartoons/cartoon.aspx?id=603464
A war on women? You betcha. A war on CONSERVATIVE WOMEN. For example, with Michelle Malkin, it is mere a dozen year war. Her links beginning with the fourth paragraph speak for themselves.
http://michellemalkin.com/2012/03/07/the-war-on-conservative-women/
See also: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/03/05/Wheres%20My%20Presidental%20Phone%20Call
And here is the Left's hyper hypocrisy on display:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/03/07/Jan%20Schakowsky%20Refuses%20To%20Condemn%20Misogynistic%20Obama%20Donor
Finally, regarding BHO's reverence for people speaking their mind in public, how about all the defamatory "tea bagger" remarks not just by Lefty MSMers (Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, etc.) but by members of Congress?
Cannot erase the suckerpunch. But turning the other cheek will get you tasered in the sitty down. Be a Breitbart.
I have given some thought to this "sucker-punched" characterization, and at the risk of sounding a discordant note (what else is new?) I think we're putting a bit too much blame on Obama/Fluke/whoever else and a little too little responsibility on Rush himself. I don't agree for a minute that Rush is somehow the "spokesman" for the GOP. He's just a radio host. But, nobody held a gun at his head and forced him to call Fluke a slut. He did it himself. Rather than characterize it as a sucker-punch, I find it more reminiscent of Barney Fife shooting himself in the foot with his lone bullet.
Of course, if Rush had just stuck to his guns and rather than apologize say, "According to my value system, a unmarried woman having sex with multiple partners is a slut. If you don't like it, listen to a different show. next topic", then I wouldn't characterize it as shooting himself in the foot. But if he's going to cave in and apology just to save his hide, then he shot himself in the foot.
Apologize, sorry.
Get it? Apologize, sorry? HAW Ah made a funny
Howdy Lou. I took the initial superb "suckerpunch" characterization as a shorthand label for the intricately planned effort by the Dems, clearly beginning in 2011 or earlier, to ignite this war on (i) the "free exercise" of religion by the Catholic Church and (ii) the private health insurance industry. Integral suckerpunch predicates include: the 2K+ page ObamaCare law, Pelosi, Sebelius and HHS, the BHO political staff, Stephanopoulis (who first raised the contraception issue in January) and the Issa hearing witness list switch and sandbag. None of these steps happened by accident. The Left's plan was to spring this extra-Constitutional trap and then frame the obvious blowback as the GOP opposing womens' health, now bumper stickered as a "war on women."
Oh. In other words, Dems being Dems.
"Oh. In other words, Dems being Dems."
I'm sorry Lou, but these are not like the Dems like my Granpa. These Dems are down right creepy. The whole damn thing feels insane!
You need to get away from current events for awhile. They sap one's strength. I say this not because of your illness, but because I sense the frustration in your recent posts, and if the country music is makin' you cry best way to deal with it is to turn off the radio for a while.
Romney's wife is kind of hot.
"You need to get away from current events for awhile."
Good advice. Think I'll take it.
Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness. - Capt. Nathan Brittles.
Unexpectedly...
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/08/oreilly-former-obama-adviser-anita-dunns-pr-firm-representing-sandra-fluke/
You may remember Anita Dunn as the BHO press advisor fond of quoting Chairman Mao.
"These Dems are down right creepy. The whole damn thing feels insane!"
Dems play by Chicago rules. There's nothing they won't do to win. Nothing. Republicans still think politics is about governing. It's not. It's about who gets to divide the spoils in terms of permanent pipelines to the public fisc. What was it Steve Hayward said? The Dem model is to divide society into constituencies and then pay each of them handsomely to keep voting Democratic. Republicans' message is "Independence, self-reliance, low taxes and low spending." The Dems is "Free money!" And we wonder why we have so much trouble getting the electorates' attention.
What Real Theocrats Look Like
http://www.theonion.com/articles/vatican-dispatches-elite-team-of-bishops-to-sabota,27536/
Combine Chicago Rules, "free money" for voter blocks and Donkey duplicity and here is what you get: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ISKQD7ytSk&feature=player_embedded
Notice that BHO expressly pushes forward his daughters human shields as part of this public abortion/conception discussion. Again.
Ya think Kirsten Powers is getting some potty mouth Email? Count on it. Wait until the Maher-Maddow-Media Matters wing of the donkey party cranks it up on her.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/08/critics-of-rush-limbaugh-ignore-bill-maher-matt-taibbi-misogyny.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thedailybeast%2Farticles+%28The+Daily+Beast+-+Latest+Articles%29
Speaking of Media Matters, the Daily Caller has recently done extensive investigative reporting on this organization. From this latest installment you can access the prior articles.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/09/hong-kong-gambler-bankrolls-media-matters-may-have-helped-endow-foreign-policy-voice/
"Strength can't be faked, only weakness."
Ken Kesey, paraphrased, from "Sometimes a Great Notion"
ShePac. Breitbartesque. Breaking out the brass. Bravissima.
http://www.redstate.com/snarkandboobs/2012/03/09/shepac-fights-back-first-casualties-misogynist-maher-and-opportunist-obama/
Way to go, Lori!!