Posted on 03/03/2012 8:32:15 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Rush Limbaugh has posted a statement on his website this afternoon, forwarded by his brother David (one of my friends on line), apologizing for calling Sandra Fluke an insulting name while discussing her claims. It’s impossible to retain the context of his apology by excerpting it, so I hope Rush will not mind me posting it in its entirety:
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.
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.
I think Rush did the right thing in apologizing to Fluke. However, let’s keep in mind that it was Fluke who made her sexual activity a matter of national political debate by insisting that the government pass laws and regulations forcing employers and insurers to provide her free contraception, and apparently as much as she and others demand. It’s Republicans who believe that contraception should remain a private affair, and that employers and insurers should be free to decide whether to cover contraception for their employees and customers or not. Democrats used Fluke to demand that those choices be stripped from private enterprises and instead be forced by the executive branch to entirely subsidize contraception.
That is the argument we should be making, as Republicans and conservatives. If you want your sexual choices to remain private, don’t use the government to force other people to subsidize them. Then we won’t have to turn the sex lives of Georgetown law school students into topics for political speculation.
Update: Along those same lines, does Donna Brazile also now oppose the government mandate to force employers and insurers to have a role in the decision to use contraception? She tweeted this message not too long ago (via Keder):
Agree! The government should have no role in contraception, and shouldn’t force employers or insurers to have a role in it, either. Keep it between the woman, her sexual partner, and her doctor. Well said.
Oh, wait, Brazile meant this in support of the mandate? She seems just as badly misinformed on the issue as her media colleagues … or as deliberately obtuse.
I agree. Conservatives should focus heir anger on the sponsors who bowed to leftist political pressure not at Rush. How many phone calls have conservatives and the FReepers who are whining and throwing Rush under the bus made?
What did she lie about?
Avowed?
WaPa says she’s Protestant...
Her age. She claimed to be 23 and it turns our she is 30.
Can we get back to the topic at hand—that Fluke’s actions and comments are absurd and unjustifiable?
[ I think Rush was RIGHT in his original statement and he’s right apologizing for his word choice ]
I knew as soon as I heard Rush call her a slut this was going to happen. Women resent the word slut because there is no term for men engaging in the same behavior.
I have seen NO evidence that she has claimed to be 23.
All that has been shown is a March 1 NBC report where a reporter identified her as 23...Do you trust NBC?
I have seen nothing that specifically documents HER claiming to be 23.
She was supposed to testify on Feb 23 - surely there must be some congressional log of guests or panel members?
If you have ever played sports and I was your coach. . I’d kick you off the team for being a disruptive element in the lockeroom. Just because we are behind in the third quarter, you have a baby fit and walk off the battlefield. . You sound like Harry Reid “this war is lost”. . .Well go then. . .you big crybaby. . .The problem, pal, is that you spend all your time looking for heroes rather then being a hero. Here’s my final word: The war is on. . .men of valor are all around you. .stop whining about your fallen heroes or who does or doesn’t meet up with your standards. . . the Left is the ENEMY . .WADE INTO THEM. . spill THEIR blood. . shoot THEM in the belly!!!GET UP A FIGHT!!
I’d include that under the “other options” comment. As soon as you get into the discussion about some “poor college co-ed” having to pay out-of-pocket, you’re letting the left play a sympathy card. Yes, clearly someone going to law school that costs $50,000/yr. can and should be expected to pay themselves, and Planned Parenthood is likely a cheap option (as are Wal*Mart and Target low-cost prescriptions), but then you’re into the weeds again and losing the debate. Our objective should be to quickly and firmly dismiss the concern; show Ms. Fluke to be manufacturing the issue with feigned outrage; and move on to the real campaign issues.
We always called them the same male or female a slut’s a slut!
Amen, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
RE: Can we get back to the topic at hand—that Fluke’s actions and comments are absurd and unjustifiable?
YES WE CAN AND WE SHOULD. BUT THE PRESS AND SOME POLITICIANS ( EVEN REPUBLICANS ), AND THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF KEEPS DWELLING ON THIS 4 LETTER WORD TO DISTRACT US FROM THE MAIN ISSUE -— GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF HEALTHCARE AND THE SLOW BUT SURE TAKING AWAY OF OUR FREEDOM.
RE: Amen, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
I’ll make a deal with Ms. Fluke, I won’t cast any stones on her lifestyle, and she does not make me pay for it. Fair?
RE: Regardless of whether his original statement holds validity, the word choice is egregiously insulting
OK, what is the more polite term for slut? Educate us please so that when we observe a woman who has sex with people she is not married (to the tune of needing $3,000 a year in contraceptions), and DEMAND that we pay for it, we can use the “right” term.
RE: What would Jesus have done?
What did he tell the adulterous woman when she was spared stoning?
Remind us again regarding the LAST 5 words in his final sentence because that’s what we ought to tell Ms. Fluke ( See John 8:11)
I didn’t say that she was exempt from rebuke and rebuttal. What I said is that nobody knew who this person was. They never saw her before and, odds are, they will never see her again. Her opinions are shallow and repulsive. What Rush did was to take the spotlight off of what she said in the minds of anyone who was on the margins of the controversy and put himself square in the spotlight. Ask yourself a question: Would these sponsors get up in arms if Rush had called Pelosi a ‘slut’? They might not like it and through back channels tell him about their displeasure but I doubt that they would drop him as fast as they did in this case.
Which begs another question. Don’t you think that Obama LOVES this? This argument is not at heart about whether your insurance company pays for your contraception. Rather, at the heart of it this is another attack on people of faith. I thought that Kelo was the greatest direct attack on the individuals rights because, all of a sudden, the government cannot just confiscate your property and use it for the public good (roads, raillines, etc.) but they can choose to take it and give it to another citizen of their choice, who can then use that property for his own benefit. Think of all the influence pedalling that that will engender.
But I think this is worse. The Catholic Church is stuck between complying and going against the core of their beliefs or not complying and paying millions in fines and legal fees, to the point of bankruptcy. The message- Believe what you want, just don’t act on it. What’s next after religious beliefs are controlled, political beliefs? You can believe in conservative or libertarian thought but if you meet to extol those beliefs you will be fined or jailed. If one falls the other is probably not far behind.
Rush is a national treasure. He has probably educated more people in the arena of conservative thought than anybody else. But he occasionally makes mistakes in his attempts to satirize. It would be a crying shame to see him lose his forum because he overstepped his bounds here. This broad was not worth it.
My wife and I were considering a sleep number bed. I just called them and told them to forget it. Thanks for posting the number.
Listeners are more important than sponsers, because listeners bring in the sponsors. Now, he has alienated listerers.
Apologies piss me off beyond belief. I hate them.
Off the top of my head I would say, “Go and sin no more” but what has that got to do with it? How would we know? Rush was right in his assertion and right in his apology and is the bigger man for it. I say a lot of things I later regret as does everyone else I suspect.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.