WBEC SOILED THE BED IN ITS DECISION TO PULL RUSH (WHO WAS RIGHT, BY THE WAY!) … plus … DO YOUR CIVIC DUTY AND NEVER VOTE AGAIN, SUCKERS
By DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MARCH 7, 2012) — Pittsfield radio station WBEC pulled the plug on Rush. WBEC soiled the bed.
The Issue Isn’t Censorship but One of Politics and Political Correctness
The issue isn’t so much censorship, since, by definition, AM commercial radio — via its programming directors — chooses to air some shows but not others. To say that a radio station practices censorship because of a programming decision phrases the situation imprecisely.
WBEC’s hasty decision to boot Rush Limbaugh leans toward censorship because The Rush Limbaugh Show has been a winner for WBEC and it had a solid local audience. It leans that way but doesn’t get there (separating Rush the man from Rush the showman is an essential point).
Trust me from having done it: The most difficult thing for a radio show to do is win an audience. We built our talk show from zero to a ratings smash and ran for 14 years. People will listen a few times, but they won’t come back unless it proved satisfying. The same is true for launching a blog, which we did from zero and, with no advertising and only the strength of our words and arguments, now has a daily audience of many thousands and growing.
In other words, WBEC, it appears, did not make a strategic decision with Limbaugh, a show that had found its audience. It reacted in knee-jerk fashion because of vile political correctness, the ridiculous and hypocritical notion that it’s OK for one side to employ fiery, abusive, and even crude language in framing political issues but not OK for the other. Bullspit, we say. Big, bolshy yarblockos to anyone who pulls away from words out of fear.
Having done countless thousands of live talk shows, it’s inevitable that on occasion, of those dominions of words a few will be spoken and immediately regretted. The spoke word doesn’t allow revision, unlike writing. You speak it, and it goes. The best thing at that point is apologize, if necessary, and move on. Rush apologized. He has moved on, and so should America.
We say this noting that EVERYTHING in the public marketplace of ideas these days is a political issue.
Rush Was Correct in His Points on Contraception and Taxpayer Obligations
There are no longer economic, social, or cultural issues, they way there are and longer typewriters and three-channel TVs. It’s all — ALL — politics. Thus, ideology robs this country and its local communities of the ability to intelligently debate, discuss, and deliberate important, mutually affective issues.As Sports Illustrated might say, another sign that Armageddon is nigh.
Rush Limbaugh was 100% correct when he said the Sandra Fluke fluke roiled a sour mash made entirely of politics. At that point, no intelligent discussion is possible. We listened to Limbaugh’s arguments about contraceptives and taxpayers’ obligations to pay. He made perfect sense. He used ignorant words. He apologized for the words but stood up for his beliefs. For that, WBEC pulled the plug, in doing so taking a large, steamy dump on its audience.
For now, on this Rushed Wednesday, that shall be our comment. We will have more to say on this later in the day or tomorrow as we work on other assignments, these for dough and with deadlines. Also, we may have more to say about this tomorrow on WBRK AM 1340, as THE PLANET guests with The Fat Man from 10:30 to noon. Tune in. Give us a call is you wish.
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DO YOU CIVIC DUTY: DON’T VOTE … OR BE PLAYED FOR A SUCKER … YOUR CHOICE
We must be under the microscope, because a lot of people have commented on something they did’t even see on THE PLANET. Many noticed that …
We didn’t say one word about yesterday’s election. Election for what? Who cares? Yeah, Mr. Mitt roared to a huge victory in the Bay State. Meredith and Clifford Nilan night even have been elected to the Ward 3 Pittsfield Democratic Committee. Who cares?
Our, “What, Me Worry?” approach forms part of a new strategy. Try to keep up with me on this.
Elections Have Become Non-Literal and Therefore Do Not Matter
Rather than issue the usual, tired reminders urging folks to vote, we decided to ignore yesterday’s “election.” The quotes are there because elections in America have become non-literal. They are every bit as figurative as the use of simile, metaphor, and personification in speech or writing. Such is the price one pays when democracy (even republican democracy) becomes — like communism, socialism, totalitarianism, and any other political “ism” you can mention — an abstraction.
Are you shocked to hear this? Good? Are you not shocked? Even better.
An election remains the only example we can think of off the top where an effect actually precedes the cause. This ‘impossibility’ becomes possible when campaign outcomes are preordained, as they are when those who DO NOT vote year after year form electoral majorities. We won’t bother explaining further, because we have done so, only not as out in the opening, a million other times using millions of other words. Ad infinitum, ad nausem, as my Latin teacher used to say. But …
Democratic political systems can no longer be considered “real.” In the end, they comprise people who have dropped a key part of their humanity in service of themselves.
The End of History and the Regurgitation of Pragmatism
Throughout the ages, thinkers have drawn up democratic systems on blackboards, wrinkled flip charts, and even old, ink-stained parchment. At certain times throughout history, the employment of these systems may have born resemblance to the thinking that gave them birth (i.e., the founding of America and the French Revolution). The “eternal rush” ushered in by social media, however, has destroyed history, severing the umbilical that once connected political theory with day-to-day reality.
Along with everything else, smart phones, Twitter, texting and the like have devoured pragmatism, turning it from a day-to-day skill useful in making the many decisions involved in living a life and into a regurgitated new form. This up-chucked mass, too, is political, and it has turned pragmatism into a distorted form of cynicism. For the first time in my life, I refuse the label of “cynic,” because it no longer retains its honorable perspective .
Theoretically, every system still works like Utopia. I can read Marx and marvel: “Hey, this should work.” Same with Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and Madison’s The Federalist Papers. In reality, though, Utopia is never an option. It never was, of course, but at least in a time that pre-dates “the eternal hurry,” we had the time to construct systems that bore a reasonable resemblance to their ideological forms.
THE PLANET has thus concluded that it’s impossible to transfer political theory from the think tank into the actions of men and women as they live their day-to-day lives, both privately, personally, and publicly. Unless you guard against it, those lives, too,have become political.
Voting is for Suckers, Ladies and Gentlemen
We did not vote yesterday. We may not vote ever again. This is not apathy. This is pre-eternal-hurry realism. This is the part of civics that no one wants to address. Government in these here Disunited States, at all levels, operates like a perpetual motion machine having been set in transit eons ago by the flick of an idealist’s finger. Each articulation sets off the next one until you arrive where we are today, dominos toppling dominos, with the robot shells of public office enclosing human beings in thought-sapping cocoons, independence eaten away.
When The System has been corrupted in this way, as it has in Pittsfield city government to keep this local, it makes no difference who gets in. The motion of government has moved beyond human difference.
Do your civic duty. DON’T VOTE.
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TOO LONG HAVE WE LABORED TODAY AT THIS ADDRESS, THOUGH WE SHALL RETURN AT SOME POINT, WITH A NILAN-MOORE UPDATE AND, ON THE LIGHTER SIDE, THE JIMMY BROWN-CHUCK GARIVALTIS PHOTO AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. MEANWHILE, THE FOOLS REMAIN HAPPY THAT HE KNOWS NO MORE.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
Dan When you say your sorry you have to mean it for someone to accept it. Limbaugh did not mean it…. Also I don’t believe WBEC would have cancelled Limbaughs show if it was making a ton of money from it. I think this was a convienent way of changing shows.
Steve maybe Rush could of had Obama’s staff write his apology.There pretty good at it and then it might be heartfelt enough for you.
But steve how do you know if he meant it or not? Who can tell? He apologized and its not easy for a guy like that to do it so I’m taking him that he meant it.
If a SLUT, spreads her legs, why should anyone, besides the SPERM DONOR , be forced to pay?
Beacon Hill Mob: “If a SLUT, spreads her legs, why should anyone, besides the SPERM DONOR, be forced to pay?”
As a woman, I take great offense to this statement even though I agree that the taxpayers shouldn’t be forced for pay for anyone’s birth control. Although, the alternative of paying for their babies isn’t very appealing, either. Both Rush, and you BHM, would make much headway on getting support for your opinion that the taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pay for birth control, if you showed more respect for women than what has thus far been displayed. From your statement, any woman who has sex is a “SLUT spreading her legs”. Really? And the man is a “SPERM DONOR”? Hmmmm – “Sperm Donor” sure sounds much better to me than a “SLUT” (in all caps!).
I’ve never been a fan of Rush Limbaugh – I think he, along with some liberal “shock jocks”, say these kinds of things for the mere purpose of bringing attention to themselves and people are too stupid to see that. The old saying of, “there is no such thing as bad press”. This entire issue, once you peel the onion, is really an issue of “Church vs. State”. Should the government be able to force any religious organization to do something that is against their teachings? I say “no, they shouldn’t”. What if the government came out and said, “every employer must serve only pork”? Would the Jews allow this? What if the government came out and said (and not beyond the possibility of Rick Santorum doing this), “Every employer must supply every employee with a Catholic Bible”? The Muslims (oh no!) would be in an uproar. And the far left as well. And well they should, because the government has no business dictating these types of things. So the question is not “should health insurance companies pay for birth control” because with “Obama-Care”, it is the Federal Government and not a private health insurance company. Therefore, the question is, “should the Federal Government, the taxpayers, pay for birth control and force every employer to do so as well”? The answer to THAT question is “NO”. And the answer is NOT “If a SLUT, spreads her legs, why should anyone, besides the SPERM DONOR”, be forced to pay?”
Have some class. And show more respect for women than this!
Mr. Valenti, pardon the intrusion here, but one of your regular contributors, “Molly,” inquired on MassLive about an update to the Nilan case. IN case she doesn’t check back on that site, I thought I’d let her know what I know in this here space. Thanks, C.B.
Molly,
As I was heading off-duty last week, I punted the story to colleagues, who apparently either didn’t get anywhere or didn’t have time to contact the courthouse. I’m back on duty today (right now, in fact), so we’ll try to hunt down the status of this “missing” documentation. My guess is that it’s not missing, but merely misfiled. And perhaps the material is back in the docket as I write this note to you; I’ll check with the clerk’s office when it opens later today.
Court dockets typically include everything from applications for criminal complaints to police affidavits to copies of search warrants, etc. That said, the file should include the paper trail showing the processes that took place leading up to Ms. Nilan’s arraignment, including a copy of the Pittsfield Police Department’s application for a redetermination of the original criminal complaints against the woman, Judge Hadley’s ruling, and any other materials subsequently filed in the case, including the copy of Tim Shugrue’s motion to dismiss.
If The Republican/MassLive.com can get copies of this case, surely Shugrue, the attorney representing the defendant, ought to be able to get his mitts on the paperwork. The file is, after all, a wholly public record of this case, and it should include a cradle-to-grave accounting of every step of the pretrial process. The DA’s office also surely must have copies of this paperwork.
When I last called the clerk’s office to inquire whether a motion to dismiss had been filed (after reading in The Eagle that Shugrue had planned to file such a motion), I asked what the stated reasons for the filing were, and I was surprised to learn the answer: No apparent record of any of the paperwork leading up to the arraignment. I’m no legal expert, but I’m not sure if that paperwork is allowed to leave the official docket under any circumstances, save for copying purposes. Then again, I just don’t know the protocol.
Clerk Speranzo wasn’t at work yet, hence my “couldn’t be reached for comment line.” In fairness, I called the clerk’s office shortly before 8 a.m., so I don’t know if the boss is even on the clock at that hour.
I’m surprised The Eagle, the paper that first mentioned Shugrue’s plans for a dismissal motion, didn’t follow up when said motion was filed. I realize it’s just a procedural wrinkle in this drawn-out process, but I thought it might be worth a graf or two.
We’ll try to sort things out today, hopefully, so please check back.
Thanks,
Conor
THE PLANET thanks our good friend and colleague for this update.
Totally agree Dan, this goes back to the early January question Stephanopoulos ??? to Mitt, if the states had the right to limit contraception. Free spirited speech was so much better in the 70’s from SNL “Jane, you ignorant slut,” to which she replied, “Dan, you pompous ass.”
Ron Sorry that was a comedy show doing a skit. This was Limbaugh being a ass.
Love the SNL reference.
Don’t agree guys. Rush took it over the top. WHo says it was a knee jerk PC reaction? Maybe they have become increasingly aggrivated w/Rush and his ridiculousness. Maybe they were just waiting for something to pull the plug on him. Maybe the brain trust at WBEC just felt like they didn’t want someone like Rush continuing to represent their brand…I think the rush to condemn WBEC is a knee jerk, censorship, right wing hysteria reaction. They are a business and they made a business decision. Instead of standing up for them for condemning a sexist, racist, homophobe, like Rush, unlike Romney and many others who don’t have the stones to put Rush in his appropriate place as a entertaining, but sick talk show gossiper, no YOU guys condemn them for doing so. And this after the guy calls an intelligent 30 yr old woman, who is far from flamboyant, in fact she is a law student at Geogretown, he calls her a “slut, prostitute and says he wants to see her sex tapes” and your defending Rush over WBEC’s correct decision to dump him. Come on guys! Has the Springtime Air gone to your heads and blurred your judgement?
I agree. Limbaugh could have made his point without taking the girl to the gutter. As Valenti would say, “It did not move the discussion forward.” It was an immature woman hating move that will cost the republican candidate lots of votes I assure you. Limbaugh is all about power and strong woman make him quiver in fear, so he rebels like a child.
WBEC has my kudos and those of many parents who have daughters.
I do believe everyone needs to pay for their own contraception but dragging a college girl down to express disagreement with her is just creepy. And Rush personifies creepy.
Ditto.
Yes, and that’s exactly what Rush said in his apology.
As to your statement: “…dragging a college girl down to express disagreement with her is just creepy”, that’s not a proper characterization. Miss Fluke testified of his own willingness before a Democratic subcommittee, staged to look like part of the regular hearings. That made her fair game. She’s a 30-year-old woman. She did not name one person in her testimony, only vague references about “a friend” who needs contraceptives for medical reasons. She wasn’t vetted as a witness by the committee. How do we know if she’s being truthful? Who’s to say she’s credible. She may be, but we don’t know. The ensuing storm over a few harmless words has served mighty fine as another distraction our electoral process loves. God forbid we ever begin a discussion on REAL issues.
REDACTED.
Hilly your my new Hero! What the hell happen to you?
Steve Wade and Hilly Billy -The new Odd Couple
Oscar Wade and Felix Hilly
I’d prefer Oscar Hilly and Felix Wade DV
Done.
You will, though, regret your choice of roomies in this case.
HILLY
Well expressed … but short sighted. You have a lot of “maybes” in there about WBEC’s motivations. The obvious counter to that is, “Maybe it WAS a knee jerk reaction.” Maybe they were just … Maybe the brain trust. Any maybe equally allows alternate explanations. You do have a statement of fact: “They are a business, and they have made a business decision.” However, it contradicts your opening “maybe.” You hit on a key when you call Rush “entertaining.” His comments about “slut etc.” were over the top, yes, but not to be taken literally. That’s being lost here: We have, sadly, lost our ability to distinguish between entertainment and news, between literal and figurative use of language.
I had just as many maybe’s as you did DV. He seemed to be pretty literal in his wording as he kept going back an dbeing more insulting and outrageous..It wasn’t just a passing remark , he kept coming back around
A feminist activist that enrolls in a Catholic school in order to complain about its policies before Congress in an election year is a fair target for scathing criticism. And her demand that men in general pay for birth control because women can’t keep track of their partners is something that a slut and parasite would say. What’s truly vulgar is not Limbaugh’s criticism, but Fluke’s propaganda aimed at arousing women with the idea of FREE sex supplies.
Well said. She wanted to sit at the adult’s table? Fine. The consequence makes her fair game in the marketplace of ideas.
Fair game for meaningful debate yes…A target for ridiculous personal attack no!
“And her demand that men in general pay for birth control because women can’t keep track of their partners is something that a slut and parasite would say.”
I do believe, “Wilson”, that by your words, it is YOU that is the parasite! Actually, scum of the earth. What in the hell is going on with the males on this site having such hatred and loathing for women?
I don’t even agree with the taxpayers paying for birth control and here I am defending this woman because you truly are scum! Just how is it that you think that “MEN” pay for birth control? You are so obviously an uneducated and obnoxious ass, that it is fair to assume that most women make much more money than you and, therefore, pay more money in taxes. And “because women can’t keep track of their partners”? What in the HELL does that mean? Men aren’t participants in their mates needing birth control???? REALLY??? Would you care to explain that one if you are capable of doing so?
And Dan — you replied with “WELL SAID”?? Are you kidding me?? Either you are as much of an ass as “Wilson” is, or you’re using Limbaugh’s and Mauer’s methods of attracting more people to your website. Allow me to warn you that you will LOSE more people than you gain with this crap!!!
Or perhaps you ARE “Wilson” and “Hearse Driver” and “One Pittsfield” and “Pittsfield Believer”, ehe??? Stir the pot a little? You’re going to ruin it…
Molly Your finally getting it! Dan stirs the pot just to get more people to the web site. He needs to stroke his ego at all times.
No, MACAN, we are not. We post under our own name. Period. Believe me, we have never had to “manufacture” controversy. It manages to find us quite well without the assist, thank you.
As for “ruin,” I cannot “ruin” anything. I run this site for the fun of it, the give and take, as a place to put all the information that comes my way, as a kick, and as a public service. I’m not making or taking a cent for it. If it vanishes tomorrow, c’est le vie.
“Well said” applied only the the first part of his statement.
“Like”
Meaning Molly’s statement above.
So far, the posters are confirming Dan’s statements about political correctness.
Dan, RIGHT ON!
When is Obama going to apologize, for his RACIST COMMENTS about gun and religion?
More than that, his RACIST AG HOLDER, Letting voter intiminadation, go unprosecuted
Lotta Mandes here.
Have to disagree with you Dan on some points. First, while many radio and tv hosts are “showmen,” Rush is not. Republicans who disagree with him are toast, those who agree with him and bow to him get his support and conservative votes. He is a power broker, plain and simple. He is “the voice” of the conservative movement, not someone like a Steven Colbert pretending to be Bill O’Reilly for comic relief. He is a true believer and does not put on a show of his beliefs – they’re real, whether you like them or not.
Bill Maher is a showman, and not a very good one at that. Jon Stewart is a showman, and a great one. Sean Hannity is not a showman – he too has his show grounded in his beliefs, not grounded in shock value… like Howard Stern (showman extraordinaire).
A bit of historical perspective on your own former show, which you said “built a talk show from zero audience to ratings smash…” I certainly feel your show was a hit, but as for no audience at the start, as I recall you were the successor to a previous talk show on WBRK that had run for five years and was also successful in its own right.
All that being said, I happen to agree with Bill Maher, who today said we should accept Limbaugh’s apology and move on. I also don’t like the notion of sponsors using their financial power to push stations to make programming decisions. They knew what they were getting into when they sponsored Rush, they could issue their own statements saying they completely disagree with his statements, but accept his apology as authentic.
Thanks, Bull. I also agree with Maher (and he agrees with us): Rush apologized. Let’s accept it and move on.
BD-That so called showman Bill Maher,who is not a true believer.Who has said many vile things about woman. (my poor daughter).Gave Mr.Obama 1 Million dollars toward his Super Pac.That sounds like a man who also has sound grounded beliefs to me….
Joe, no one in Democratic circles hovers around Bill Maher if they want to get elected. They don’t beg for his blessing, they don’t plead to be on his show. He has no impact whatsoever on “liberal” politics. If you are on the national stage and a Republican, you better agree with Rush, or you won’t get elected. You better ask for his endorsement, or at least his willingness not to call you on the carpet, or you don’t get the vote. Comparing Bill Maher to Rush Limbaugh is like comparing the Hall of Fame Game to the Super Bowl. Regardless of whether Maher really believes what he says, at the end of the day, he’s a comedian and not a true political commentator. He’s also, as you said, made some horrible comments, and… no one cares. The reason there is no uproar when Maher makes stupid comments is he has no real following.
Bill Maher’s show… just over 1 million viewers… Rush Limbaugh radio show… 15 million listeners every single day.
And again, my point is Rush is not an ‘entertainer,’ he’s a conservative commentator whose only goal is to push his philosophy – he’s not out for the belly laugh, he’s not even really shooting for shock value, which is what Maher does. But this time he got the shock value of his career and found that many of those 15 million listeners didn’t just nod and say “ditto” to him, the way they usually do.
BD wrong is wrong,sorry seems to be a double standard.Mr.Maher gave 1 Million to Obama’s Pac,thats a player.Who has Rush endorsed? They are both entertainers one is just more successfull, that is not a excuse to say whatever you want.It is all about destracting the voters about the REAL issues,that is why the mainstream media is having a field day with this.
I’m so offended I may not buy a sleep number bed or life lock
Yea. He used strong words. Ohhhhhh. eweeeeek. I’m so offended I’m going to make a cardboard sign to protest people who don’t make cardboard signs that protest people who make cardboard signs. Eeeeewwwwww. He used … “strong words.” Gasp. I’m sure Miss Fluke has never heard anything saltier.
Dan if you had a daughter maybe you would think differently sometime you come off as big an ass as Limbaugh
Steve I have a daughter and I forgive Rush and Bill Maher for there vile remarks.I think it is time for you to let go.You hate Limbaughn along with millions of other people, its time to move on.
Beautifully put.
Rush is a “shock jock”~so get over it~ hit the on/off switch.. your choice.. the issue here is who should pay for one’s birth control? as a male I can walk in a store and puchase Condoms. no problem…the wifes take on it ,is this..she has to make a doctors appointment..shell out the co-pay…get a physical exam…get a script..then go to the store to fill it..come back every number of refill..shell out the co-pay and get a physical exam.. and yes we have our own insurance..no handouts..So the question is..should your insurance cover it?
Sorry. He’s not a shock jock. He actually believes what he says
Exactly!!!!!!! Don’t like Rush? Then don’t listen. It ain’t rocket science.
I agree with both of you..I find it interesting that the question is, should government and or insurance companys be paying for birth control with our tax dollars or insurance premiums is the real topic here…medical reason excluded..two opposing points of view and we choose to argue over presentation?
Sanity, echo. You have delivered well.
Stern and Limbaugh are made from the same cloth, both should be banned from radio just because they’re fat greedy pigs who pray on the weak.
If you ever wondered where Hitler’s SS got their recruits, look no further than Tito’s ilk.
Still,
Hitler’sSS got started by putting the youth in uniforms just as vlenti wants to do in the schools (Hitler definitely had discipline) – dan would like this – Dan also never had children, particularly a daughter – had he, he might understand that a being called a slut, even in jest is not acceptable – Perhaps its best that he did not have a daughter because i can’tmagine what she might be like with him for a father
AMB
My daughters have grown up to be sugar, spice, and everything nice. They are still daddy’s little girls. And yes, they wore uniforms to school. Wanna refund?
Howard Stern you have to pay to listen to!
the BB you have to pay to read – Planet is free – we’ll never know how many of us would be here if we had to put up $ to be part of it
I don’t pay to read that rag.I read the free online crap.
Fewer and fewer people are paying the read the rag or the electronic rag. The costly e-rag is slow, does crazy things, and drive’s viewers nuts. The free e-version of the Bb is slow, outdated, and dull. Mr. Paton is adding things up.
Stern is not fat.
@ tito that’s just what the left would love ban Limbaugh, Stern, Valenti, Catholic channel, let’s watch and listen to OWN and MSNBC keep giving more power to the government it’s working out fine huh ?
Ron don’t leave out NPR,Disney Channel,CNN, and of course the View.Also I think once this full moon passes,Hilly and Steve will get back to normal.
Woman take birth control for other reasons other then to prevent pregnancy. But no one is saying a word about paying for an old man’s boner pills? come on Rush annoys me and I was a listener from time to time sometimes I agreed and sometimes I didn’t I def do not on the bc issue.
What is your understanding of Limbaugh’s take on birth control?
From my perspective, Rush should be allowed to continue on the air.
No matter what your political belief, left, right, or in the middle, it is really worth while to listen to all sides and make your own choices. Even if you lean far left, there are tidbits of truth to be gleaned from some of what some one on the far right has to say. Goes in the other direction as well.
If nothing else, apply ancient Chineese war strategy: know your enemy, understand what your enemy is thinking.
Agree completely. Listen to everybody: That’s what a wise man does. As Jesus said, you needn’t fear anything that comes in to you from the outside. Those who want to ban Rush Limbaugh or Keith Olberman display a fear based on ignorance.
I don’t care one way or the other whether Rush Limbaugh is pulled from the air. But I do know that Limbaugh’s ability to speak to millions every day is provided solely by advertisers. If those advertisers don’t want to fund his rants anymore, that’s their business.
As for the core of Rush’s comments? Dead. Wrong.
Mandating that insurance companies cover contraceptive is not subsidizing sex (or whatever ignorant comparison is being made). Birth control pills don’t work like viagra, where men take it whenever they want to have sex. Birth control has to be taken every day, regardless of the amount of sex. To connect women’s contraceptives to sexual promiscuity is dishonest and plain wrong, as is the claim that taxpayers would be paying for any of this. These were mandates that private insurance companies cover women’s health issues. I say health issues because women use birth control to treat heavy or painful periods as well as to reduce the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer.
Rush apologized for “using two words” (slut and prostitute) but never backed down from his claim that Fluke and women like her were using birth control to be sexually promiscuous. He’s wrong on that as well. 72% of married Catholic women use the birth control pill. 98% of Catholic women use some form of birth control besides the rhythm method and among all women who have had sex, 99% have ever used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning.
99% of women. That’s a whole bunch of sluts, if you were to believe the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Dan Valenti.
ANDY
Good post. At least in this one you are advancing and attempting to support your argument, which you did with effectiveness.
Now of you don’t mind, what are your sources for the percentages? You don’t have to use MLA citation format, but can you share with our readers?
While you may not appreciate my posts, I believe criticizing your posts is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. You love it when people agree with you regardless of how much they “move the conversation forward.” I truly don’t need a patronizing, backward compliment.
As for the source, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html
Good job Andrew!
ANDY
I checked your source. Your misuse of the information would have The Professor returning your work, either with a D- or “Needs a lot of work.” And don’t flatter yourself. The Professor never gives “patronizing, backward compliments.” Anything we dish out, whether compliment or criticism, is earned.
Good post man!
Dan, Anyway you could get the ward 3 results for Democratic committee and see if you can decipher any trends? Any good “write ins”? curious how ward3 responded to cliff and merideth. How many write ins did Peter Moore and “Toby” receive? Should be at least worth a laugh.
speaking of peter moore…i saw him walking his dog this afternoon. he was walking in the parking lot of FedEx. I was going to pick up a package and he and his dog were walking around with all the trucks entering the bldg. he was walking fine for someone who got runned down. i did have his neck brace in. prolbably thought the insurance guys were around.
You are truly an extremely disgusting person. Peter Moore is a VICTIM!! What is your problem?
I still have not seen how much the fundraiser for Mr. Moore collected. This is a fair question many people donated and would like to find out how well they did.
$4,000, according to Andy Poncherello, the promoter and organizer.
Maybe he’s healing faster then usual to you because he’s active. An active life style has great benefits. Or are you saying his doctors faked his injuries and x rays all in an effort to conspire against the Nilan’s?
My step son was mowed down in the evening of December 8th 2011, 3 months ago today and it was also a Thursday I believe. Most of his injuries were to his head and neck –if you have not seen the photos of Ms. Nilan’s car please refer to her windshield for evidence. He had brain injuries and broken bones in his face and neck which required surgery and the neck brace until the end of the month. His doctor has instructed him to walk, even as his broken leg mends, as it is better for him to stay as fit as possible –his great physical condition is what saved his life that cold winter night. Walking with Toby is part of getting a little bit of his life back even if it will never be the same as it was on December 8 in the morning.
As for the totals for the benefit you need to ask Andy. I know that the raffle was very successful and my husband said you could not have fit another person in at some points during the afternoon. How many people pre bought tickets or bought using his pay pal account I do not know. Only Andy has the complete totals.
Andy Poncherello tells THE PLANET that the event raised about $4,000.
Susan, do not let the “lone gunmen” and isolated idiots and Friends of Cliffy dissuade you from the knowledge that those who appreciate the suffering Peter had undergone, those who love Toby’s act of heroism, and those who are with him in thoughts and prayers are the 99.9% of Berkshire County.
Limbaugh is a fat, pill popping, greedy slob who should keep his mouth shut.
And you don’t like to hear him do any name calling right?
Fantastic! Touche. Game, set, and match: Dave Bubriski.
At least with Tito, what he is saying is true, whereas with Rush it was an untruthful meanspirited attack based on disagreeing with a position
one thing is true about the republican party is that they all want to go back to the 1600s. the world grows , minds expand, cultures change, and the republican party talks of days of old…..limbaugh, hannity, beck etc.. are all mouth pieces for the good old boy republican party..bigoted, sexist arrogant, and all make over 50mil a year to spew their hate over the air waves. the sad thing about them and their party followers is that they are truly hateful humans..if you listen to any of them i will bet you that within 15mins something hatefull comes out of their mouths, especially limbaugh about women,..
Your view of the GOP is a liberal media generated caricature. I doubt that you have actually listened to Limbaugh or any conserative radio at all and I doubt that you have ever met a republican.
dave, i listen to beck and rush, 5 days a week and about an hr. of hannity….all i get is am radio …….im telling you to listen for 15mins and something hateful is going to be said on any of these programs…. hannity and beck are born again, they found the republican party in a big way and it makes them mucho dinero, rush is just a fat kid who wants and needs attention… sad thing about what rush says is like what wade said… he believes it……….
I guess truth is the new hate speech. If you care to hear true hateful rhetoric tune in MSNBC.
Both sides have there problems,cannot blame Republicans anymore than you can blame Democrates.The liberal left spew just as much hate and bullspit.
That’s the essential point. The zealots of both sides have fractured the dialogue. The loony left and the rabid right spew from the same playbook.
Both parties, on the far left and the far right — the extremists — are like this, which is why I don’t like either the far left or the far right. Look at Pittsfield – the “Good ‘Ol Boys” are all Democrats. Go south, and the “Good ‘Ol Boys” are all Republicans. Keith Olbermann is just as bad, if not worse, than Glen Beck. To me, if they are high-level politicians (and even local politicians), they are a special breed of sleaze – they are in it because they are power hungry and money hungry, and will do anything to obtain, and keep, both. And believe me, there are just as many hateful and sexist humans in the Democratic party as in the Republican party.
Molly, you might wan’t to check your math regarding southern GOB’s being in the GOP.
I think you might want to check your reasoning when you say something like that. Having lived for years in the south I can tell you that the political party that has entrenched itself in most of the cities, towns and states in the south is the Republican party.
Please give names
Yes: Zealots of all stripe mask ignorance with volume. They mistake close-mindedness for conviction. They equate reason with capitulation, and the lump logic in with compactor.
The outrage generated by the Limbaugh remarks is selective outrage. Many of my liberal friends express this selective outrage but they are silent and tolerant when horible things are said about Republican women. If I posted some of these DV would ban me from the blog.
These horrible things, said by Democrat men are sometimes even directed against the Democrat’s own Hilary Clinton. I can recall Bill Maher making a statement about Mrs. Clinton’s private parts. Maher used language the vast majority of women would find quite offensive.
I guess when a liberal makes a vulgar reference about women of any party the selective outrage doesn’t kick in.
One is either offended or not by a statement. It shouldn’t depend on who makes the statement.
Agree, Dave. Only the the ones who are howling the loudest cannot hear the voice of reason. They are too busy “arrrrroooooooo”ing to the full moon.
In 1993 Limbaugh said that the White house had a dog as well as a cat…while holding up a picture of 13 year old Chelsea Clinton.
What a fun guy he is…just harmless words…ya got to love the guy
The sad truth is that the Clintons used their daughter as a political prop.
They did not, not when she was a child, nor did the Bush’s.
Like Imus calling the mostly black woman’s basketball team a bunch of “nappy headed hoes” what party does he favor?
Great point. Scott
Is it censorship or just getting a radical incendiary buffoon of the airwaves? Rush has the freedom to say whatever he wants but as Andrew pointed out if his advertisers who fund his show don’t like it they have the freedom to pull their ads.
Good point Scott,and when the advertiser’s are sick of the Eagle’s cover up’s and one sided news coverage they will be a thing of the past.Rush will still be around sorry.
Steve you mean no point.Scott what does Imus have to do with anything.Chris Matthews,Keith Obermann Bill Maher,Matt Taibbi and Ed Schultz have all said worst things about woman.So what the hell is your point.
Not finding any results for Tuesday’s Ward elections — did the 3 Nilan’s get elected or no?? Can’t find it in the BB, masslive.com, pittsfield.com, state election website – I can’t find it!!! Anyone know?
send an email to william galvins sight….who does the election data for Pittsfield?
I hope not. I wonder if the Eagle will run an ad on all the jobs their taking away from local people and giving to people in another state in April I wonder what the exact number of people losing their jobs there is.?
I don’t listen often, but when I have, Rush is a hate monger. Good move WBEC. I hope more stations see the light. Enough is enough.
Perhaps you could give a direct quote that you actually heard
HAD
Thank you for your views. Let me say in response that each radio comes equipped with a frequency changer. No one forces anyone to listen, yet Rush has 15 million listeners. He’s creates an audience, and that can’t be done on hate alone. “Hate monger” or “insightful analyst”? Depends on what side of the aisle you sit in.
he’s an insightful analyst who’s spews ignorance at times rooted in old dying belief.
Insightful analyst? Check.
Occasionally spews ignorance rooted in old, dying belief? Partly check.
Don’t blame Rush. Blame the listeners. Listeners make or break.
@Molly: excellent posts today. To me, birth control is a personal choice. If a women needs certain hormones for a medical reason then a doctor can write a prescription for them (doesn’t have to be a birth control pill) and they can be paid for under their prescription drug plan. Well, after all those copays and deductibles that is. Funny, but my medical insurance never dished out a dime for any condoms I bought and the argument can be made that they help prevent the spread of disease alot more than birth control pills do. And birth control pills have side effects and have been linked to increased chances of cancer.
Im so sick of political correctness All it does is make liars out of most people, because what they say is not what they really believe but they say it so no one will be offended. So to be political correct I won’t call Steve Wade a Jerk, I”ll say he is a misguided person
Funny, Concerned!
To S.D.
“You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.”
This is just one quote from Rush. There are website’s filled with his bigoted, homophobic, hateful, quotes. A hero to some because he has talent’s on loan from God. I’ll pass.
that quote is a lie….if he really said that he would not be on the air anywhere….don’t believe every thing you read on the internet.
Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor …..
Also a lot of woman who work jobs or have husbands who work jobs with family health insurance plans and pay premiums on those policies so how is it “your tax dollars” going to fund birth control? Or is this just another attack on low income people getting free health care? What do you want them having more kids “your tax dollars” support or doing the right thing and preventing birth with medication? Which one is cheaper especially in a day and age where abstinence isn’t even on the table?
am i missing something? when this issue first arrived it was my understanding that the issue involved any organization that accepted federal funding, regardless of religeous affiliation, who provided employer based health insurance had to include no co-pay birth control in the prescription plans offerred to employees. does a catholic hospital only employ catholics? do they provide health insurance to employees with no contribution at all? one would assume the employee is contributing a considerable sum to their coverage and should therefor have all health related options available to them. how is this free birth control?
I would like to see one of these Obama warriors tell an Islamic institution that they have to do things that they consider an abomination.
Such as suggesting they perform an anatomical impossibility upon themselves?
S.D.
That quote was source to a book by Jack Huberman called “101 People Who Are Really Screwing America,” published by Nation Books in 2006. The author of this book, in turn, claims that he procured these quotes from a source which he has refused to reveal.
Rush Limbaugh has vigorously denied that he said these things.
There are many documented as well.
unsourced quotes are worthless…….I could say a person who wishes to remain anonomous told me that he heard Joe Biden say that Harry Reid drives around DC naked.
I think we as a society need to toughen up a bit (or a lot). Everyone is so sensitive to anything anyone says that is not perfectly politically correct. I find this trend disturbing. The old adage ‘stick and stones…’ seems to have been totally forgotten yet is a great piece of advice. So what if someone called someone a name? Get over it and move on. I’ve been called many things in my life (can’t repeat them here!) yet somehow I managed to survive. We are turning into a nation of wimps.
Beautiful, Kraken. For me, THAT is the essential issue, how wafer-thin people’s skins have become in this age of political correctness. “Sticks and stones” works and is a healthy response to fiery rhetoric that may otherwise rankle. THE PLANET knows, for we take as much guff (probably more) than any other local public figure. It’s all BBs fired at a Battleship, as far as we’re concerned.
So you heard, KRAKEN, you wimps: TOUGHEN UP. THEY’RE ONLY WORDS!!
It’s not so much the words as it is the principle.
Great reply Kraken, I’m going down to the Sideline and call the barmaid a slut. Then, when she shuts me I’ll complain to the management that she’s too thin skinned. Maybe she’ll say ‘sticks & stones etc., I’m no wimp
Funny stuff, Amby.
Exactly, Scott – thank you!
The Catholic Church and their opposition to birth control holds no weight with me their administration and beliefs are skewed to say the least. They covered up child sexual abuse for decades and even contributed to making more victims why do we even give them a say anymore? Freedom of religion is one thing but when that freedom infringes on the rights of a selected group to get health care coverage for a specific need we need to draw the line.
NOT A WORD ABOUT THE ORANGE SOILING THE BED – as don waitkens said, “Nobody likes to lose. You Know” “Cincinnatti came out on fire. You Know”
No commentary needed. The game speaks for itself. The Big East title is meanigless for the Orange, who will enter March Madness as a #1 seed. That’s when the games matter.