House Democratic Steering Committee Holds Hearing On Women's Health
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What defines a controversy?  What makes a radio program controversial?  If we’re being completely honest, anyone can find controversy in just about anything.  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure; one man’s controversy is another man’s hot topic of the day.  Last Friday, Rush Limbaugh did what Rush Limbaugh has been doing for many years.  To borrow from his own words, he used absurdity to shine light upon the absurd.

By now most, if not all, of you have heard of the controversy.  It’s been the lead story on no less than half a dozen news programs and news casts for the past 72 hours.  In case you need to be brought up to speed, here’s the short of it: Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student, testified in front of a House committee that she found it difficult to afford the $3,000 worth of birth control over her three years in law school.  She felt health insurance should cover it.  The media had, for several days, portrayed her as the poor, little 23 year-old university waif who was left scared by this financial conundrum.

Well, things are rarely as they appear.  Miss Fluke turns out to be 30 years old, and quite the activist.  Her LinkedIn profile reads like an activist’s rap sheet.  Come on now, you can afford Georgetown, but can’t buy birth control?  Really?  Now, fast forward to last Friday and Rush, in one of his usual passionate monologues, Rush called Fluke a slut.  And then, the fight started.  Advertisers have quit or threatened to quit the show.  Rush has issued an apology.  And the left wing lib media finds itself in the throes of ecstasy.  But they really should, uh, slow their roll, so to speak.

I suppose one can sum up the media/activist/watchdog/liberal nut cases reactions like so: ‘How dare Rush Limbaugh call her a slut!  How hurtful!  How shameful!  This is an insult to women everywhere!’

So what’s good for the goose ain’t so good for the gander, eh?  Let’s take a look at the infamous, God-less Bill Maher.  Maher called Sarah Palin a….well, he called her a word that starts with ‘C’ and ends in ‘T’ and is too vulgar for me to even think of publishing in this forum.  Maher, on his HBO program, declared that it’s ok for him to call Palin such a word because he’s on HBO and has no advertisers.  Yes, he actually made such an argument.  Stupid, isn’t it?

Was Limbaugh over the line in calling Fluke a slut?  Is it not over the line for the left wingers to call Tea Party members ‘tea baggers’?  That is a vulgar sexual reference.  How is that any different?  In many ways, it is NO different.  Limbaugh’s advertisers are there for one reason and one reason only: they make a ton of money by advertising in his show.  He reaches over 20 million listeners each week.  And many of them represent the segment of our society with the most disposable income.  They are the ones you WANT to reach.

Fluke’s argument is absurd.  Rush’s name calling was also absurd.  But was it absurd because it is a mis-characterization of Fluke or because of the end result?  I’ll let you decide that one.  But you have to ask yourself; just how many sexual encounters can one have on a $3,000 birth control budget?  The short answer is lots.  In fact, depending on whose survey you wish to believe, anyone who’s getting enough to burn up 3K in pills, condoms, etc…, is doing far, far better than the average American!

But the core issue here, which Rush has so eloquently detailed, is the issue of you and I, the American taxpayer, being told that we WILL pay for contraceptives for women.  If a woman needs birth control pills to treat a medical condition as determined by her physician, I have no problem with an insurance company covering that.  If she wants them simply to prevent a potential unwanted pregnancy, the expense should be hers and hers alone.  It’s just another aspect of the socialist, Marxist Obama health care debacle.  .

But this is not being brought to the forefront for the sake of a logical argument for or against.  No sir.  This is about distraction.  Fluke is a life-long feminist activist who is using a hot button issue created by her party of choice to further her agenda.  She has stated that she chose Georgetown because their health coverage did not cover contraceptives.  She wants to stir the pot.  Ah, yes!  Another community organizer in the making!  Barack is so proud.

Likewise, the Democratic Party is using Fluke for their own ends.  They need a distraction and a good one.  After all, their embattled leader, the President of the United States, cannot afford to have you and I focused on real issues like the economy, border security and jobs.  No, no, no!  That will not do!  We need to be focused on stupid arguments like should your insurance provider be forced to buy pills and condoms so Miss Fluke won’t have to shell out her own cash for them!  Make no mistake; Sandra Fluke will ride this wave just as far as she can.  She’s going to milk her fifteen minutes until it runs dry, then for another week or so after that.

Rush’s words may have been harsh.  And I do believe he is sincerely sorry he said them.   But to continue to batter away at Rush and coddle Fluke and persist in this folly is only serving one purpose; it keeps you from seeing the real issues at hand.  Rush has the biggest, most successful radio program in the nation.  This is not the first time Rush has found himself surrounded by some  controversy.  This current controversy, it too shall pass, if we let it.  We have far too much work to do as a nation to let this nonsense dominate our conversation.  Defeating Obama in November comes to mind.

For what it's worth, here is Rush Limbaugh's official statement:

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 tax payers 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.

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