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Facts first, logic always, truth before everything
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Instead of just issuing an apology Limbaugh has attempted to justify the points he says he was trying to make. An apology should never contain words attempting to prove the person giving it was actually right, nor should it should simply give a reason for something that is admittedly wrong. Just state what was wrong and apologize would be a good rule. Limbaugh is trying to have it both ways, to use his apology as a way to make his same points over again with different words. The statement below is from Limbaugh’s website:
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A Statement from Rush
March 03, 2012
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.
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The other problem with the apology is that he says the words were used in an attempt to be humorous. Where is the humor in using a national radio program to attack the personal values and integrity of a single college student? He says, also, that he did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke, but that is exactly what he did.
This guy has gone too far for years and it brings laughter and smiles to the faces of some people. Being outrageous just for the sake of it is fun, right? But being outrageous and telling untruths and half truths about what is going on in the world is not fun. Using a national radio forum to tear apart the lives of other people is the opposite of fun, it is sick, demented and part of what is wrong with our country, the idea that anything goes when you are attacking anyone who disagrees with you.
Having listened to his radio show in previous years, I also know that Limbaugh is a devoted racist. He provides subtle and not so subtle clues to his audience and, apparently, they all enjoy it. How can it be that after hundreds of years of slavery followed by a civil war followed by virtual re-enslavement of African-Americans through segregation and discrimination that a blatant racist is allowed to have a radio program on more than 600 radio stations across America?
Limbaugh distorts events and news reports for his own purposes every day. As he did with the Georgetown law student, he will take a small item, conflate it into some big conclusion about the state of the world and then use that conclusion to make various other points throughout his radio show. If the first news item is eventually proved to be incorrect, it doesn’t matter. By then, the audience has swallowed his propaganda whole. Limbaugh just moves on to other news items, which he will then use to make other points, correct or not.
No one in America should willingly take information from a propagandist who wants them to believe one set of things over another. A propagandist doesn ‘t care what the truth might be, he is only interested in how truth and lies can be combined to get people to believe the way he wants. As an avowed supporter of the Republican party, Limbaugh is little more than a high paid propagandist for the right.
People who truly believe in a set of ideas or principals, left, right or in the middle, should be confident enough to listen to all kinds of voices and to take information unfiltered. That, of course, is becoming rare in the US and we seem to headed for a future where one side is constantly angry at the other and looking for reasons to justify that anger. This is a dark road we are traveling on, one that in other nations throughout history has led to internal wars and death. Limbaugh is part of that trend and a major problem. “Countering”what was claimed as the “liberal bias” of the media with the right wing bias of Limbaugh, Fox News and many others does not resolve our problems or help us to find answers. It does the opposite. It provides comfort to a subset of citizens who can’t think for themselves and want to be spoon fed conclusions that do not upset their world view.
Limbaugh has really put his foot in it this time. His apology, full and true or not, was obviously issued because advertisers were bailing on is show. No one who desires truthfulness in media should ever buy anything advertised on Limbaugh’s show because he is only interested in driving all Americans farther apart and creating an atmosphere of hatred in which calling a college student a “slut” or a “prostitute” is seen as fun (humorous!) and gets no criticism. (See the comment at right.) We have seen the real Rush Limbaugh these past couple of days and it is up to the public, that public which still can reason, to decide whether he should be allowed to continue.
Doug Terry, 3.3.12
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Here’s the link to the online petition against Limbaugh being put together by the DailyKos, for those who are interested:
http://campaigns.dailykos.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=81
The twitter account being used to contact advertisers is @stoprush.
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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.”
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