What's It All About?

I sense a lawsuit in the works as a result of the Rush Limbaugh flap.  No, I don't expect the aggrieved Ms. Fluke to sue him.  I expect someone to go to court to settle just what differentiates a "church" from it's ancillary businesses.

This is where Ms. Fluke has added to the problem by inviting criticism upon herself.  Forget that the 'facts' she presented in her testimony before Nancy Pelosi and her minions were exaggerated at best and outright misrepresented at worst.  Like it costing her poor fellow students $1000 a year for contraceptive devices. If true I'd question their ability to get through law school!  There's an intelligence deficit there. We all know the lack of 'truthiness' in that whopper hence the real question has gotten lost in the sensationalism. Without knowing if church and church run business is considered one and the same or not, it won't be solved.

If it's considered not all encompassing, then it seems reasonable the business, in this case a school, should provide the same benefits for it's employees and students as the non-Catholic university down the street.  If it's deemed one and the same it's a whole different ball game.

What Ms. Fluke is doing is trying to convince us they are not one and the same and therefore should provide the contraceptive benefit.  She didn't need to add the ludicrous examples of fellow students suffering financial hardship because it wasn't there.

Enter Limbaugh.  He chose to ignore nearly everything Ms. Fluke said and made it a personal issue with her supposed unquenchable quest for sex.  He couldn't have been more wrong.  You could almost see him getting high on the words he was spewing.  It was like he couldn't stop, getting more and more pumped - and insulting.  Like when you get a fit of laughter and can't control it.  Though this was no laughing matter.

He deserves everything coming his way from the advertisers withdrawing to the stations dropping him.  Don't give me the whine that the liberals get away with it.  They don't.  And to the liberals, don't give me the whine that the Republicans are waging war against women.  They aren't. What's happening is an example of government over reach and the consequences thereof

I do wish the candidates had been more vocal in condemning Limbaugh.  "I wouldn't have used those words," as Romney said, was inexcusably lame.  Newt was outraged that Limbaugh was getting so much attention in lieu of everything of importance - like himself I'd wager.  I haven't seen a response from wither Santorum or Paul.

Today begins a new news cycle.  Super Tuesday will be dominating the news.  Limbaugh will be forced into contriteness for awhile.  Ms. Fluke will go back to her activism and law studies.  I'm sure the book deal she'll negotiate will be adequate to pay for her health benefits should she prefer a private provider.

I guess I agree with Mr. Gingrich to the point there are much more important happenings calling for attention.  I'm going now, to see what they are.

The Politics of Powell

This country could use a lot more politicians like Colin Powell. Though I doubt he considers himself such after a less than successful stint as Secretary of State in the Bush administration.

Considering that less then stellar tenure, why do I think so? Because the cause of his failure is the mark of the man. Integrity. He staked his career and reputation on bad information. Though knowing he was being left out of large parts of the loop, his integrity and belief in others made it impossible for him to believe the administration would take us to war on manufactured "truth".

He is far more cautious now, but is unafraid to tell the truth as he believes it. He was very forthright in saying Sarah Palin was not ready to step into the Vice Presidency. He had the courage to cross party lines and endorse Obama because he believed he was the better candidate.

Now he is taking on his own party, the Republican Party. In an interview that will air Sunday on CNN he speaks of many "truths" which will leave segments of the party seething.

He talks of how the party will have to reach out to minorities for within two decades the majority of the population will be made up of minorities. He talks of how the use of polarization didn't work for the Republicans and is unlikely to in the future. I'd add I hope that is a "truth" both parties will recognize.

Along that vein, he asks if the party can continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh, "Is this really the kind of party we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser rather than our better instincts?"

Powell is being politic. I would be less so. The answer goes far beyond whether the party should listen to Limbaugh and the other right wing hate mongers that fill the air waves. It's whether anyone should.

Mr. Limbaugh claims he has answers for all our problems but isn't interested in running for office because he doesn't want the pay cut. Now there's conviction!

If Mr. Obama is successful in his desire to create a new type of governance, the Limbaughs of the country will become the dinosaurs of the air waves and hopefully suffer the same fate. Disappear.

I think there is a pretty good chance Obama will succeed. Or at least gain a good foothold in the time allowed. He showed he is capable of it during the campaign. He appealed to our better instincts and because of it was rewarded with a win.

Negative campaigning got it's long overdue comeuppance. Hate mongering didn't take. The third strike against these self appointed spokespersons is their penchant for loose facts and lack of knowledge.

Now if the politicians will follow Powell's lead and be honest when questioned, regardless of party, a lot of contentious behavior will fade and with it the meat on which the likes of Limbaugh feed.

Talk about a "Brave New World"!

Fool's Gold?

Ah, yes, the Golden Mic of the EIB Network. EIB - excellence in broadcasting. Right.

Imagine Rush Limbaugh signing a $400,000,000 contract to continue spouting partial truths and condescension about all people and things Liberal. With money like this it's no wonder some of his ilk are referred to as shock jocks! The shock is that any media outlet using "news" in its name has the gall to shell out this kind of money for this caliber of commentary.

I decided maybe there should be an award for the most egregious. There already is a Golden Mic Award so I'll call mine the Iron Pyrite Award to be awarded to talk show hosts and media writers who are the most mean spirited, truth challenged and just plain wacked out. There are a bunch of them.

Let's see. I'll give Don Imus a partial pass because of the good works he does for kids at his New Mexico Ranch. Howard Stern comes to mind. Rush, of course. Bill O'Reilly and most of the Fox News crowd. Michael Savage. Laura Ingraham. Randi Rhodes, to but scratch the surface.

I'm beginning to think I may have some latent socialist leanings. Some sort of equalization of the wealth. I just think of what good the amount of money in these combined salaries could do in the real world. While newspapers flounder, tabloids flourish. Reporters are on tight budgets while talking heads run amok. News has morphed into entertainment. Bad entertainment at that.

Politics seems to be all about money. If it's not obscene amounts going into campaigns, it's about obscene amounts spent by lobbyists. The media is all about money. News doesn't sell, sensationalism does.

You know we, the consumers, are in trouble if you've been watching the Mudochization of the Wall Street Journal. It's all about money.

What's frighteneing is what it is that all this money is buying - and what in turn is being sold to us!