Rush's apology:
"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."



Ed's apology:
"On my radio show yesterday, I used vile and inappropriate language when talking about talk show host Laura Ingraham. I am deeply sorry, and I apologize. It was wrong, uncalled for and I recognize the severity of what I said. I apologize to you, Laura and ask for your forgiveness. It doesn't matter what the circumstances were. It doesn't matter that it was on radio and I was ad libbing. none of that matters. none of that matters. What matters is what I said was terribly vile and not of the standards that I or any other person should adhere to. I want all of you to know tonight that I did call Laura Ingraham today and did not make contact with her and I will apologize to her as i did in the message that I left her today. I also met with management here at MSNBC, and understanding the severity of the situation and what I said on the radio and how it reflected terribly on this company, I have offered to take myself off the air for an indefinite period of time with no pay. I want to apologize to Laura Ingraham. I want to apologize to my family, my wife. I have embarrassed my family. I have embarrassed this company. And I have been in this business since 1978, and I have made a lot of mistakes. This is the lowest of low for me. I stand before you tonight in front of this camera in this studio in an environment that I absolutely love. I love working here. I love communicating with all of you on the radio and the communication that I have with you when I go out and do town hall meetings and meet the people that actually watch. I stand before you tonight to take full responsibility for what I said and how I said it, and I am deeply sorry,"

Artful Dodger: Calling someone a name is not equal to demanding something of someone as though you own them. Somehow you turned "completely unacceptable" into "bad form." Stop turning my words around.

Artful Dodger: I was referring to Rush asking to see sex tapes. Ed did not do that.

I am not the complete liberal apologist you think I am. I am critical of everyone in the media. Actually, sometimes I even agree with the things you post here.

"Protecting the left when they do the same thing (as you did with Ed of MSNBC) while vilifying the right is hypocritical"

I did no such thing. I don't care for Ed Schultz and have no reason to protect him.

Artful Dodger: By demanding videos he is insinuating that he owns Fluke's body because "he paid for" (he didn't actually) her birth control. Yes, that is evil and completely unacceptable.

"Now it seems the argument is that it's ok to call a woman a slut but not ok to ask for pictures."

Others may say that but not me. I think that is completely unacceptable as well and I don't support Ed Schultz or David Letterman or Bill Maher for name calling either.

(V): ""If we are going to pay for your contraceptives, and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you post the videos online so we can all watch," he said on Thursday.""

Wow, he really said that? Unless he also says the same about a dude who got a vasectomy or uses Viagra paid for by insurance needing to post their videos as well, this is pure misogyny. The name calling by Ed Schultz and whoever else is also unacceptable, but what Limbaugh said is pure evil.

Übergeek 바둑이: Ah, I do vaguely remember learning that now. Thank you.

(V): When I learned to read Hebrew I had to remember that a couple words that mean God were pronounced nothing like they looked. Orthodox Jews also do not normally say any of the names of God (Adonai, Eloheynu, etc) unless in prayer. Instead they say Hashem, which translates to "the name." If throwing away something with the name of God printed on it, it has to be specially buried. Even my Reconstructionist Jewish fiancee, who is rather agnostic, is very careful about printing things with God's name, not letting certain books touch the floor, etc.

Artful Dodger: Those sound like interesting books.

I am from the north but came to Atlanta for college. I think it's really interesting how the approach to teach some things here is different than it was there. For example, when learning about the Civil War, we were always taught that "we" were the good guys and "we" won that war. I had never heard it called the War of Northern Agression until I moved here. According to a friend of mine I was discussing this with, instead of "we won," the attitude taught in the schools here is more like "oh, it's not over!" The way they learn it here is probably more accurate!

Tuesday: Well, not really. The words "under God" weren't added to the Pledge until 1954 during the communism scare. Some of our founding fathers warned of the danger of using religion to govern. Just because the majority of Americans believe in some sort of God doesn't mean that upholding the separation of church and state is changing what America originally stood for. Just the opposite, actually, no matter who tries to rewrite history and deny the Constitution. That said, editing the broadcast was silly.

P.S. I have a degree in English and I think starting sentences with conjunctions and ending sentences with prepositions are wonderful practices. :)

(V): I agree that if you've done nothing illegal, there's no reason to just up and resign your position. It's up to your constituants to vote your butt out for being an immoral creeper! If you've broken the law (ahem, Vitter) you should be thrown out of public office. Taxpayers shouldn't pay the salaries of criminals.

Artful Dodger: Weiner's a creep but I'm still waiting for David Vitter to resign since what he did was actually illegal, and hypocritical given his political platform.

Oh, Billll. Try to make your fake footage less obvious next time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRcmeA1k-ik

Artful Dodger: This is my favorite Republican tactic. If you repeat something enough it makes it true!

How about the likes of Timothy McVeigh and Ted Kaczynski?

And these guys: http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/05/19/white-domestic-terrorists-slip-off-medias-radar/

I wouldn't be so quick to blame the body scanners on Obama. These machines were invented and being talked about back when no one outside of Illinois knew who he was. This is all 9/11 fear-fueled, and this fear has been been driven by the Republican party for years. ("You're either for us or you're against us.") People are complaining now who thought the invasion of privacy from the Patriot Act was okay. Every liberal friend I have who I've heard talk about the scanners is against them.

What's sad about these scans is that they just give us an illusion of security. I heard a TSA agent on the radio, who said that it would be very easy for a terrorist to get ahold of an airport employee badge and get to go through a much slacker security line. They know what's being done in the name of security, and can work around it.

I was chosen for a body scan when I flew in June. I emptied my pockets before I went through, but had forgotten I had a tiny memory card from a camera in the bottom of my pocket. I was pulled aside and asked what was in my pocket, pulled it out and showed the agent, and then was rubbed (not patted) down. This was done in the open as other passengers were standing there. That was the biggest issue I had with it - that they did this in front of any random person standing there. It was definitely very creepy, and this all is part of the reason I decided I'm going to drive instead of fly this Thanksgiving. Sadly, I think their airlines will suffer over this. I think one thing that needs to be done to make us more secure is improve the metal detectors. My stepmom has two metal hips, and half the time she flies the machine doesn't detect them.

Artful Dodger: I'll go ahead and take that statement at face value...How will poor kids receive education in a system where education is privatized?

What is so great about American healthcare? We pay more by a bighugegiant amount than everyone else, and our life expectancy is 49th in the world.

Bernice, did you also Google efficiency of health insurance companies? People here are dying because health insurance companies think they know better than doctors what is best for a patient. It's tragic. For-profit health insurance corporations have their own best interest in mind, not anyone else's.

Artful Dodger: Yes, the money has to come from somewhere, and lots of people are unwilling to pay for anything. Even the true cost of the wars started under the Bush administration was simply omitted from the budget, while taxes were cut for the richest Americans. Craziness.

Insurance rates have been rising well above the rate of inflation well before Obama took office. I work in HR and it's a pain in the ass to try to bring decent plans to our employees while trying not to raise their premiums too much, and not bankrupt the company with the extra burden. It's near impossible. What's good now is that people are able to get (and keep) coverage who in the past could not.

Artful Dodger:

"No....not true. More people trust Fox than don't. Get your facts straight."

Source? If 25% of people regularly watch Fox News, do you know what the other 75% think of it?

"You'd have to be more specific on what it is you can't stomach. If you answer with a general response, that will be on the same level as some of the other rants I hear against O'Reilly. I couldn't care less if you like him or hate him. But if you're going to have an opinion about him, make it a knowledgeable one."

He's annoying and I disagree with his opinions most of the time. I'm not going to spend my time torturing myself. Why didn't you also ask me why I said I can't stomach Olbermann?

I was searching YouTube for clips to support the example I gave of O'Reilly lying by saying no one on Fox News has ever said that you'd go to jail if you didn't buy health insurance. This video has a bunch of clips in one so you can just watch this instead of a bunch of separate clips. Ignore the fact that the presenter is a liberal (though formerly conservative) guy, as that's not the point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKH5rLVhxK4&feature=fvw


As for the 6 examples you'd like me to give, search YouTube for "O'Reilly lies" and you'll find a ton. I never gave you my opinion on Obama, so you telling me that Obama lies is beside the point.

I'm getting annoyed that you keep telling me exactly how I am supposed to give you my arguments (don't post video clips, no actually do post video clips, give me at least 6 examples). As I've come to BK to have fun, not be annoyed, this will be my last post on this topic.

Artful Dodger: You did not say that in your post, but I now understand your intention.

Artful Dodger: Dobbs became part of the discussion when you posted a Dobbs video.

Artful Dodger: I love it how I've said very little in this forum, you don't know anything about me, yet you're making an awful lot of presumptions. I find it sad that politics for some is a game of "let's prove the other guy wrong so I can feel superior" (see your gloating "I win!" comment) instead of rational conversations and debates. I don't feel threatened by people disagreeing with me, but I get annoyed at people who will do anything to "prove" they're right and I'm wrong and get a thrill out of it. That goes for people of all political viewpoints.

"Since it's apparent you don't really understand the structure of The Factor, you probably shouldn't be making comments about that show. It's evident that you don't really know what you are claiming. I doubt you watch the show much."

You're right. I don't watch it much, unless I'm in a great mood and feeling the urge for a good laugh at inanity. I usually can't stomach it, and I have conservative friends who feel the same way. I also can't stomach Olbermann, and have liberal friends who feel the same way. I wasn't commenting on the structure of a tv show. I was commenting on lies that come out of the mouth of the person who happens to be the host.

"I also see you failed to address how the women on the view tried to cut O'Reilly off before he finished speaking."

I did say that I can't stand when they don't want to let others talk, and that inviting someone like that (meaning someone that they're obviously going to have disagreements with) is just asking for trouble. I guess I didn't use your exact words, but the intent was there. O'Reilly has a habit of not letting people talk as well. *shrug* I think The View is a mess of a show, which is sad because I do like most of the hosts outside of that environment.

"If you simply post a You Tube vid as Jules just did, you ARE NOT making an argument for anything."

Like the video you just posted?

But, but...I was going to post videos of O'Reilly himself opening his mouth, with lies coming out of it. How better to make an argument that O'Reilly lies than to post actual video of O'Reilly lying?

As I see it, the major way that O'Reilly lies is by trying to rewrite the past. Off the top of my head I can think of this one: Glenn Beck has continuously said on Fox News that you're going to get arrested if you don't have health insurance. He and O'Reilly sat down together and talked on Fox News about how you're going to get arrested if you don't have health insurance. On a later date, O'Reilly vehemently denied that anyone on Fox News had ever said that you were going to get arrested if you didn't have health insurance. My argument here is not about health insurance, but that he told a lie that can be so easily proven wrong.

"It isn't because they are "right" (as in correct) but because they are honest in their reporting of the news."

LOL. If all you want to hear about is how wealthy white Christian guys are being victimized, I guess there's your channel.

"Numbers matter. That's because numbers show what people trust."

See my earlier comment about argumentum ad populum.

"And Fox has a L-O-N-G history of being trusted by the viewers."

And distrusted by as many.

"Psssst! Goldberg and Behar acted in typical liberal fashion. My way or no way."

It's really counterproductive to make sweeping generalizations of a whole group of people. Personally, I've encountered more neocons with the "my way or no way" attitude than anyone else. A lot of liberals act like that. A lot of conservatives act like that. It's funny, because most times someone tells me how ALL liberals act, I think, "oh crap, does that mean I'm not a liberal!?"

Artful Dodger: Would you like proof of O'Reilly telling lies or O'Reilly saying he's right/most people agree with him because his ratings are higher than MSNBC's? I can provide you with video clips of both, though I will need to wait until I can get to a computer (I'm using my phone to access the internet at the moment and it's too slow to be useful.)

Tuesday: My God, that clip was painful! I like Behar and I like Whoopi, but that whole show is about people talking over each other and it drives me crazy. Bill O'Reilly makes up whatever he wants to in his head and presents it as truth, all the while using the argument that he must be right because Fox News has higher ratings than MSNBC. Argumentum ad populum is a bad argument. (Maybe liberals are reading books while cons are watching cable news.) Everyone used to think the earth was flat, too.

Inviting a guy like that onto The View is just asking for trouble. Nothing can be resolved in a group of people where no one will let anyone else speak without inturruption.

The Col: It's interesting to read your views on Israel and Palestine. I attend a Reconstructionist synagogue that is generally on the side of the Palestinians. I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing because there are so many layers to everything.

Vikings: Ohhh, thanks for clearing that up. In a world where no one in any part of the spectrum wants to take blame for any of their mistakes, it's hard to remember who did what.

Übergeek 바둑이: Hang on...so it's not Clinton's fault anymore?