Quote of the Day
Hard things are put in our way,
not to stop us,
but to call out our courage and strength.
Anonymous
The Sandra Fluke vs. Rush Limbaugh Kerfuffle
I have written several commentaries distancing myself from media conservatives, in particular, Rush Limbaugh. On the first gig after leaving academia in a bad job market, I worked as a subcontractor for an IBM subsidiary in northern Irving, TX. I worked with others in a cubicle setting; most people there listened to music or radios on headphones. One of my co-workers, a pro-abortion choice conservative, would every once in a while break out laughing. Curious, I asked him what he was listening to, and he mentioned Rush Limbaugh. I didn't listen to his show (in fact, I don't think I've ever listened to his radio show), but at the time he had a half-hour syndicated television program being carried on one of the Dallas area stations, and I started watching it. Rush differed from most hosts with a distinctive sense of humor. For example, pop music star Madonna at the time had published a best-selling book of her nude photographs, and Limbaugh had just released one of his popular political books. He proudly noted one week that he was finally on top of Madonna...
We have seen Democrats play this cynical bait-and-switch game before: they will put whatever lipstick they can on government pork to sell their megalomaniac policies. The Democrats, for instance, call a massive government spending bill a "stimulus bill" or "recovery act": they try to make it a referendum on whether you like public sector teachers, police or firemen, and they find the most dilapidated school premises in the country to sell massive pushing-on-a-string, politically manipulative infrastructure spending. I mean: for shame, South Carolina! But the greater shame was borne by the Democratic hucksters writing this $862B legislative crap check on the backs of future generations of American citizens, whom have their own expenses to take of.
A 30-odd year-old law student Sandra Fluke, motivated by her own political agenda, seeking her own 15 minutes of fame, made a patently absurd, audacious argument on behalf of forcing other people pay for some or even all of her personal ordinary expenses. She speaks of spending up to $3000 during law school for birth control. (Does she ask her partner to bring his own condom?) Money is fungible. Yes, I can understand why a law student might consider pregnancy an inconvenient fact. But during the 5 years I was a full-time "publish or perish" professor, I never went out on a date: I was a workaholic. I didn't spend a penny on condoms. (Of course, some women would think that I wouldn't have needed condoms under any circumstances... Not that the Guillemette's aren't fertile: I'm the oldest of 7 and have 21 nieces and nephews.) I mean, I had to spend money on food, rent, clothes, and other things, but I did not expect other people to subsidize my optional dating life.
The fact is that over the past 50 years, in a sexually-obsessed and liberated popular culture (I don't think my folks even knew that I could easily purchase condoms at high school), we haven't seen exploding family sizes. For all the studies the hypocritical progressives bring out showing, for example, all these Catholic women using the pill or getting their tubes tied--all without the involvement of federal government funding or mandates and low-cost, effective condoms and birth control pills not only legally sold, but readily available at multiple drugstore chains and/or thousands of other locations everywhere, never mind at no or a nominal cost at Planned Parenthood everywhere--what can possibly justify socializing birth control expenses which citizens have been handling on their own to date anyway? Why should other citizens, handling their own reproductive expenses, take on those of other people? I know: "Ron, you're not dating anyone now. Ms. Fluke's partner has just spent $50 on their evening together hoping that he would get lucky, but he's now tapped out: he can't afford his own condom..." Yes, I'm getting screwed, but not by Ms. Fluke.
And can't we stop calling this pig of resources "insurance"? The hypocritical Democrats created this perverse crony capitalist/unionist benefit as a way of coping with a labor squeeze during WWII and the bad economics of wage-price controls. Wages are observable, but not benefits. Those costs you don't see--the company's match of payroll taxes and various benefits--are not "free". They're really tax-advantaged wages.
No, these are bundled health products/services, not insurance. We are not talking about the spreading catastrophic expenses: unexpected illnesses or conditions that would overwhelm all but the wealthiest households. We are talking about cynical gimmicks that if pushing-on-a-string "consumer protection" progressive Elizabeth Warren was to see the same in the private sector, she would be the first in line to complain. Free breast exams, annual exams, no co-pays? Churches don't have to pay for expenses that their employees are going to receive? Think about all those cheesy cable ads... Not a penny will come out of your pocket, we'll do all the government paperwork for you. You are entitled to this or that product or service at no extra cost...It's covered under your existing policy--why not take advantage of it?
If you think that doctors or nurses go off the clock while doing exams, that shipping is "really" free, that clerical personnel go off the clock while doing your paperwork. If it sells for money in a drugstore--it's not free. But the problem is that understated costs may spike demands for goods or services, which add to inflationary pressures.
There are a number of things to criticize about Ms. Fluke's pathetic, self-serving appearance. I've mentioned in past posts that I was serious enough about a religious vocation to be personally interviewed by a Jesuit while I was at OLLU. I know about the prominence of Georgetown University, one of the first American Jesuit institutions. Ms. Fluke is attending a Church-affiliated university and no doubt is aware of the Catholic Church's teachings against extramarital sex; her presence at the hearing was no accident.
I have remarkable tolerance for opposing views--that should be apparent from my current views overcoming the liberal Democrat perspective I had during my salad days; I am frankly bored by the self-appointed politically correct forces trying to intimidate frank discussions by asserting words like 'racist', 'homophobe' or 'misogynist' (as a high-ranking Georgetown official termed Limbaugh), as if confronting a vampire with a cross! OH PLEASE. I heard the term 'slut' being used by both genders since I was a little kid in school; I've heard daughter characters on TV and movies use the term to describe their promiscuous fathers.
I've only heard a brief clip of what Limbaugh said about Fluke. I think it was a misguided attempt at insulting humor. I don't know anything about Ms. Fluke's private life; presumably if she was living a chaste life, she wouldn't be spending $1000/year on birth control. But a number of monogamous women use artificial birth control, and I think a celebrity personally attacking a college student is unfair: he didn't even have the integrity to say it to her face.
You would think that someone who has spent nearly 25 years as a well-compensated radio show host would know better than to extend Ms. Fluke's 15 minutes of fame. (Maybe I should write something provocative enough about him to trick him into mentioning my blog on the airwaves and send my readership through the roof...) And the way Barack Obama seized the moment to politically exploit it: utterly pathetic. Mr. Obama, did you personally call Sarah Palin last year in the aftermath of so-called comedian Bill Maher calling Sarah Palin a dumb lady part and following it up the next week by calling Palin and Bachmann bimboes--or are you simply the Hypocrite-in-Chief? I'm sure Ms. Fluke, as a law student, has heard worse--and she's about to become a
But what's really worse, from the perspective of Limbaugh, is the fact that his entire point has gotten lost because of his use of language. And hearing the Sunday talk shows (as I write, NBC and ABC's shows spent an outrageous amount of time on this nonsense) go on about this...
I was particularly annoyed by David Gregory's attempts to try to fault Romney for NOT promptly speaking on about this kerfuffle. OH PLEASE. Since when, other than perhaps an occasional rebuke from Gingrich to a GOP debate moderator, has the national media ever played it down the middle? When did David Gregory ever put Obama, Reid, or Pelosi on the spot over Maher's unprofessional behavior? I routinely filter out Maher's crap for my Political Humor section selections; Letterman is almost as bad. It's 2012, and the guy is still making George Bush jokes (he had one this past week talking about the son of King Kong).
It's one thing to question Romney over something said by a campaign staffer, but since when is it necessary for him to be asked to comment over the misbehavior of others not working for him? I think the real agenda is trying to stir trouble between Limbaugh and Romney which would backfire down the home stretch of the general election campaign. (I don't think it would work; Limbaugh has no intent of aiding and abetting a second Obama election.)
I think that the birth control kerfuffle, other than the obvious reference to religious liberty, is being given undue emphasis. This is just one rule--and personally I think the progressives are ecstatic that conservatives are ignoring the illegitimate preponderance of the anti-job, anti-business Obama Administration Economic Regulatory Spill, seeping throughout the economy. This has brought rent seeking to a whole new level. Government has largely caused this mess with dysfunctional policies and is trying to use its failure to justify a de facto nationalization of the sector. (Even if part of the sector remains in private hands, a government authority that pulls their strings doesn't really care; this is economic fascism.)
For an alternate take, Lee Doren has an interesting, well-spoken video commentary (thumbs UP!) on Youtube: "Sandra Fluke, Rush Limbaugh, Carl Sagan, George Carlin and [the Rush Limbaugh] Boycotts."
Obama's Narcissistic Behavior Watch
After my recent lengthy post on Obama's narcissistic behavior, I have decided to make it a recurring feature of the blog. In this first edition, Obama compared himself to Nelson Mandela and Gandhi at a recent NYC fundraiser.
13 Catholic-In-Name-Only Democrat US Senators Help
Send Blunt Religious Liberty Amendment To Defeat:
Thumbs DOWN: VOTE THEM OUT!
Last Thursday 54% of Catholic Senators voted against the Blunt amendment allowing religious-affiliated institutions to opt out of ObamaCare rules requiring funding, directly or indirectly, birth control and/or abortifacients of employees, which lost by 3 votes 51-48. No Catholic GOP senators voted against the Blunt amendment; only 2 Catholic Democratic senators, both up for reelection this fall, supported the amendment: Manchin (WV) and Casey (PA).
Among the anti-liberty Catholic Democrats up for reelection this fall: Cantwell (WA), Menendez (NJ), Gillibrand (NY), and McCaskill (MO).
Only one Republican, retiring Olympia Snowe, voted against the amendment. For a list of other non-Catholic anti-liberty Democratic Senators whose seats are up for reelection this fall, see here. The following is the relevant list of anti-liberty Catholic legislators:
Senator Mark Begich (Alaska, D) – Opposed
Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa, D) – Opposed
Senator Richard Durbin (Illinois, D) – Opposed
Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana, D) – Opposed
Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts, D) – Opposed
Senator Barbara Mikulski (Maryland, D) – Opposed
Senator Claire McCaskill (Missouri, D) – Opposed
Senator Robert Menendez (New Jersey, D) – Opposed
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York, D) – Opposed
Senator Jack Reed (Rhode Island, D) – Opposed
Senator Pat Leahy (Vermont, D) – Opposed
Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington, D) – Opposed
Senator Patty Murray (Washington, D) – Opposed
Political Humor
"A new study found that government employees are the happiest workers. The study was not conducted at the DMV." - Conan O'Brien
[What other profession is there where you're not the boss, but you get paid to tell other people what to do for a living?]
"I think Rick Santorum learned something yesterday [Michigan and Arizona losses]. He learned that the Electoral College is not for everyone." - Jay Leno
[Santorum accused Obama and Romney of being "snobs"; Romney reminded Santorum that not everyone needs to go to the Electoral College: conservatives who lose elections can always apply for work at Fox News Channel.]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Paul McCartney & Wings, "Mull of Kintyre"
