Looks like Bill Maher must be dethroned as "Rush of the Left"

[BigSkyBob]

Where did idea that Bill Maher's some kind of Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh come from?

There is no moral equivalence being asserted. What Maher has done is orders of magnitude worse.

[BigSkyBob]

Where did idea that Bill Maher's some kind of Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh come from?

There is no moral equivalence being asserted. What Maher has done is orders of magnitude worse.

Such as?

Calling Sarah Palin the c-word, and attacking her child's disability.

[BigSkyBob]

When was Maher ever made an honorary Democratic Congressman? When was Maher ever honored with a metal bust of himself in the Missouri state capital? When did Democratic politicians have to step lightly around Maher? Rush had all those things happen to him (except replace Democratic with GOP, of course).

Maher has never and will never be the "Rush of the Left". Maher isn't even liked by a large portion of liberals.

Which ought to make it that much easier to return the donation, and repudiate his conduct. Wait, neither of these things have happened.

[BigSkyBob]

Even if this particular thing that Maher said is worse than this particular thing that Limbaugh said--which purely in terms of the words used it is, bearing in mind that Limbaugh's sentiments were worse even though his language wasn't and that this isn't even beginning to scratch the surface of the self-promoting amoral sleaze that is both men--his relevance to American politics is of course significantly lower.

Well, you are right and you are wrong. You are right that calling Sarah Palin the c-word is much worse than using the s-word, and, you are dead wrong on saying Limbaugh's "sentiment" was much worse. Limbaugh found Fluke's statement that she spent $3,000/yr on birth control to be absurd, and, his "sentiment" was to point out the absurdity of that figure by being absurd. It simply wasn't a statement of malice towards Fluke. It was meant to be taken as absurd so as to illustrate the absurdity of spending $3,000/yr for birth control. Maher's statement was purely out of malice, especially the attacks on Trig.

[BigSkyBob]

Where did idea that Bill Maher's some kind of Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh come from?

There is no moral equivalence being asserted. What Maher has done is orders of magnitude worse.

...well, since there's essentially no way for me to point out everything that is just inherently wrong with this sentence, I'll just settle for calling you a cognitively-impaired Republisheep ding-dong and leave it at that.

Okay, you didn't have an answer, so you went ad hominem.

[BigSkyBob]

Where did idea that Bill Maher's some kind of Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh come from?

There is no moral equivalence being asserted. What Maher has done is orders of magnitude worse.

...well, since there's essentially no way for me to point out everything that is just inherently wrong with this sentence, I'll just settle for calling you a cognitively-impaired Republisheep ding-dong and leave it at that.

There is no way to point anything wrong with my statement because it is empirically true.

If you are going to criticize some people on the other side for noting that what Maher said was objectively worse and least have the basic respect for the truth not to put words in their mouths. Whether, they are right or wrong, analytically brilliant, or "cognitively imparied," or leaders or followers, I can cite example after example where they have clearly argued that what Maher said was objectively worse than anything Limbaugh ever said about Fluke.

[BigSkyBob]

Where did idea that Bill Maher's some kind of Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh come from?

There is no moral equivalence being asserted. What Maher has done is orders of magnitude worse.

...well, since there's essentially no way for me to point out everything that is just inherently wrong with this sentence, I'll just settle for calling you a cognitively-impaired Republisheep ding-dong and leave it at that.

Okay, you didn't have an answer, so you went ad hominem.

Tell me, then. Just what has Maher done that is worse than, say, publicly supporting Joseph Kony and calling women who use birth control "sluts"?

Again, you case against Limbaugh is so intellectually weak that you are forced to lie. Limbaugh never accused women whom use birth control of being "sluts." He implied women whom spend $3,000/yr for birth control must have a lot of sex. While it is true that a women whom spent $3,000/yr for condoms would be having a lot of sex, most forms of birth control don't show such a correlation between cost and frequency of sex.

Limbaugh uses the tactic of using absurdity to illustrate absurdity. He found Fluke's claim that she spent $3,000/yr for birth control to an absurdity, and used absurdities to illustrate it.

On the other hand, when Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a "c***" he meant it as demeaning personal attack. Objectively, calling a women a "c***" is worse than calling her a "slut," and using such language abusively is worse than using it a manner that was never meant to be taken literally.

[BigSkyBob]

Where did idea that Bill Maher's some kind of Democratic equivalent to Rush Limbaugh come from?

There is no moral equivalence being asserted. What Maher has done is orders of magnitude worse.

...well, since there's essentially no way for me to point out everything that is just inherently wrong with this sentence, I'll just settle for calling you a cognitively-impaired Republisheep ding-dong and leave it at that.

There is no way to point anything wrong with my statement because it is empirically true.

If you are going to criticize some people on the other side for noting that what Maher said was objectively worse and least have the basic respect for the truth not to put words in their mouths. Whether, they are right or wrong, analytically brilliant, or "cognitively impaired," or leaders or followers, I can cite example after example where they have clearly argued that what Maher said was objectively worse than anything Limbaugh ever said about Fluke.

Said or done? Even if (as I happen to agree with you on, but as I don't think either of our opinions on are really relevant) what Bill Maher said was worse, what Rush Limbaugh has done to political discourse through his words and actions, in this case and in others, is staggeringly worse than what Bill Maher has done.

1) In this case, what Rush Limbaugh has done for political discourse in this country is a highly positive thing. The Left though they had bagged their white whale. Unfortunately for the Left, they were throwing stones while living in the proverbial glass house. When the moralizing is over, and the charges of hypocrisy have been sorted out, political discourse in America will be slightly more civil than it was before the eruption. That is a good thing for the American people, and, a very bad thing for those whom believe ridicule is a potent political weapon.

2) The millions of people whom listen to Rush Limbaugh have voted with their radio dials. They have a profound disagreement with you about your opinion on that subject. Why should I believe that you are right and they are wrong?

3) Right now, our political discourse includes a menagerie of odd positions such as Marxists, so-called "libertarianism," the LaRouche folk, conspiracy theorists, and fringe groups.  The reality is that whether Rush Limbaugh reflects well, or poorly, on the general level of political public discourse, they are some very poor players out there. The reality is that folks are going to have to separate the wheat from the chafe. The alternative would be particularly odious forms of censorship. It isn't an accident that what most folks consider "destructive" or "poor" political discourse revolves around offering opinions with which they disagree.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

1) It is the height of intellectual hypocrisy for you to offer your position that Limbaugh has lowered our public discourse, and, then attack anyone else from offering their take.

2) While you don't like it, I have every reason to believe that someones motivations for making a statement are part of the totality of circumstances. Anyone familiar with Rush Limbaugh knows the fact that one tactics he uses, rightly or wrongly, is to attempt to illustrate absurdities by being absurd himself. While my strong preference is for being straight up at all times, on every subject, I am perfectly able to understand the context of his remarks. His critics simply have taken his statements out of context.

3) To the extent there is a comedian's exception Limbaugh is well within it.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Again, you omit the fact that that "SuperPAC" can return that money, or donate the same amount to some charity. Until they do, the issue of Maher's donation will remain.