Wow. Ask and ye shall receive, it seems.
Andrew Sullivan, in discussing his reaction to the Limbaugh boycott, referenced a recent tweet from Bill Maher. I apologize for being technically inept, and thus ignorant of how I can insert the same image here. The tweet reads:
Hate to defend #Rush Limbaugh, but he apologized, liberals look bad not accepting. Also hate intimidation by sponsor pullout
Here is my request to Bill Maher — shut your goddamned pie hole. Speaking as one of the more liberal denizens hereabouts, I’d like to loudly proclaim that there is not one single person on the face of this planet with less right to pronounce on this topic than you. You have negative cred on this issue: people who associate with you lose credibility, so you should STFU and wait for someone to change the subject.
If anyone here happens to be ignorant about why it is the very definition of chutzpah for Maher to be offering his opinions (in which case, I hope you’ve been enjoying your cave on Mars), I’ll keep it brief. I’m also just going to write the word he used, because we’re all grown-ups here, and frankly I think it’s a good reminder of what a revolting thing it was to say. I do not mean to offend anyone. Anyhow, in his stand-up act Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a cunt. And he hasn’t apologized.
Before I go any further, I have something of an apology to offer to Tom Van Dyke. In this response to one of his comments, I wrote the following:
And for the record, I didn’t have my place in this community when Maher made his comment about Palin, so I didn’t have a similar platform to criticize it. If I had, you may rest assured that I would have offered blistering criticism of it. I detest Maher and his nauseating smugness, and found his comment loathsome. Happy?
Writing today’s post, I discovered that Maher had made his comment about Palin much more recently than I had thought. It seems he made his disgusting and degrading joke in March of last year. The truth is that I wasn’t even aware of it when it happened, which speaks to a point Tom has been making about the relative lack of outrage vis a vis the Limbaugh fiasco. I consume a lot of political media, and I think it’s fair to say I take my ignorance of the matter as evidence that it didn’t get a whole lot of attention. Further, I think it is legitimate to question the biases of those who let it slide. While I did find criticism of the comment from the left, in particular the National Organization of Women, it didn’t generate the decisive condemnation I think it deserved, and I think Tom is making a fair point by saying so.
Anyhow, I haven’t seen a lot of merit in lambasting Maher for old comments (in terms of political news, March of last year may as well have been the Taft administration), but then he went and gave me an excuse. So here goes — in criticizing Limbaugh, I said that I took his comments as a sign of misogyny. (I stand by that.) And the same goes for Bill Maher — the only people who use terms of sexual degradation against women, any women, are people who think those terms have legitimate use. You have to think they’re somehow okay. They are never, ever okay. It is always unacceptable to call a woman a “cunt,” and it says something incredibly ugly about anyone who would do so. That he smugly thinks he did no wrong only makes it more revolting. Frankly, I suspect he’d like “liberals” to take Limbaugh’s apology because he doesn’t like the scrutiny it’s bringing to his own “joke,” and he’d like the issue to die down before too many more people hear about it.
In the words of one of America’s greatest television stars, Bill Maher can cram it with walnuts. I detest Sarah Palin and everything she stands for in American politics, but she deserves to be treated with the same basic decency and respect as any other woman. If he’s too much of a self-congratulatory asshat to know that, then he should spare all of us any more of his opinions.
Sandra Fluke is a regular-gal. She is not a politician. Politicians are engaged in a blood sport. That’s the nature of politics in America. Politicians know this when they enter the political arena. Sandra Fluke is not a witness. She did not chose to enter a blood sport. Sandra Fluke is a regular person and a one-time congressional witness is all. She was made into something bigger than a one-time witness by Rush Limbaugh’s awful behavior, not by Sandra Fluke’s own chosing.
That aside, Bill Mayer did not insult millions of women. Bill Mayer insulted one woman – Sarah Palin. All women may feel offended by Bill Mayer’s comments about Sarah Palin but that does not change one iota the fact that Bill Mayer addressed his insults ONLY to Sarah Palin. Only Sarah Palin was the intended recipient of Bill Mayer’s insults. On the other hand, Rush Limbaugh intentionally insulted tens of millions of women when he insulted Sandra Fluke. Limbaugh intentionally addressed his insult to all the women like Sandra Fluke – women who take contraception. Rush Limbaugh intentionally insulted at least tens of millions of women, and to read Rush Limbaugh’s comments it may be true that Rush Limbaugh’s insults were intentionally directed at virtually ALL women. There’s a big difference between Mayer insulting one female politician – Sarah Palin – and Rush Limbaugh insulting tens of millions of women who are basically innocent regular-gal type of women.
I’m not really inclined to debate which person’s comments were worse, nor do I happen to think it’s necessary to do so. As it happens, I think Limbaugh’s comments were worse for some of the reasons you state. But that has no bearing on Maher’s comments, which merit scrutiny on their own, not through the prism of how they compare with Limbaugh’s.
There are lots of insults that one can use to describe Sarah Palin without resorting to misogynist slurs. Lord knows, I’ve used plenty of them myself. That Maher apparently felt the need to stoop so low speaks to his talents as a political thinker and comedian.
Russell Saunders really please listen to me. I understand how you feel regards to Bill Mayer but you yourself admitted that you actually agree with my points so let me tell you why we should be screaming my points from the rafters.
Right now as we speak Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin, Fox News, and other right wing politicians and pundits are trying to make the case that the American people should not be mad at Rush Limbaugh because the democratic entertainers do/say the same kind of insults that Rush Limbaugh did against Sandra Fluke. The right wing politicians and pundits are making progress at getting that argument to stick – they are getting traction with that argument because of the insults by Bill Mayer and a few other democratic pundits. It is a mistake to allow the right wing pundits to get traction with their argument because when they compare Rush Limbaugh insulting Sandra Fluke in the way Rush Limbaugh did is not the same as the things Bill Mayer said about Sarah Palin, and the things a few other democratic pundits said about Michelle Bachman. But the right-wingers are all over the news trying to press their incorrect comparisson and they are making progress. Main stream news organizations are starting to ask female senators and congresswomen and even the President what is the difference between what Bill Mayer said about Palin compared to what Rush Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke, and the president and female congresswomen are walking away without answering the question because they can’t think of an answer. And what I posted yesterday would give the democratic congresswomen and the president a good response to say to the media when the media asks how the things Bill Mayer about Sarah Palin are different from the things Rush Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke. But I don’t rub shoulders with the president and the female congresswomen so someone else needs to tell the president and female congresswomen the points I have raised because the points I have raised are solid and substantial, and they prove conclusively that there is a difference between what Rush Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke compared to what Bill Mayer said about Sarah Palin.
And this is important because we the democrats were scoring points with women on the issue of what Rush Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke. We were making progress with both women and moderates and independents. But the republicans are trying to use Bill Mayer’s insults against Sarah Palin as a way to worm their way off the hook that Rush Limbaugh put the republicans on.
The point is this Russell Saunders, we got an advantage from what Rush Limbaugh did and we can keep that advantage if we use my arguments against Sarah Palin and the rest of the right wing who are trying to use Bill Mayer’s insults (against Sarah Palin) but if we don’t use my points then the issue will likely die down soon with women and independents and moderates concluding that republican Rush Limbaugh didn’t do anything that democrat Bill Mayer didn’t do and if we allow that to happen then we are fools because as the points I have raised demonstrate we are on the right side of the issue. What Rush Limbaugh did is way different and way worse than what Bill Mayer did and if we prove that truth then we can keep the advantage regarding this issue and it will help us with moderates, women, and democrats, come election day.
Please open up your eyes. Why do you think that Sarah Palin and other republicans are trying to make the public think that what Bill Mayer did is the same thing that Rush Limbaugh did? Answer: Sarah Palin and other republicans are trying to make the public think that what Bill Mayer did is the same thing as what Rush Limbaugh did because that is how republicans can defuse the advantage we democrats got from the things Rush Limbaugh said about Sandra Fluke. You don’t perceive the value of the points I’m raising but the republicans sure do and that is why they are trying to trick americans into thinking that Bill Mayer’s insults = Rush Limbaugh’s insults.
Russell Saunders check out the below link. Guys like you and i need to do something to help our democratic congresswomen and president because republicans are making progress at changing the subject from Limbaugh to Mayer.
http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2012/03/07/womens-group-demands-obama-return-pig-maher-money
So by your reasoning, public figures shouldn’t be afforded the same common courtesy we expect for ourselves? What a load of BS. Yes you are free to disagree with them and attack their positions but personal attacks are never warranted. Your comment tells me a lot about you as a person and it’s sad.
in my previous post I said that Sandra Fluke is not a witness but I meant to say that she IS just a one-time congressional witness, not a politician.
This is just Bill Maher tryin’ to get some press.
Yeah, that makes it *worse*.
Jonathan Swift, speaking of Steele, once said:
A shifting, scambling scene of youth, attended with poverty and ill company, may put a man of no ill inclinations upon many extravagancies, which as soon as they are left off, are easily pardoned and forgotten. Besides, I think, popish writers tell us, that the greatest sinners make the greatest saints ; but so quick a sanctification, and carried to so prodigious a height, will be apt to rouse the suspicions of infidels…
Sandra Fluke is no orginary citizen. She is a politically active, activist. She enrolled in a conservative Catholic college so she could then turn around and try to go against their policy. She is a sh*t disturber. Sarah Palin was a governor. Both of these women, regardless of their activities in the political arena, never deserved to be called sickening names by any shock jock comedian or otherwise. If you are silencing political shock jock Rush Limbaugh you need to silence political shock comedians as well from use of such utterly sick language in a public forum.
I am fascinated by the idea of a politically inactive activist.
I had no idea Georgetown was so conservative, nor that Fluke had enrolled there for the express purpose of disturbing shit. Every day is a new opportunity to learn, it seems.
In any case, I’m not calling for either Limbaugh or Maher to be silenced. They can both say whatever they please. However, in so doing both of them have displayed a rather disturbing comfort with using horrible, degrading terms to describe women they don’t like, and it says something very distasteful about both of them.
you should meet CMU’s KGB. 😉 Believe the paper even put a profile up about their protests of the protesters…
What does this mean?
Are you attacking Sandra Fluke too?
Why?
Why would you attack some regular gal, one time witness, college student who just went out to congress to be a witness regards to the very true fact that some women take contraception because they have health issues that require them to take contraception? If you are attacking Fluke what would be your point to attacking her position that some women have to take contraception to safeguard themselves against health problems? Are you denying that? Are you saying that Fluke is wrong about that? If you aren’t denyingFluke’s point, but you are attacking Fluke, then aren’t you really attacking her because you’re a hack who wants to defuse the damage Rush Limbaugh’s insults did by attacking Fluke and trying to make people mad at Fluke?
Sandra Fluke is no orginary citizen.
She’s a Kenyan?
Well played, Mike!
What a laugh! She did not go to college for the exact specific purpose to change the university’s rules; she went to college first and foremost to get an education. She is a one-time congressional witness. She is not a politician. She stuck one toe into the public political arena as a mere witness. She has some core beliefs that appear to be in some cases left wing but that does not make her a political warrior whom it would be OK for Rush Limbaugh to attack. She is a law student and she looks at the law and she wants to use the law to defend right from wrong. That’s what a lawyer does – lawyers try to right things that are wrong. That’s the societal function of a lawyer – to fight injustice. That is the point to being a lawyer.
The weakness of your response to me shows just how strong my argument is – it is not fair to compare Bill Mayer insulting Sarah Palin to Rush Limbaugh insulting Sandra Fluke. In your attempt to further your phony argument you had to go so far as to lie and say that Sandra Fluke went to university for the very exact and specific purpose of fighting their rules rather than to get an education. What an unsubstantiated joke of a position for you to take.
I have some hesitancy in repeating this story, but….hey, it’s relevant. A friend of mine just out of college got a job as a page on Bill Maher’s show. Here’s what she told me about the first time they met – that he pressed himself up against her and said, “Wanna f*ck a TV star?”
Hearsay, but I think he may be, in real life, just as respectful of women as he seems.
This confirms my mostly unfounded impression of the kind of guy that Bill Maher outside of the public spotlight, and therefore I believe it to be absolutely true.
I would say this has ben my impression of him as well.
I personally do not believe he would be so forward with a woman he does not really know unless he was joking. you weren’t there. they may have both been stoned for all you know. I don’t know what to make of what Rose Woodhouse is saying but she may be lying or stretching the truth or her friend may be lying or stretching the truth.
Hey Rose Woodhouse prove your allegations.
And I’m gonna try to get ahold of Bill Mayer to let him know what you are saying about him.
What is your friend’s name that he allegedly said this to?
Hey, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. His slander of Palin is okay but if anyone says anything about him, you get all wonky. Yes, why don’t you just try to contact the little albino with a stone heart.
“Sure! Do you have one as a guest on the show tonight?”
The correct answer to which is “Yeah! Where can I find one?”!
Note to self: Read all comments before posting!
Hilarious x2
Prove it! I really do not believe your story and I hope Bill Mayer sees it and sues you for defamation. I think you are lying or else Mayer likely said it in jest if at all. Remember he is a zany Saturday Night Live (original cast) type of character.
Russell…..Get your facts straight. Bill MaHer has never been a cast member of Saturday Night Live. I can’t understand how calling a woman (public figure or not) a C#$T or Whore is not considered wrong in your book? Again, if this woman (Fluke) is in front of Congress, guess what, she is now a public figure! Palin never did anything personal to Bill Friggin’ Maher, so who the hell is he to call her anything?
He claims it was all just comedy, but go look at his Wiki page and see that he calls himself a POLITICAL Commentator, just like Rush Limbaugh calls himself that. Additionally, if Maher were just a comedian looking for laughs, why is show Politically oriented?
Prove that!
Hey Rose Woodhouse prove your allegations.
And I’m gonna try to get ahold of Bill Mayer to let him know what you are saying about him.
What is your friend’s name that he allegedly said this to?
You have made your various points repeatedly and at great length, Russell. I’m going to ask you nicely to avoid hijacking the thread.
You’re right, Maher needs to shut his pie hole.
Although I’m a Democrat, it’s sickening to hear him constantly refer to women as “meat.” It is all the more surprising when he talks about the repubs in the ‘bubble.’
New Rule Bill, stop acting like an immature horney 15 year old and grow the flak up. It’s nauseating watching a middle aged man stuck in puberty.
and you are the LAST person to tell women that Rush has ‘apologized’ so ‘deal we should with it.’ I wonder why your ‘meat’ = women = pusssy mentality has been tolerated by us on the left for so long.
Nancy
//
I’m not saying that Bill Mayer should say the things he has said about Sarah Palin but you need to understand that saying those things about Sarah Palin are not the same as Rush Limbaugh saying the things that he said about Sandra Fluke and the republicans are hard at work trying to convince Americans that the two incidents are really the same. In fact, they are not the same thing. Rush Limbaugh insulted a one-time congressional witness, a regular gal who is not part of the political class and not part of the political warfare. He insulted her in such a way that the insult was also directed at tens of millions of other women just because they take contraception. He called her (and those other tens of millions of women) sluts, prostitutes, and said they should have to post video of them having sex online. He said this to a regular gal type of person…a student witness. On the other hand, Bill Mayer’s insult was directed at ONLY one woman – Sarah Palin. And Sarah Palin is a seasoned pro politician who has also also insulted other politicians. She has practically come out and called President Obama a terrorist. Sarah Palin chose to be a politician, political activist, political hack. She chose to enter and be part of that brutal arena. On the other hand Sandra Fluke chose to be a one-time congressional witness. Sarah Palin willingly gave up her right to be treated with kid gloves, but Sandra Fluke did not. Remember that Sarah Palin is the same woman that drew target signs on democratic candidates and uses incendiary violent imagery and statements when talking about defeating democratic candidates.
Should I accept Dr. Saunders’ apology? Interesting conundrum. 😉
BTW, now that nobody gives a damn about him, Keith Olbermann has apologized.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/keith-olbermann-apologizes-to-se-cupp-and-michelle-malkin-suspends-worst-persons-again/
Y’know, Doc, I’d like to have some fun with the irony of all this, but the jackal pack done wore me out. Thx for the retraction, tho.
This reminds me of when Robin Williams was on “Inside the Actor’s Studio”. James Lipton asked, as he does to all guests for their favorite and least-favorite cuss-word. Robin’s was right on: “cunt” for least favorite and “pussy” for favorite. They’re both slang for the same body part, but one is ugly and demeaning, and other is cute and fun.
I think you can tell a lot about someone by which they use.
Somewhat off the subject, but I’ve long thought that the medical terms for male and female parts are backwards. “Penis” is a soft word, whereas “vagina” is hard and rigid.
Those Maisky videos are flat-out amazing. So awesome they’re all available like that. Have you seen the Courante of the D Major suite?
I am… confused.
Russell: Look at the video embedded on the top right of the page 🙂
Michael: agreed
Sorry, Russell. I should have assumed that, since the videos on the main and sub-blogs were added when Erik did his tinkering, which ones appear where and when probably doesn’t have to do with the sub-blogs author where it might appear.
Whoever spotted that and put it up, I salute your YouTube curation taste. I was actually thinking about submitting a guest Friday Jukebox with one of these.
I do love Maisky, but prefer Boccherini to Bach when it comes to cello music.
I don’t condone fighting, but in this case, I can only hope that Todd Palin walks onto Maher’s show or catches him on the street…says, “Hello” then knocks the hell out of him.
And while Todd is getting shallacked by Bill Mayer Sarah will be off cheating on Todd with Glenn Rice like she did the first year Todd and Sarah were courting. Todd is the country’s most famous cuckold.
And I suppose you are a close personal friend and know these things to be true.
In McGinnis’s book he wrote about Sarah Palin courting Todd for about a year at the same time she was still having phone communication with Glenn Rice. She two-timed good-ole-boy Todd. Todd’s a cuckold.
Glenn Rice has not denied the things McGinnis said and neither has Sarah Palin. Why hasn’t Sarah Palin sued McGinnis? Oh yea, I forgot, if you’re telling the truth that’s a total defense against slander or libel. That’s why Sarah Palin hasn’t denied it, she hasn’t sued McGinnis, and Glenn Rice has not disputed McGinnis’s claims.
I also think that is why Sarah Palin didn’t run for president this time. She knew this book by McGinnis was coming out and she knew the allegations would be explosive. She was trying to brace herself for it. She knew the allegations wouldn’t sit well with tea-party types during the GOP primaries so she knew there was no point in getting into the primary battle. By staying out of the primary battle she was able to avoid having to discuss McGiniss’s allegations but if she had been in the primary then the other GOP candidates would have made her respond to McGinis’s allegations since the kinds of things that McGinnis accused her of are moral issues and that is the sort of stuff that matters in a GOP primary full value-voters.
So she is now trying to press for a continued GOP primary because she wants none of the primary candidates to win the nomination in the primary contest. She wants it to go to a brokered convention and she is hoping she can get the nomination without having to go through the GOP primaries and defend herself against the allegations in McGinnis’s book. She figures that if she can get the nom without going through the GOP primaries she can avoid having to respond to the allegations raised by McGinnis since if she gets the nom at a brokered convention the GOP primary process will be done and the general election voters wouldn’t be as interested in the issues raised by McGinnis. She figures that in the general election she would get the values-voters always vote for whatever republican is in the general election race so she would get their votes without having to have a public discussion about the allegations in Mcginnis’s book.
I figure Todd was shocked to read in McGinnis’s book that Sarah was on the phone with Glenn rice for a year after he left while she was also dating Todd. Todd = cuckold.
No, she wanted to run, and run BAD. the republicnas were pretty occupied in talking her out of it. Not to win, cause she wouldn’t, but to make money.
Funny, she was undecided until the McGinnis book just about got released, she has never publicly denied the allegations in McGinniss’s book, she talked about possibly suing but no lawsuit is materializing. The McGinnis book his the news and she bowed out of the republican primaries where she would have had to face scrutiny regards to the allegations raised by McGinnins and now that the primaries are ongoing she is trying to push the issue of a brokered convention and she specifically states that she would accept the nomination if she got the chance.
So what did she accomplish by not doing the primaries even though she is obviously still interested in the nomination? She accomplished one thing – not having to have a discussion with the value voters in the GOP primaries about the allegations in McGiniss’s book. That’s what she accomplished. She got to escape having to deal with those issues because the voters in the general election don’t care about those issues as much as the GOP value voters do. But democrats like me will be screaming from the rafters about the allegations by McGinnis if she does get the nom at a brokered convention and we will drive the press to cover the issues raised by McGinniss.
… if they all go boom, Rush Limbaugh gets the nomination.
pish posh! The printed word of today contains evil gossip and unproven fact to be read for those who have the “herd effect”. (those who will be led like sheep, mindlessly).
Russell Dee, you say in your reply, “I think” dare say I, “Is your thinking Proof” I think not.
I ask you to not believe everything that you read.
i wish rush would get the nomination because right now independents and women are very angry at rush and if rush gets the nomination then obama wins and the dems may keep the senate and re-take the house.
I admit that I want dems in control for awhile because they are willing to tax the rich so we can hire a bunch of union workers to do much-needed infrastructure work. We are 10 years behind on infrastructure work and hiring a bunch of union workers to do the work will save our economy. The GOP wants to do no hiring for infrastructure work, rather their plan is to lay off some federal employees. Can I suggest that at this point in history now is not the time to do more layoffs. Now is the time to do some darn hiring. The democrats are right for america at this point in time.
You want Newt to get the nomination? And in your previous post you speak about Sarah cheating on Todd (with no proof, just gossip).
Newt was run out of Washington because of sex (Proof is of record) he and his now wife (while he was still married to a lady who was seriously ill) in had while in the Whitehouse. Boy if that is a pot calling a kettle black.
Oh, I forgot you are a man who likes to read gossip. Sad, Sad, Sad.
I don’t specifically want Newt to get the nomination. I don’t really care who gets the GOP nomination. My thing is that i want the democrats to win in November so that we can get a job bill passed and get a bunch of americans hired. I think we need a big jobs bill. The democrats want to do a big jobs bill but republicans are thwarting the democrat’s efforts to get a jobs bill passed.
I wish there was no Republican, Democrat or any other party. The divided party system is going waaaaaaayyyyy to far. When the time came to elect a new president, then men/women should step up and say, “I want to be President and this is what I will do if elected.
This would certainly eliminate all this fol de rol.
Well, that day may come but it won’t come by this November 7 so we are each going to have to pick a republican or a democrat. In my view, we have a layoff problem already so I don’t think it’s a good idea to have more layoffs. I think that we should try to solve the layoff problem instead of adding more layoffs. The republicans want to lay off a bunch of federal workers whereas the democrats want to increase taxes on the rich and use the money they get by taxing the rich to hire a bunch of union workers to do infrastructure work that truly needs to be done anyway. For me, it’s a no-brainer and I’m voting democrat down the line because republicans are stopping the democrats from taxing the rich to hire the union workers to do the infrastructure work.
I understand that others want to vote republican and I respect that they have a right to their say, but I think that if we do more layoffs (federal workers) like republicans want us to do that could lead to the recession worsening and possibly turning into a depression and we will all be sorry then.
If you go to the original Tweet there is an option to “embed.” Copy code, paste it in and the original tweet shows up.
Thanks!
A comment purely about the language used (and not the politics of who said what)…
I’m probably alone in this, but I don’t find the word cunt as offensive. I know people hate the word and it garners quite the reaction, but to me has no actual meaning when hurled as an insult. To me it’s just a nastier (and gender specific) version of dick, prick, asshole etc. – many of us use these words all the time without really implying some gender specific attribute (just general disdain:)
Whereas slut means something. It implies behavior – a woman’s behavior, and a condemnation of that behavior. There is no male equivalent that isn’t used as a compliment (stud, swordsman, ladies man etc). I’d also argue bitch is in the same league. It has a very specific meaning and is used to criticize behavior in women that is lauded (or at least respected) in men.
Ginger, I’m a man and I myself have never used either of these words and I have too much respect and fondness for women to do so. I like women. They’re nice people. I think that women cope with a lot in order to do the right thing and I wish other men would speak nicer about women, but I really only have control over my own words. That having been said I think you do have a point because the “C” word really does allude to a specific part of the female anatomy whereas calling a woman a slut is really condeming everything about what she is as a person. Calling a woman the “C” word is like calling her a vagina but the “C” word is more colloquial is all. It’s less technical than the word vagina is what it is. You have a point. The “C” word and vagina really do mean the exact same thing and so when someone calls a woman the “C” word he is calling her a vagina and trying to make it sound earthier than it is. But calling a woman a slut basically is calling her something low and I mean the lowest of the low…worthy of condemnation.
I stumbled across this article while searching for “the t-word” after Jon Stewart began to lampoon the right for bringing Maher in on this debate (and then later Maher for using such foul language). I still have no idea what “the t-word” is, but I do have a thought about obscenity in general; its one of the greatest thing about being an American, that I am free to say a ton of hateful garbage to whomever I like. The beauty of it all is that it makes the “speech market” the last bastion of true and pure capitalism in the world (or, it could, depending on the outcome of FCC v. Fox). By this I mean that if Maher and Limbaugh want to behave like five-year-old’s who’s big brother just told them that “cunt” means a girl’s who-ha, then let them. Then let their sponsors and employers react to the public as they see fit. The free market could dictate what is profane and what is not, and ultimately, isn’t that better/easier than digging up Justice Potter Stewart and asking him?
Kenny, I’m in the same boat as you are. Just what in the h-word is the t-word? I’m hoping there’s some hidden cache of obscenity just waiting for me to find and add to my filth-ridden vocabulary. Here’s hoping someone more intelligent (or immature) than Mr. Bee and myself can step in here and enlighten us.