[ArtK78]

 Winstonm, on 2012-March-09, 13:35, said:

I think it should be noted, too, that there is a distinction between Limbaugh and Maher, in that Maher is admittedly a satirist/comedian whereas Limbaugh passes himself off as a political commentator/entertainer.

If I tune in to watch an HBO special program from a known liberal satirist, it should not surprise me to hear someone like Sarah Palin described as an ignorant cunt. It is certainly an insulting phrase to use about someone.

Limbaugh, on the other hand, stated that the act of a private law student wanting access to birth control indicated that she was a slut, that she would not be in need of contraceptives if here morals were not so low.

If anyone cannot see that the Maher's insulting characterisation of a public personality is different than Limbaugh's personal attack on a private individual I feel sorry for him as a human being - he must be missing much that occurs around him. Fox News is not synonymous with reality.

Congratulations. At least someone here knows the difference between the venom passed off as truth spouted by a political pundit who is on the nation's airwaves every weekday and the satire of a political comic who has a weekly comedy/political satire show.

At least Bill Maher makes it a point to include panelists with conservative viewpoints on his weekly discussion panels and he does not treat them as if they were idiots.

You earned one of my rare reputation up votes.

[blackshoe]

Neither is any other news medium.

[PassedOut]

 Winstonm, on 2012-March-09, 13:35, said:

...Limbaugh passes himself off as a political commentator/entertainer.

But Limbaugh's "political commentator" act is just his shtick as an entertainer. He says lots of stuff to entertain a particular demographic, stuff that he knows is ridiculous but that his current audience believes. (He's got a long history as an entertainer: an earlier shtick included poking fun at the hypocrisies of both conservatives and liberals. His current shtick has been by far the most successful for him.)

[luke warm]

 Winstonm, on 2012-March-09, 13:35, said:

If I tune in to watch an HBO special program from a known liberal satirist, it should not surprise me to hear someone like Sarah Palin described as an ignorant cunt. It is certainly an insulting phrase to use about someone.

but the question is, should it surprise (and bother) the president of the us, especially given his recent comments concerning his two daughters? and why in the world wouldn't that same president who was so bothered by the word slut not feel the need to say something about this? i think we all know the reasons, the 1 million reasons

and fwiw, limbaugh is and considers himself to be first and foremost an entertainer, albeit one who happens to comment on politics (to excess, some might say)

[kenberg]

 Winstonm, on 2012-March-09, 13:35, said:

I think it should be noted, too, that there is a distinction between Limbaugh and Maher, in that Maher is admittedly a satirist/comedian whereas Limbaugh passes himself off as a political commentator/entertainer.

If I tune in to watch an HBO special program from a known liberal satirist, it should not surprise me to hear someone like Sarah Palin described as an ignorant cunt. It is certainly an insulting phrase to use about someone.

Limbaugh, on the other hand, stated that the act of a private law student wanting access to birth control indicated that she was a slut, that she would not be in need of contraceptives if here morals were not so low.

If anyone cannot see that the Maher's insulting characterisation of a public personality is different than Limbaugh's personal attack on a private individual I feel sorry for him as a human being - he must be missing much that occurs around him. Fox News is not synonymous with reality.

Then I guess I will be receiving your sympathy, although as far as I know your assessment of my limitation as a human being are not widely shared. I view the comments attributed to them as atrocious. The childhood retort "What you say is what you are" comes to mind. It's at the right level of discourse. I have not been listening to either and I don't expect that to change.

I have never been fond of the "yeah, but look what your guy did" defense. The little I saw of Maher, I found him repulsive, but now I guess I missed the really cool stuff. Ignorant what? My God but he is clever. Can I see it on YouTube?
I cannot imagine trying Limbaugh.

[Winstonm]

 kenberg, on 2012-March-09, 17:04, said:

Then I guess I will be receiving your sympathy, although as far as I know your assessment of my limitation as a human being are not widely shared. I view the comments attributed to them as atrocious. The childhood retort "What you say is what you are" comes to mind. It's at the right level of discourse. I have not been listening to either and I don't expect that to change.

I have never been fond of the "yeah, but look what your guy did" defense. The little I saw of Maher, I found him repulsive, but now I guess I missed the really cool stuff. Ignorant what? My God but he is clever. Can I see it on YouTube?
I cannot imagine trying Limbaugh.

Ken,

I am not defending Maher. But I would hope that you would agree that using an obscene mocking tagline for someone, i.e., Sarah Palin is an ignorant cunt, is much different that making an accusation that Sarah Palin really is a slut or a whore, and her actions prove it.

But - to my understanding - that is what Limbaugh did. He did not call the young lady "an ignorant slut"; instead, he stated that the reason she wanted contraceptives was due to her personal choice of actions, and that showed she was a slut and a whore.

The difference being that Maher only insulted one person, Sarah Palin, while Limbaugh, by framing his statement as he did, pointed a finger at all women who support the cause of birth control as being sluts and whores.

[kenberg]

I think Ellen DeGeneres is truly witty. That's for example. Just so you don't think I have no sense of humor at all. Tina Fey was hilarious with her impression of Sarah Palin. But I stopped equating crude with funny when I was about 12. Crude is ok, I can be crude. But in the two cases under discussion, it's stupid crude.

There are differences in the two cases. Of course. There are always differences. Not difference enough to impress me. but I acknowledge that there are differences.

OTOH, I admit that the list of people I don't find funny is rather long: Besides Maher, there is/was George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Woody Allen, for starters. Never cared for Monty Python either. I have no idea why the Marx Brothers were successful, except perhaps in a (that's a as in one) fifteen minute short. I was a big Sid Caesar fan though, but that was long ago. I watched maybe half of The Producers with Zero Mostel.

Anyway, back to politics. I could use a good laugh about now. I heard, if he was quoted correctly, that Gingrich described himself as a Tortoise and the other guys as Bunny Rabbits. I think he needs a new writer if he wants to do stand-up.

[Winstonm]

 kenberg, on 2012-March-09, 20:44, said:

I think Ellen DeGeneres is truly witty. That's for example. Just so you don't think I have no sense of humor at all. Tina Fey was hilarious with her impression of Sarah Palin. But I stopped equating crude with funny when I was about 12. Crude is ok, I can be crude. But in the two cases under discussion, it's stupid crude.

There are differences in the two cases. Of course. There are always differences. Not difference enough to impress me. but I acknowledge that there are differences.

OTOH, I admit that the list of people I don't find funny is rather long: Besides Maher, there is/was George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Woody Allen, for starters. Never cared for Monty Python either. I have no idea why the Marx Brothers were successful, except perhaps in a (that's a as in one) fifteen minute short. I was a big Sid Caesar fan though, but that was long ago. I watched maybe half of The Producers with Zero Mostel.

Anyway, back to politics. I could use a good laugh about now. I heard, if he was quoted correctly, that Gingrich described himself as a Tortoise and the other guys as Bunny Rabbits. I think he needs a new writer if he wants to do stand-up.

For the record, I don't think it is clever to be crude. Actually, it gets tiring to hear. I always appreciated the humor of Bill Cosby because he can make fun of the human condition without being crude or degrading.

[kenberg]

Bill Cosby is also on my list of people I don't think are funny. Although I really don't think people find me humorless, not at all really, there are quite a few comedians that bore me silly. Gene Wilder also.

[luke warm]

 Winstonm, on 2012-March-09, 17:22, said:

The difference being that Maher only insulted one person, Sarah Palin, while Limbaugh, by framing his statement as he did, pointed a finger at all women who support the cause of birth control as being sluts and whores.

to the point about him insulting only "one person"... really? you either haven't been listening or you're not being completely honest... i didn't actually hear limbaugh, but from what i read he wasn't attacking womanhood (except insomuch as a member of that group chooses to feel attacked)... as wrong as i think his words were, his words were directed at one young woman, not all women... it's funny that in all your denials about defending maher, your every post has such a defense

to ken - did you think stephen wright was funny? i thought he was hilarious

I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place.
Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories .
I went to a general store, but they wouldn't let me buy anything specific.

[kenberg]

I have never heard of steven wright, but the samples are my sort of humor.

[PassedOut]

 luke warm, on 2012-March-10, 08:59, said:

I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place.
Whenever I think of the past, it brings back so many memories.
I went to a general store, but they wouldn't let me buy anything specific.

Made my day -- thanks!

[Winstonm]

Quote

i didn't actually hear limbaugh, but from what i read he wasn't attacking womanhood

For posterity, here is the Limbaugh quote:

Quote

“What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her?” Limbaugh said on his radio show on Wednesday. “It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. What does that make us? We’re the pimps.”

That seems to me an attack on any woman who supports the mandatory contraception coverage - even if it is directed only at one person.

Compared to Maher's quote:

Quote

Did you hear this – Sarah Palin finally heard what happened in Japan and she’s demanding that we invade ‘Tsunami,’” Maher said. “I mean she said, ‘These ‘Tsunamians’ will not get away with this.’ Oh speaking of dumb tw**s, did you...”

Crude, yes. Are both uncalled for? Yes. Are they equivalent? No.

[Winstonm]

 kenberg, on 2012-March-10, 09:30, said:

I have never heard of steven wright, but the samples are my sort of humor.

My favorite line of his is: "I'm a caesarian baby. You can't tell it, though, except every time I leave the house I go out the window."

[ArtK78]

 Winstonm, on 2012-March-10, 10:17, said:

My favorite line of his is: "I'm a caesarian baby. You can't tell it, though, except every time I leave the house I go out the window."

There are so many great lines by Steven Wright. One that I like is that he came upon a 24 hour convenience store and saw the owner leaving and locking up. "I thought you were open 24 hours?" he said. To which the owner replied, "Not in a row!"

[kenberg]

A cartoon I saw many years ago had this bedraggled man tending the counter at Joe's 24 hour diner. He was telling a customer "I'm seriously thinking of taking on an assistant".

And I did actually live near a store with a sign saying "Open 24 hours" whose hours were something like 6am to 2 am. As I found out when I once went there at 3 am.

I gotta look up the Wright guy.

[y66]

 luke warm, on 2012-March-10, 08:59, said:

i didn't actually hear limbaugh, but from what i read he wasn't attacking womanhood (except insomuch as a member of that group chooses to feel attacked)... as wrong as i think his words were, his words were directed at one young woman, not all women.

Who said this?

Quote

So, Ms. Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here's the deal: If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. And I'll tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch....

The guy's a scumbag. Which is not to say he has a monopoly, obviously.

[luke warm]

 kenberg, on 2012-March-10, 14:43, said:

I gotta look up the Wright guy.

• I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wakeup letter
  
• My girlfriend's weird. One day she asked me, "If you could know how and when you were going to die, would you want to know?" I said, "No." She said, "Okay, forget it."
  
• Hermits have no peer pressure
  
• It doesn't matter what temperature a room is, it's always room temperature.

there are a lot of links for him... this is a good one

[awm]

Limbaugh can say what he wants. So can Mahr (who I do find funny, although often rude). What is interesting is listening to high-profile Republicans hem and haw when asked to repudiate what Limbaugh says. When Mahr made his comments (which were in poor taste but obviously intended as humor) was Obama even asked about it? I'd bet he wasn't (in part because Mahr's HBO show gets nowhere near Limbaugh's audience). And if he was, I think his answer might be a bit more condemning than Romney's implicit agreement that using birth control makes women sluts although he "wouldn't have used those words."

[Winstonm]

 luke warm, on 2012-March-11, 07:29, said:

• I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wakeup letter
  
• My girlfriend's weird. One day she asked me, "If you could know how and when you were going to die, would you want to know?" I said, "No." She said, "Okay, forget it."
  
• Hermits have no peer pressure
  
• It doesn't matter what temperature a room is, it's always room temperature.

there are a lot of links for him... this is a good one

I like this one: My uncle was a clown for Ringling Brothers Circus. When he died, all his friends came to funeral...in one car.