... And Joy Behar Is A Know-Nothing Bitch!

In this clip from "The View", co-host Joy Behar calls radio host Rush Limbaugh a terrorist:



Now, before I go any further, I must say that I am not a regular listener of Rush Limbaugh's, although I know plenty about him, having spent 19 years with him hosting the midday show on WMAL. I am not a fan, per se, but I do admire him as one of radio's greatest legends of all time. You can hate the man's politics, you can find him to be obnoxious, or snide, or pompous. But you cannot deny his impact on the talk radio industry. Rush Limbaugh is - in total fact - the most-listened-to man in America.


A couple of things really bother me about this institutional hatred of Rush. First of all, I strongly suspect that most of his critics have never spent more than 5 minutes listening to him on the radio, and therefore, their criticisms of him are simply ill-formed and invalid. People hate his politics, they personalize that hatred, and turn Limbaugh, in their minds, into some sort of Hitleresque monster.

The fact is, Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer - and a brilliant one at that! He knows exactly how to massage his audience to attain maximum results. I'm quite sure that , ideologically, Rush believes what he says, but you must know there are two Rush Limbaughs... The one for public consumption, and the private Rush who spent years crafting the Limbaugh persona. The difference between private Rush and the Great and Powerful Oz is that Rush is way too smart to ever let you see the man behind the curtain! But trust me when I tell you that while Limbaugh's shtick is not an act, it's also true that he ramps it WAY up for his audience.

Limbaugh is unique... and when I say unique, I mean it in the literal sense. There are many pretenders to his throne, but none who can hold a candle to his talent on the air.

The great irony I find in Joy Behar's comments is that she and he are basically doing the exact same job, albeit on opposite ends of the political spectrum. "The View" and Rush Limbaugh have different audiences, but both shows exist for the same reason - to present a point of VIEW that will help listeners/viewers shape their own opinions.

So Joy - aren't you just the pot calling the kettle black, you li'l terrorist?

Hey, Women! Can We Practice Some Civility?

Look, folks. I GET that I'm in the minority - especially around these parts - when it comes to admiring Sarah Palin. But I truly do not understand where the hatred and lack of respect towards her is coming from - especially among women.

I was reading a blog today that is managed by a group of women whom I respect and like very much. Here is the headline written about Sarah Palin:

You don't have to like Sarah Palin, and you certainly don't have to vote for her. But isn't it a slap to all women for a woman to call Sarah Palin a BITCH?

This is not an isolated case. Here's another example from one of my friends on Facebook - celebrating the fact that Sarah Palin has been turned into the subject of a porn video.

In all seriousness, is it disrespectful or demeaning to call a woman a bitch or to cast her image in a porn video ONLY if she's an Eastern Liberal elitist with a blueblood educational background? Do the same rules not apply to women who fall outside of that range?

It seems to me this is the equivalent of African-Americans saying it's OK to call each other "niggers", but it's not OK for non-blacks to use the word.

I'm not alone in feeling this way - Even Whoopi Goldberg, who is NO FAN of Sarah Palin, came out on "The View" yesterday and admitted the way other women have been treating Palin is disgraceful.

"Yeah, it’s horrible that she has gotten this much and- gotten this much rage in such a short amount of time. And I guess people don’t remember that when Hillary was running because maybe she ran- she had been out there longer and it was easier to take those same kind of ugly pot shots. You know, there’s something about strong women or women running that brings out the worst in people whether it’s on the Democratic side or the, or the Republican side, the point of the fact is, it’s crappy."

You all want to feel so morally superior in your disrespect, but all you are doing is shooting yourselves in the foot. This is a step backward for women... and not just the ones who know how to field dress a moose.

The N-Word

Usually, I try to be as timely as possible when presenting these blog entries... But I'm at least two full days beyond the news cycle on this one.


When it was revealed that Jesse Jackson used the "N-Word" during his Barack Obama nuts-cutting microphone scandal on Sunday, I hesitated to blog about it. After all, the N-word is about as nuclear as you can get these days. Its political and social implications go far deeper than I would ever care to discuss here. In fact, even as I write this, I feel as though I'm in a mine field... one slight misstep, and I'm a goner. So I shall tread carefully and bulletpoint my thoughts.

• Jesse Jackson is an ass and a hypocrite who has spent his career taking two steps forward and one step back on the issues of civil rights. Unfortunately, Jesse is spending more time these days taking one step forward and two steps back.

You know what? After sitting here for several more minutes, I realize there's not much more I can say about this. I had prepared a couple of video clips, including a killer quote from "Blazing Saddles" and a clip of Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Whoopi Goldberg arguing about the N-word. I have some definite thoughts about the issue, but I also don't need the hassle of trying to explain myself by potentially offending someone.

Of course, this also makes me guilty of cowardice and sloth, I suppose... But I think I'd rather be scared and lazy than be accused of being a racist.

I will say this. I am a First amendment hawk. I believe our right to use words as we choose is what ultimately gives us our greatest freedoms as Americans. The censorship of potentially offensive words only serves to empower those words... and empowers the asses who use them.