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Help Defend Rush Limbaugh - Atheists for Rush
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Adriana on -
Well, here's an atheist that sort of defends him for the wrong reasons, I think. I disagree with Maher, because nobody is interfering with Limbaugh's freedom of speech, nobody wants to jail him or prevent him from speaking his hideous bile, but in a free society we have the right to find his speech repulsive and to say so, and to make advertisers aware that a sector of the public finds his speech reprehensible. That's how capitalism works, besides.
Last night on his show, Bill Maher defended his defense of Rush Limbaugh's freedom of speech, which he said drew ire from some of his usual allies on the internet. After prefacing that he does not agree with Limbaugh at all, he believes that it's important not to systematically shut him down because of his statements about Sandra Fluke or otherwise.
"I'm not defending him," said Maher, "I'm defending living in a country where people don't have to be afraid that they might go out of the bounds for one minute. Do we all want to be talking like White House spokesmen?... The message of freedom of speech is most critical when the message is one most would find repulsive." Do you agree? Watch over on his site here.
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Permalink Reply by doone on -
Maher still has scars from the post 9/11 period and its impact on his ABC show. I can understand why he would say this...
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Permalink Reply by Neal on -
The broadcast came to an end months after Maher made a controversial comment on the September 17, 2001, episode of the show. While discussing the characterization of 9/11 terrorists as cowards, Maher stated, “We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it’s not cowardly”.
Maher’s comment was certainly received as “politically incorrect” to some, including Federal Express and Sears who soon after pulled their advertisements from the show. Some ABC affiliates canceled “Politically Incorrect” from their schedule and White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, issued a statement: “people have to watch what they say and watch what they do”. Despite the backlash, ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun stated that the controversial material discussed on the show had no bearing in its cancellation.
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Permalink Reply by Adriana on
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Well, unfortunately I think Maher's comment has a grain of truth in it (especially the first part, because it can be argued that killing innocent civilians is an act of cowardice, no matter how daring one would have to be to carry out a kamikaze attack); but only an idiot would say anything like that right after 9/11, though.
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Permalink Reply by Ivan C. Wiegand on -
I dunno, I kind of agree with Maher. I don't think he's saying that anyone is trying to take away Rush's right to free speech. I think he's reacting to the hyper-sensitive and overractionary state advertisers seem to think people are in. I think people would let things slide more if they didn't think they could complain to a company because they were offended by what someone on a show they sponsor says, and have that company fold under the pressure. We give way too much credence to the hysterical reactions of people who are easily offended, and I think those people are in the minority. I think when a business pull advertising because of what a known controversial advertiser says, they are just kowtowing to that hysteria. For instance, any advertiser that works with Howard Stern goes into it knowing they guy will always be pushing the envelope. Rush does the same thing, only, rational people find most of what he says to be reprehensible. I think everyone just needs to calm the fuck down. Political correctness is mostly bullshit. People love to get offended and try to silence others for their words. They are just words. Rush is a mostly harmless idiot, like Howard Stern. I think we spend way too much time worrying about what people say and a way too little time paying attention to what people DO. Yes, words influence behavior but behavior influences it way more. This whole thing is indicative of a deeper issue and I think Maher is one of few people on the air who recognize that.
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Permalink Reply by Victor Rubicon on -
Maher is a man-child, and this is his latest over-excited statement. He's not all bad, just, ya know, a man-child.
The reaction in general to Rush Limbaugh's backward comments was heightened all around precisely because leading right-wingers are waging an war against the rights of women (when are they not) to prop up their candidates who will run against Obama. The right with their bad campaign antics has basically given Obama the green light to take the high ground on this issue and defend it as his own.
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