Monday, March 05, 2012

Pay Attention to What the Carrion Eaters Say

Eli does not usually get explicitly political, although there probably are not three bunnies on earth who could not guess where the Rabett stands politically (maybe slightly to the right of Bernie Sanders and somewhat more to the left of Barack O), but the recent Limbaugh meltdown has important lessons, and the one Eli wants to teach is don't follow fools down the rabbit hole (the Rabett hole also being a bad place to go).

As some emerging from a week long car wreck may recall, Rush has been forced to apologize (not gracefully) to a Ms. Flake for calling her a slut and a prostitute for supporting Obama's gambit, requiring birth control (pills) be covered by health insurance as a medication/device.  According to Rush

What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? 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. The johns. That's right. We would be the johns. No! ... Pimp's not the right word. Okay, so she's not a slut. She's round-heeled. I take it back.
Eli's barnyard colleague, the Capitalist Imperialist Pig, put it pretty well
The wimpier Republicans are fleeing Flush Limbaugh's little adventure in calling a law student who testified before Congress a "slut" and volunteering to set himself up as her pimp. Never fear, though, little Stevie Landsburg Rushes in where logic, taste, and an understanding of the actual question at issue fear to tread.
Go read the comments at Stevie Landsburg's blog for a taste, but, Eli says, and here Eli is always right, the Pig, and everyone else are missing the real point.

So let Eli tell you exactly how stupid Limbaugh, Landsburg, Lubos and  the jackels are:  No slut, whore, what have you, uses birth control pills today to let them screw about.  Why not?  Have the clowns not heard about HIV??  Birth control pills are no barriers to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Birth control pills as birth control are used by women in committed if not married relationships.  They are also used to control the pain of menstruation and other conditions.  In other words they are pharmaceuticals used to control biological functions.  They are medicines.  Health insurance covers medicines, and if you are lucky enough to be covered, it even covers some for others that you will never use.


This has been another dispiriting example of the takeover of conservatism by the carrion eaters and our acceptance of their framing.

36 comments:

dhogaza said...

Actually the second comment over at Stevie's is just fine:

" It looks like her letter would be better used as an argument for moving the USA away from a reliance on private insurance, towards a system proven by example to provide healthcare at lower cost."

Yes, sir!

Anonymous said...

Rush's comments were despicable, nasty, vile, and degrading to women.

I wish he would just shut his face, retire and never be heard from again.


There is no possibility to have a reasonable discourse on the topic of contraceptive coverage thanks to Rush.



Celery Eater

EliRabett said...

Well yes, but they were also completely irrelevant and mislead everyone into idiocy.

Anonymous said...

@Eli Rabett

will you level the same charge at Bill Maher, for calling Sarah Palin such names as "cunt" and "dumb twat"? My guess is you will stay silent and reinforce the double standard like you always do.

Will Obama return the $1 million dollars Maher donated? Probably not, because the left wing can do and say whatever they want and have no consequences.

The only point Sandra Puke made that has any validity is that some of those pills can be used for health reasons, as Eli indicates. However, I totally disagree that only women in committed relationships are using these pills.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Jay Cadbury, phd.

"Health insurance covers medicines"

no, that is extremely misleading. Singulair is often used for asthmatics but it works better than anything else for allergies also. So I now absolutely demand that my singulair be covered with no co pay.

This is the can of worms that has opened up.

J Bowers said...

Steve Landsburg deletes comments, by the way. A true "hardcore libertarian"... not.

J Bowers said...

"Dumb twat" is equivalent to "village idiot" where I'm from. Used by many pensioners, even. In fact, the ghostly Annie in a recent episode of the BBC's 'Being Human' used "twattage" to convey a sense of "dumbfuckery" in another character's actions.

a_ray_in_dilbert_space said...

Isn't it interesting that some of those moaning loudest about overpopulation are also those screeching the loudest about having insurance companies pay for contraception.

Dudes, if I'm an insurance company, I want the women on my plan to be taking birth control--it is cheaper than either an abortion or a birth.

a_ray_in_dilbert_space said...

I'm fine saying Maher is a sexist dumbass. No problem at all. Also an anti-vaxxer. About 100 times as funny as Rush, though. And Sarah is dumber than owl droppings.

bluegrue said...

It shows, that none of those right wing bloggers actually listened to the testimony. Fluke was reporting amongst others about a female friend who was refused contraception medication she needed for medical reasons. She paid for it out of her own pocket as long as she could, but finally had to drop it. That friend developed a cyst and had to have one of her ovaries removed as a consequence. As a consequence she now seems to be in early menopause at the age of 32. She was denied the contraceptives on the assumption that all she really wanted was birth control. Did I mention that woman is gay?

http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony_-_Sandra_Fluke.pdf

dbostrom said...

The only point Sandra Puke made...

Ah, the army of Gumby has downloaded its approved terminology!

Anonymous said...

The only point Sandra Puke made...

Yet another useless comment from yet another useless food-tube.

J Bowers said...

Limbaugh's being hit where it really must hurt: his pocket. AOL, Allstate, Carbonite and Proflowers have pulled the plug, and KPUA in Hawaii's stopped airing his show.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, in Australia, there has been an attempt by the federal Labor government to remove private healthcare rebates for folk who earn several hundred thousand dollars ($166k/couple, I think) or more. This section of the population is over-represented by folk who despise social welfare for the disadvantaged, but the squeals of protest that they should receive no rebates for paying health insurance is enough to wake the dead.

Amongst many of Australia's conservative rich, it seems that welfare is permissible only for them and their companies...


Bernard J. Hyphen-Anonymous XVII, Esq.

Richard Mercer said...

@ J Bowers

There are now 12 advertisers of Rush that have ditched him, according to Randi Rhodes, who I was listening to today.

Now there's someone that knows how to cover this topic

David B. Benson said...

Yes, them's not actually conservatives. Instead malign buzzrds [who perform a useful service] by calling them carrion eaters.

THE CLIMATE WARS said...

Rushbo is truly the git that keeps on giving :

http://adamant.typepad.com/seitz/2007/11/rush-to-judgeme.html

Anonymous said...

Dr. Jay Cadbury, phd.

Okay so somebody here explain why the insurance companies shouldn't cover my allergy medication.

Anonymous said...

Look, all you have to do is call your insurance company and tell them if they don't cover your allergy medication, you will fire them and hire an insurance company that does. That is the liberdumbtarian way, so get on with it.

J Bowers said...

"Okay so somebody here explain why the insurance companies shouldn't cover my allergy medication."

Move to England. A Salbutamol inhaler costs around £75, but your GP would probably put four in a £7.40 prescription. If you moved to Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales they'd be completely free. Then there are PPCs.

Jeffrey Davis said...

It's cheaper to pay for contraception than for children. Women using contraception underwrite the policies of women who don't.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Jay Cadbury, phd.

oh no, oh no. You see J Bowers, this is what we said Sandra Puke should do (work at a college that isn't Catholic) and we were told that we jerks.

So I want my day in the sun like miss Puke. I want to go before congress and testify about how tough my life is because I have to pay for my allergy medication.

John said...

To Cadbury,

If you want your day in the sun on coverage of your allergy medication then you need to call Rep. Issa: 202-225-3906

No amount of whining on this thread will get you the chance to testify before congress that you seek.

When you fail at that then you'll have even more "reason" to condemn the young woman who did get a hearing.

John Puma

a_ray_in_dilbert_space said...

Tell ya what, Jaybird, why don't you and your buddy Rush go get 3rd degree burns over 80% of your body, and then, if you live, we'll let you testify.

You lying, worthless scumbag. Sandra Fluke is a citizen petitioning her fricking government as is her right under the fricking Constitution. She doesn't deserve this sort of treatment you misogynic (that means woman-hating, you cretin) turd.

Anonymous said...

@a_ray

I just love it. Bill Maher can say something twice as bad but you won't call him on it. BECAUSE HE'S LIBERAL!

I've said Rush's choice of words wasn't the best but his overall point is correct.

J Bowers said...

"I've said Rush's choice of words wasn't the best but his overall point is correct."

Excluding an increase in chlamydia and other STDs, of course (something Landsburg didn't want to read about).

Anonymous said...

@J Bowers

your random outbursts are humorous but you're basically conceding my point by avoiding the issue.

a_ray_in_dilbert_space said...

Hey assclown @ 11:47 AM
re:Maher.
http://rabett.blogspot.com/2012/03/pay-attention-to-what-carrion-eaters.html?showComment=1330974247776#c7628151545250450965

Now go die in a horrible vacuum cleaner accident.

J Bowers said...

@ (irritatingly entitled) Anonymous

You make too many assumptions. Who the hell is Bill Maher? Why do you assume that I'm a liberal? What do you think "US liberal" equates to here in the UK; as liberal as Margaret Thatcher? I live in a country that's had real socialists, not make believe ones, in government.

ligne said...

"So I want my day in the sun like miss Puke."

seriously, how old are you? eight?

Jim Eager said...

What ligne said.

And he's being generous.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Jay Cadbury, phd.

@J Bowers

Why do I assume you're a liberal! You kidding me! Bowers, you are strongly advocating for massive command and control government economics! I haven't seen one free market solution from you.

As a conservative, I simply believe caring for the environment is personal responsibility. I know that there are people and companies who won't but instead of attacking them, I ignore or avoid them. I also look at things like how much natural co2 is emitted versus manmade, and when I discover that the natural portion dwarfs the manmade, it tells me that it's not a problem.

We're looking at the same data Bowers, it is our opinions that differ. Also, Bill Maher is a tv personality big mouth, similar to Rush but not nearly as talented. He calls women far worse names than what Rush called Sandra Fluke. He's made comments about Hilary Clinton, Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin to name a few.

a_ray is just a complete coward who refuses to acknowledge the double standard.

Jim Eager said...

Jaybird wrote: "I also look at things like how much natural co2 is emitted versus manmade, and when I discover that the natural portion dwarfs the manmade, it tells me that it's not a problem."

This tells me that Jaybird fails to notice or outright ignores that natural absorption of co2 significantly exceeds natural emission of CO2, while there is zero manmade absorption of co2.

In other words, it tells me that Jaybird is falling for or using an obvious carny deception.

a_ray_in _dilbert_space said...

Ah, I see the problem. Jaybird is either too lazy to reference or too illiterate to read the post where I explicitly call Maher a sexist dumbass. I will post the quote here, so that we can distinguish between diagnoses of laziness and illiteracy"

"I'm fine saying Maher is a sexist dumbass."

Now, Jay, apologize and then go swallow a hatchet.

Anonymous said...

Snow Bunny says:
A medicine that relieves or prevents pain, anemia, bloating, overall discomfort also prevents conception so nobody can have it. Because it might enable them to have too much fun.
Once upon a time, before there was a "pill", girls used to take Midol to get through the school day on some days. Now they get thrown out of school for taking an over the counter drug.
Women have special medical problems that men don't really understand. Issa's house committee only had men testify about wanting their religious freedom to impose their "values" on others. No doctors testified either. We thought this sort of nonsense had gone away decades ago.
The nerve of a multiply married man castigating women for having fun. Yes we can! A man who sleeps around is never called a 'slut' or a 'whore'.
It disgusts me that the Republican party has degenerated to this. I do hope they are tossed out on their buns in November. A lot of women are angry at the outbreak of attacking women's health care.
Thanks for the way off topic post, Eli.

ligne said...

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result seriously, who gives a shit? one measly shilling is an insignificant fraction of total income, so it's just not possible for such a small change to cause a problem.