Bill Maher Stands Up For Rush Limbaugh, Decries Advertiser Intimidation

[DearAbby]

Bill Maher stood up for beseiged talk show host Rush Limbaugh via Twitter late Tuesday, tweeting “Hate to defend #RushLimbaugh but he apologized, liberals looking bad not accepting. Also hate intimidation by sponsor pullout.”


http://www.mediaite.com/online/bill-maher-stands-up-for-rush-limbaugh-decries-advertiser-intimidation/


Apparently Bill has no clue either, but then I don't expect someone who has no children to understand the impact Limbaugh's 53 vicious attacks against Sandra Fluke. Limbaugh only apologized for two words...the other 51 verbal attacks he wasn't sorry for. What apology?

Rush, during one of his tirades asked Sandra Fluke "Who purchased your condoms in Junior High School?" That was the most disgusting thing I have ever heard, it was creepy in a perverted way. Chester the Molester sort of way. I suppose you have to be a parent to understand how repugnant that was...and he was not sorry for it...and Romney would have used different words to describe it...OH REALLY!?

[elleng]

1. Sorry, Bill, that was no apology.

Glad I don't watch him.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Different Sides Of The Same Coin...

In many ways Mahrer and rushbo have similar stylings. They use ridicule to attack a target (usually a public figure) and face a lot of negative reaction for it. I'm betting Mahrer is seeing what happened to him when he spoke out against all the 9/11 hysteria and calling bin Laden a hero as what's happening to rushbo. Call it Stockholm Syndrome. Mahrer would end up losing sponsors and subsequently his ABC show.

Once again, Mahrer seems to be tone deaf as to how nasty rushbo's tirades were and how so many people were offended on a visceral level. As you state, there was no apology, just the regret that he didn't use other words. Maybe Mahrer thinks he's being "bigger" by standing by the first ammendment and throwing rushbo a lifeline...

[Ikonoklast]

23. Maher sees women in the same light as Limbaugh.

As "things".

Neither can understand why they are wrong.

[Uncle Joe]

46. Except nothing in the First Amendment requires anyone or anything to subsidize another

person's speech.

If I find what you say to be most objectionable and/or harmful to me or my business, I'm not required to give you my advertising dollars.

[xxqqqzme]

3. He didn't apologize for the two

words either. He said they were inappropriate - hate to think what he considers appropriate!

And no Bill, THAT was not an apology.

[tsuki]

4. Sorry Bill. In the Land of Mammon, dollars are free speech and

votes. Learn to live with it.

[JaneQPublic]

5. Both members of the He-Man Woman-Haters Club (nt)

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

6. Rush came out in favor the Dixie Chicks boycott

so all's fair.

[yankeepants]

7. I am not a parent

and, yet, miraculously, I get it how hateful and damaging R Lim's tirade was/is.

Please, please stop discounting people who have no children as being unable to see or feel the impact of a situation such as this.

This is discrimination.

[DearAbby]

8. Noted

My apologies.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

10. +1, that bugs the hell out of me too. n/t

[Fawke Em]

9. Bill is an asshole

and a misogynist.

His funny quips aren't enough to keep this woman interested. Maybe he'd be for marriage if he could learn that women are his equal. Maybe he wouldn't, but I don't think he likes women, much. He just lusts after them, which is fine, if that's not the ONLY thing.

[JDPriestly]

11. Maher is wrong. Limbaugh apologized for calling Sandra Fluke a derogatory

name, but he did not apologize for his more serious transgression: lying, blatantly and viciously lying about what Sandra Fluke said in her testimony before the Congressional committee.

Maher needs to read the transcript of Sandra Fluke's testimony, and then he will realize that Limbaugh can't just apologize to her. Sandra Fluke is just a sweet, sincere young woman, and slander is not a joke.

This is not about Limbaugh's opinions or his freedom of speech. This is about lies that seriously harm an ordinary citizen's reputation.

[appleannie1]

12. As a mother and grandmother, he is WRONG. Limbaugh attacked every decent young woman in this

nation when he attacked that young woman. He said things that rapists would say. He said things that child molesters would say. He requested her to make a tape of her sexual performances so he would have fresh porn to view. He never, not once, apologized for any of that.

[ibegurpard]

13. Limbaugh's been getting away with obnoxious political speech for 20 years

This is not just an attempt to silence someone with whom one disagrees...he went so far over the line this time it was breathtaking.

[Skittles]

14. Bill is a smarmy fuck

while is is right so often, that does not excuse his misogyny

[Dorian Gray]

26. Smarmy is the right word for

Bill Maher. Rush... there are so many horrible words to describe him.

[seabeyond]

31. smarmy is a good word. agreed. nt

[UnrepentantLiberal]

15. I've never been a big fan of Bill Maher.

I don't think he's that funny. He's always seemed like an arrogant prick to me. Not all the time, but I've always had that feeling about him.

[Quantess]

16. Stupid move for Bill Maher to take a side.

I can understand why he doesn't explicitly side against Rush Limbaugh because then he would be a hypocrite. But he's dumb to take Rush's side.

Bill Maher is sexist too, but he has other redeeming qualities. He's intelligent and funny. But now, I'm not so sure the good qualities make up for the sexism and misogyny.

My opinion of Bill Maher just went down several notches.

[Motown_Johnny]

17. one misogynist defending another

not surprising



Ya know, I held a grudge against Mahr for his statements during the 2000 election season right up until he offered that $1 million check to Pres. Obama's Super Pac. At that point I decided it was time to forgive him because he finally made a meaningful gesture to make amends.

If he keeps this kinda shit up I just might change my mind.


Rush "apologized" for two words. No more and no less. Two.

[eShirl]

18. "I suppose you have to be a parent to understand how repugnant that was..." Please.

No need to trample those of us without children on your way to slamming Maher. We were ALL Junior High students at one time.

[90-percent]

19. I like Bill a lot

but he's wrong on this one.

It wasn't an apology at all. Just because Rush said it was an apology doesn't make it so.

"I'm sorry I said two not nice words about this slutty prostitute that testified before Congress about insurance coverage for the clinically oversexed"* really isn't very sincere.

-90% Jimmy

*not an actual quote. My hyperbolic version of how I understood his "apology" Now I must be going to the next Port to jump on the lover I keep stashed there.

[sendero]

20. Dear Bill..

.... uttering something like "I'm sorry but those leftists made me do it" is NOT an apology. An inherent feature of an apology is true contrition, Rush has shown none.

You "free market" worshippers are hypocrites, not a surprise, when the "free market" doesn't do what you want. And no doubt that your defense of Limbaugh contains a large portion of "but for the grace of god go I".

Why should an advertiser support someone that might well COST him/her business? Some people need to realize that just because they have been getting away with murder for decades doesn't mean they always will.

[cordelia]

21. Not the least bit surprised.

[HuckleB]

22. Pro-Disease Billy Strikes Again.

[NewJeffCT]

24. Republics are using Maher & Ed Schultz to defend Rush

They're saying that its liberal media bias that it wasn't a media firestorm when Bill Maher (a comedian) called Sarah Palin the "c" word, or when Ed Schultz called Laura Ingraham a "right wing slut"

Schultz apologized for his remarks, though, and Maher is a comedian. Schultz also said it once, if I recall, and the Big Fat Idiot Limbaugh went on about Fluke for 3-4 days...

[Warren Stupidity]

25. This still isn't about what billy did.

[pecwae]

27. They're both in

show business and will both hate sponsor intimidation. Two feathers of the same bird.

[nanabugg]

28. Maybe Bill would like to also join the boycott? Never have liked him. nt

[veganlush]

29. Bill's wrong

and it's not "advertiser intimidation" it's the free market at work. Boycotting is just a much a tool of free markets as adverting is.

[DCKit]

30. I love you Bill, but you should've kept your mouth shut on this one.

Unless you consider all women sluts (and I think you do), his position is indefensible.

There's not much else on HBO that keeps us paying an extra fee, so STFU until after you've actually talked (and listened) to a woman about WHY what OxyRush said is so offensive that we'd pile on his advertisers.

Seriously, I don't want to see you lose another show. Leave it alone.

[exboyfil]

35. What if Obama's SuperPAC returns the $1M

to Bill Maher and tells him to please apologize and stop using vile words to describe political opponents in the future. Obama's Sister Soulja moment so to speak. I think he would get more than $1M in free advertising from such a move.

Schultz is an entirely different situation. He apologized almost immediately, it was a single utterance, and he took a week's suspension. He also apologized (really apologized) publicly in the same forum, and took far more time for the apology than the transgression took (Rush would have to apologize for a week to reach the same ratio).

[ProSense]

39. I like that idea.

Anyone defending this pig is despicable.

[Sparkly]

32. Does he know the facts?

I have to wonder if some of the people commenting are basing their remarks on the matter as they heard about it. It's hard to believe they've actually read Fluke's testimony and the ridiculous 3-day attacks.

[boston bean]

33. Bill Maher is a misogynist. So, I really can see how he could come to Rush's defense. nt

[Sparkly]

34. There's that, too.

I've always known that about him, and it's so disappointing.

He'll be going along, I'll be laughing and agreeing, then all of a sudden he says something that's just so offensive to women, it's like a bucket of cold water poured on me. Eeesh.

[quispquake]

36. There is a reason for Maher's statement

Firstly, I DO NOT AGREE with Maher here...Limpballs went WAY over the line (again), and is reaping what he sows...And for Maher to say the apology was enough...well IT WASN'T...I've heard Maher eviscerate Rush on his show before, so I know they are NOT friends by any means.

BUT, when Maher was kicked off of ABC after 9-11, he said that Rush was one of the only people to stand up for him, for First Amendment reasons...I think that's why Maher is sticking up for Rush here...Maher got kicked off of ABC for saying a HELLUVA lot less than Rush does every day, but I think he's looking at it as a First Amendment issue.

Once again, I think Maher is way off here....By attacking a private citizen, Rush blew it big time...I don't think Maher took that into consideration...

[Erose999]

37. Rush is a creepy ass fucking pedophile. Caught in the Dominican Republic June '06 with a bottle of

Viagra that wasn't in his name. He was divorced from his 4th wife at the time. What did he need the blue pills for if he was not married? Well, the dominican Republic is WELL KNOWN as a destination for sex tourism and human trafficking.

Limbaugh is a fucking creep, and to use one of his own yarns, he's "the worst kind of human excrement".

[DCKit]

51. Just to clarify...

He was caught coming back from the DR with the Viagra. The script was his doctor's.

[cliffordu]

38. HEY- MY CAT, CHESTER THE MOLESTER

NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT WOMEN.

[JNelson6563]

40. Bill Maher is 100% for

Bill Maher.

It just cracks me up how some hear a sentence they like from someone and BOOM! That someone gets elevated to "enlightened being", never to be criticized for ANYTHING, EVER.

Maher is a self-promoting asshole who gets it right some of the time. No surprise here.

Julie

[One of the 99]

41. Just one racist/misogynist

sticking up for another. He stuck up for Imus too. Bill seems to think that the right of free speech is also the right to have a talk show and have other people pay for it.

[LynneSin]

42. Bill Maher should know about being chased off regular TV

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Maher#Politically_Incorrect_with_Bill_Maher

ABC decided against renewing Maher's contract for Politically Incorrect in 2002, after he made a controversial on-air remark shortly after the September 11 attacks.[15] He agreed with his guest, conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza, that the 9/11 terrorists did not act in a cowardly manner (in rebuttal to President Bush's statement calling 9/11 hijackers cowards). Maher said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right." Maher later clarified that his comment was not anti-military in any way whatsoever, referencing his well-documented longstanding support for the American military.[16][17][18]

In the context of the attacks, some corporate advertisers found the comment too insensitive and controversial. Several companies, including FedEx and Sears Roebuck, pulled their advertisements from the show, costing the show more than it returned.

[Johonny]

43. I hate intimidation by sponsor pullout also

because these sponsors are so phoney. Pretending to just figure out the content of show and pretending before this the show was the kind of place and speech they'd like to sponsor. It shows them to be as fake and disgusting as Rush. They were perfectly happy to sponsor hate speech until someone noticed they were doing it. Now they fake surprise. The shows been on for 30 years and Rush has been the same hate filled antiwomen gas bag throughout. So why now Mr. CEO?

[Puzzledtraveller]

49. Excellent point

One thing I cannot stomach is phony outrage.

[shcrane71]

44. Why do Limbaugh and Maher think they are entitled to our limited broadcast spectrum?

These people do not recognize or respect the great privilege they have been given by having access to such a large microphone. When your speech discriminates against a group of people and you are allowed a microphone to say such things, then the public that OWNS the broadband spectrum, collectively, is going to rebel. Sure, the public has been slow to act on Limbaugh. He's delusional if he thought that his bullying wouldn't eventually lead to this type of backlash.

Maher & Limbaugh are acting like complete idiots, and I say acting because I'm sure they realize the power of the FCC. I'm sure they understand why the FCC has powers, of the democratically elected government, to regulate the information, entertainment, and ideas broadcast on our limited airwaves. Ok, Maher -- a considerably poorer entertainer -- understands this better than Limbaugh.

[Jamaal510]

45. Dammit Bill I thought you were smarter than that.

[Aerows]

47. It wasn't an apology

I'll stand up for him when a real one comes out of his mouth. He'd have to admit wrong-doing, something he's to cowardly to do.

And you Bill Maher? You stand up for him? You are just as cowardly because you are terrified that he would criticize YOU.

Bill Maher, sometimes I love you, but on this one? Lets go back to being polite, awkward strangers that don't want to have anything to do with each other, but keep getting shoved into the same seat on an Amtrak.

[frylock]

48. bill maher is an asshole..

he may be our asshole, but he's an asshole nonetheless.

[SunSeeker]

50. Epic fail, Bill. THIS is an apology:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/26/ed-schultz-apologizes-laura-ingraham_n_867308.html

1. You say that what you did was wrong (Ed: "terribly vile&quot and mean it (Ed choked up).

2. You take "full responsibility" (Ed used those words) for what you did as opposed to Rush who blamed his words on "the left."

3. You promise never to do it again (Ed did, Rush didn't).

We can't accept Rush's apology because it was not an apology.

Bill, I very much admire your courage when it comes to speaking truth to power, especially when it comes to religion. But you seem to have a blind spot when it comes to abuse of women. Maybe it's all that time you spend at the Playboy mansion with that octagenarian who uses women as cock rings. You've lost a big chunk of my respect, Bill.

[Darth_Kitten]

52. Plenty of people with children think Sandra Fluke got what she "deserved"

You don't have to have a child to be outraged.

[pipoman]

53. LOL..what a schmuck

I posted this just last week in another thread about Maher:

"myself? I've been driven to complete indifference toward the guy, he is a comedian (and not that funny I might add) with the same things everyone else has..an a-hole and opinions..sometimes the latter are actually the product of the former.."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/117218483