It is truly interesting to me that there are
actually people who are supporting the mean-spirited and unsupported personal
attack recently launched by a radio talk show host on a witness testifying on
women’s healthcare. Mr. Limbaugh issued the opinion that Ms. Fluke was a slut
and a whore. This is such a ridiculous error in logic and lapse in decorum that
I could not let it pass.
A friend of mine started a discussion on his
facebook page about the issue and I was surprised to see that there were
friends of his actually supporting the comments of Mr. Limbaugh. The commenter
also called the people saying that Rush was out-of-line hypocritical. He asked
how we defend our calling Rush names for his calling Ms. Fluke names.
There is a difference between stating a
demonstrable fact (i.e. Rush Limbaugh launches unwarranted and mean-spirited
attacks) and making personal attacks that are neither based on personal
knowledge nor on supportable fact (i.e. a woman testifying before congress about a woman’s health issue
is a “Whore” because she uses birth control and wants it covered by her
insurance).
There is a difference between stating a
demonstrable fact (i.e. Rush Limbaugh launches unwarranted and mean-spirited
attacks) and making personal attacks that are neither based on personal
knowledge nor on supportable fact (i.e. a woman testifying before congress about a woman’s health issue
is a “Whore” because she uses birth control and wants it covered by her
insurance).
His last
comment is an interesting one: “More Government = Less Freedom, there is no
gray area here!”
Government is a necessary evil. Without it the
society falls prey to the baser elements in it. Without the government there is
no social safety net. Without the government there is no regulation assuring a
safe food and drug supply. Or do you really believe that the free market will
assure that faceless multi-national corporations will act ethically out of some
altruistic drive? If this is your premise, I would suggest you enroll in a good
history course or two. Before the governments
stepped in corporations were polluting the air and water, the food supply
was handled in an unsafe manner. There were known poisonous and carcinogenic
agents used in food preparation and in the manufacture of children’s toys.
That is what less government means along with
the personal freedom that I agree with you is a good thing. So no, in all cases
less government is not a good thing. Unfortunately the gray areas are larger
than the black and white combined.
I’ll step back off the soap box now.
Wherever you are today I hope you will take an
active voice in the political discussion!
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