The F Word… By Whitney Farmer – Un Pop Culture | @MDWorld

March 7, 2012 Whitney Farmer 0 Comments

Whitney runs a rock music venue on the beach in L.A.. She has an M.B.A, and is Christian and abstinent.

Forgiveness.

Ironically, it is a topic that incites contention. It is in the news this week because of the recent broadcast of Rush Limbaugh wherein he broadly cast prosecutable hate-speech at law student Sandra Fluke from Georgetown University who has been advocating for the last few years for her school to cover contraception in student health services.  These services typically in higher education are the only coverage available to students, particularly if they are on financially-based scholarships or are independent of their parents’ households. Most are familiar with a portion of Limbaugh’s assault wherein he called the poised testifier a slut and prostitute. Less are familiar with the latter part of his offense. In it, he called out for women who receive coverage for contraception to videotape their sexual encounters and submit them to Rush Limbaugh et al for personal enjoyment.

Limbaugh, who has supported his drug addiction and Viagra-fueled serial adultery/fornication with a premium health insurance policy, issued the following …apology?…on his website and is now demanding forgiveness in the form of advertising dollars in various public discourse forums:

A Statement from Rush

March 03, 2012

For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.

My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.

The dissonance that stirs up the heart and mind when reading this is telling. This man did not apologize. This man has no regret. The content and sentiment behind the vocabulary was unchanged, and Limbaugh was unrepentant. To paraphrase Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report”, Limbaugh – who gets paid money for doing things with his mouth – is losing advertisers and is trying to preserve his media empire. He got caught.

In situations such as this, it is interesting to observe not the offender’s first public interaction post-sin, but the second. A disingenuous façade starts to buckle as the scrutiny and testing continues. In this case, Limbaugh has attempted to spin his violation in a way that promotes his media brand and financial bread-and-butter. And he has been silent regarding his horrifying and salacious extra point that he kicked into the abyss regarding requiring women to become publically-consumed chattel in exchange for what might be lifesaving health coverage.

I received my first birth control prescription when I was twenty, three weeks before I got married. Despite my husband-to-be being the elite of the blue collared class, a Teamster, we knew that we needed to cover the cost of this medical treatment ourselves.  He could get insurance reimbursement for acupuncture, massages, and special shoe modifications that helped him jumped higher when he played basketball with Jim Caveizel aka Jesus Christ at the YMCA. But as a young Christian wife who was going to school fulltime and working fulltime, controlling childbearing and treating endometriosis was and still is considered an unnecessary luxury.

Ms. Fluke chose to forgive. This is the smartest, strongest, and healthiest decision for her as it is for all victims. But this personal forgiveness doesn’t offset the importance and occasional necessity of public intervention. It is essential for citizens to define and enforce moral standards that shape public policy. If the censure is externally applied but not internally embraced, limiting the damage to the greater society of possible re-offense might be the best if less optimal solution.  An analogy would be the decision of a parole board to delay a release if the convict exhibits no remorse.

A careful review of Limbaugh’s statement displays no remorse. Genuine contrition is front and center and without any dangling qualifiers. Even if the devil made you do it, you are still going to hell. And you need to seek a clean heart and the renewal of a right spirit for it to be repentance. From this change comes a genuine request for forgiveness.

As a contrast on this divisive issue, the following is a statement from the President John J. DeGioia of Georgetown University in its entirely. It was too full and perfect to edit down for brevity. Because Ms. Fluke has been pressing for the coverage modification at this institution for a number of years, Dr. DeGioia is technically her adversary. But this is how peace is brokered:

March 2, 2012

Dear Members of the Georgetown Community:

There is a legitimate question of public policy before our nation today. In the effort to address the problem of the nearly fifty million Americans who lack health insurance, our lawmakers enacted legislation that seeks to increase access to health care. In recent weeks, a question regarding the breadth of services that will be covered has focused significant public attention on the issue of contraceptive coverage. Many, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, have offered important perspectives on this issue.

In recent days, a law student of Georgetown, Sandra Fluke, offered her testimony regarding the proposed regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services before a group of members of Congress. She was respectful, sincere, and spoke with conviction. She provided a model of civil discourse. This expression of conscience was in the tradition of the deepest values we share as a people. One need not agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression. And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position – including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels – responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student.

In our vibrant and diverse society, there always are important differences that need to be debated, with strong and legitimate beliefs held on all sides of challenging issues. The greatest contribution of the American project is the recognition that together, we can rely on civil discourse to engage the tensions that characterize these difficult issues, and work towards resolutions that balance deeply held and different perspectives. We have learned through painful experience that we must respect one another and we acknowledge that the best way to confront our differences is through constructive public debate. At times, the exercise of one person’s freedom may conflict with another’s. As Americans, we accept that the only answer to our differences is further engagement.

In an earlier time, St. Augustine captured the sense of what is required in civil discourse: “Let us, on both sides, lay aside all arrogance. Let us not, on either side, claim that we have already discovered the truth. Let us seek it together as something which is known to neither of us. For then only may we seek it, lovingly and tranquilly, if there be no bold presumption that it is already discovered and possessed.”

If we, instead, allow coarseness, anger – even hatred – to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders. The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance. This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia
President
Georgetown University

Thank you, Brother. And Amen.

—-

Quote of the Blog, dialogue between Ed – Dude of Light and Fog – and Mark – our bald a-2 monitor tech who I always admonish to wear his beanie to keep his fontanel warm:

“The dead have nothing to live for…” Mark.

“Young man, that’s blog worthy…” Ed.

Photo courtesy of Brian Jones, Las Vegas News.