Limbaugh Calls Sandra Fluke A Slut

[Witsec7]

I take birth control for one reason: I don't want to have children.

I don't think I have to apologize or come up with some "oh, I don't take it for birth control. I take it for a totally morally correct reason. I'm innocent of taking birth control just so I can have sex without getting pregnant" reason.

I am unmarried. I have sex. With a good friend. Who I'm not dating seriously. Who I shall never marry.

If I meet someone I want to date, I will probably have sex with that person. Maybe a few months, weeks, days or hours into our relationship. I might jump someone on the first date and forgo the movie after dinner to have him fuck me in the backseat of his car. Or, I may slowly date someone for months while we get to know each other seriously, meet each other's families before we go to bed together. Or maybe I'll just go down to the Corner Bar tonight and pick up two hot guys to bring them home for a threesome.

No matter what I choose from above, no matter how I decide when to have sex, with whom, after whatever period of time I determine is correct, I don't deserve to either have to forcibly give birth to a child I do not want and it does not make me a slut.

I own every sexual experience I've ever had. I'm proud to say that every time I've had sex, no matter the man or situation, I did so because I wanted to. It was my choice and it was a valid choice. I never had sex to get someone to like me or to prove anything. I like sex. I wanted to get laid. I had sex. The end. Any man who thinks one iota less of me because I enjoyed myself sexually, on my own terms, in a safe manner is not a man, not worth my time and is probably a worthless asshole.

Rush is a totally and completely worthless human being who adds nothing of value to the world. He is one of very few people whose death would produce nothing but joy from me. I admit that. I own it. I think the world would be better off without him. He can kiss my beautiful, sexually experienced ass.

Amen :clap:

[Patsy]

I think there actually is two sides to this. On the one side, there honestly are a lot of people scoffing "Contraceptive treatment for non-contraceptive reasons? HBBLV-V-V, I have never heard of side effects and alternate uses!" while there are lots of people doing just that. Four of my BFs and I are on the pill to manage cycles and pain, and don't ever have sex with men. One of my BFs uses it at least partially to not get pregnant. It does weird me out to hear people acting as though the massive numbers of people taking the pill because of acne or dysmennorhea don't exist.

But yeah, as Gizmola says: taking birth control for birth control? Great. Sex isn't shameful, making active decisions about it and taking responsibility shouldn't be. So I don't think we should let people redefine the debate like that in the first place. "HUFFLEBLERG, I don't believe that women take it for non-contraceptive use! Shame, shame on those who have sex!" The first sentence is wrong and slightly confusing, but the second is the one we should be going after.

[kpmom]

It's their jobs program, Mandy. Force women out of the marketplace and back to the kitchen, voila - jobs for men!

Austin, don't you mean "wa-lah"? ;)

Couldn't agree more, Gizmola. Whatever the reason a woman uses birth control, it's between the woman and her health care provider.

Why oh why didn't Rush's mother place an aspirin between her legs?

[Hane]

I remember when Viagra first came on the market, and was covered by virtually all insurance plans. Thence arose an uproar from women demanding to know why BC wasn't covered. (When I was on BC for non-contraceptive reasons, I had to send my insurance company a letter from my doctor to get it covered.) So, doing the math that proves that BC is cheaper than obstetrical care and surgery, and PERHAPS just wanting to do the right thing, insurance companies just started covering BC.

Funny OT-ish anecdote: Around the time of the rise of Viagra, the Southern Baptist Convention came out with an announcement mandating wifely submission. A political cartoon showed a husband sitting in his easy chair bloviating about this, as his wife stood at the kitchen sink, snickering as she surreptitiously flushed his Viagra down the drain.

The fact that a major advance is now in jeopardy after scarcely two short decades makes me want to hurl.

[lilah]

Anyone else notice that Rush believes you have to take a birth control pill every time you have sex? I know most guys are completely in the dark about how hormonal birth control works but damn that man is a freaking idiot.

And yeah I am going to totally say that Viagra represents a double standard. I firmly believe that since a lot of Old privlidged guys decide birth control are probably in the prime market for using Viagra we should have a national debate about whether the government should support the rights of men to have sex.

[aggiek]

Anyone else notice that Rush believes you have to take a birth control pill every time you have sex? I know most guys are completely in the dark about how hormonal birth control works but damn that man is a freaking idiot.

I think Rush actually does know how bc pills work. I think he's just inciting his very stupid and ignorant audience.

I remember the first time I heard Rush on the radio. It was in the early 90's, and he was talking about health care in Canada, and made many statements directly contradicting an article I had just read in the Wall Street Journal. I thought he was a local radio guy. He's been deliberately lying for years.

[Austin]

I think Rush actually does know how bc pills work. I think he's just inciting his very stupid and ignorant audience.

I remember the first time I heard Rush on the radio. It was in the early 90's, and he was talking about health care in Canada, and made many statements directly contradicting an article I had just read in the Wall Street Journal. I thought he was a local radio guy. He's been deliberately lying for years.

ITA. He's evil, but he's not stupid. He is, however, counting on the stupidity of his dittoheads.

[JMarie]

Don Imus gets canned for making racist statements* about the women's basketball team at Rutgers. Limbaugh insults all women** and is applauded?

* I'm not condoning what Imus said

** I was on the Pill in high school. On the second day of my period, I would faint from crushing cramps, every single month. And I graduated a virgin.

[desertvixen]

That said, Amanda Marcotte did a good blurb on why BC needs to be defended on sex grounds, not just health grounds. Sure BC pills are used as help for PCOS and painful periods and acne; but it's also used to prevent babies. And it needs to be defended as such.

This. I use birth control because I like to have sex (with a conservative, no less - I'm working on him) and I do not want to have a child at this point...because I'm an evil single working mom in the military. That also means mine is free, for which I am super thankful.

What is a slut, anyway? Is there a specific number of people that once you hit that number you're a slut? Or only doing certain acts? It's a meaningless word, with no agreed-upon definition.

I think we defined it in one of the earlier threads as a woman who makes any sexual decisions the speaker doesn't agree with.

In the past few weeks, I've heard more vitriol aimed at women than I have during the entirety of the rest of my life, and it's scaring me.

You are not alone.

I just don't get it. All other medical reasons for birth control aside, when did it become a bad thing to say now is not a time in my life where I should bring a child into this world. That's called being responsible. It's so incredibly frustrating that these nut jobs want to keep women barefoot and pregnant but oh hey once you have that child you can't afford to raise you better not ask us to help feed him.

I agree with Austin.

I want to start a little Facebook meme that basically says "Rush Limbaugh thinks I'm a slut because I used my BC today" - anyone in?

[ChickeyMonkey]

So Rush is against BC and calls women who use said BC "sluts", however he pops Viagra? What a fucking douchelord. It's a shame his mother didn't swallow.

From wiki:

Could it be that Rush and his wives were using the ebil BC? Married 4 fucking times and not one child? Yeah, ok. Unless he's been shooting blanks, chances are his wives used some form of BC at one point.

Maybe he's sterile - even better IMO.

[JMarie]

Maybe the marriages (all of them) are unconsumated???

[NurseNell]

I was about to say the same thing. How can he manage to produce FOUR child-free marriages without birth control?

Male infertility, it's more common than you hear about.

[NurseNell]

Sandra Fluke was on the Today Show this morning. She is a well spoken young lady and hope she has a bright future in politics. :-)

http://todayonthetrail.today.msnbc.msn. ... d-outraged

Someone just posted on Facebook that she's not 23, she's 30. And that she didn't register in time to testify. So, what is the truth?

Rush Limbaugh is an idiot.

[Austin]

Someone just posted on Facebook that she's not 23, she's 30. And that she didn't register in time to testify. So, what is the truth?

Rush Limbaugh is an idiot.

I don't think I ever heard her or anyone else state her age, just that she's a law student. Many people work for several years between college and law school, so that wouldn't be surprising. I'm not sure I understand the relevance either way.

[NurseNell]

In her testimony Fluke mentions birth control pills costing $3,000/year. That sounded high to me. This site allows you to check prices on many different brands, and the generics too. Birth control pills are not expensive.

http://www.birthcontrolbuzz.com/

One example, Alesse 21 day 20/100mcg 6 Packs $102.80, the generic form Levonorgestrel/Ethinyl Estradiol 0.1/0.02mg 12 Packs$146.10

and YAZ Birth Control 28 day 3mg/20mcg 6 Packs$176.00, no generic.

Other non-pill methods are more expensive, but no where near $3000/year

[Kitchen Princess]

Reddit is on the case.

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/commen ... lets_take/

Also, they were talking about a very specific case of a very specific woman. We cannot know how much her BC would cost (that she wasn't using for BC because she's lesbian) because we don't know what it is.

[NurseNell]

I don't think I ever heard her or anyone else state her age, just that she's a law student. Many people work for several years between college and law school, so that wouldn't be surprising. I'm not sure I understand the relevance either way.

The right is using this discrepancy to point out she isn't a reliable spokesperson. I just looked through a transcript of what she said and she didn't state her age. Perhaps elsewhere? Her age doesn't matter unless she herself has provided different information in different places.

[Austin]

The right is using this discrepancy to point out she isn't a reliable spokesperson. I just looked through a transcript of what she said and she didn't state her age. Perhaps elsewhere? Her age doesn't matter unless she herself has provided different information in different places.

I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would lie about their age. That is soooo easily verifiable. I have seen her interviewed probably a half dozen times now and she certainly seems smarter than that.

[NurseNell]

Reddit is on the case.

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/commen ... lets_take/

Also, they were talking about a very specific case of a very specific woman. We cannot know how much her BC would cost (that she wasn't using for BC because she's lesbian) because we don't know what it is.

This is from the transcript:

Without insurance coverage, contraception can cost a woman over $3,000 during

law school. For a lot of students who, like me, are on public interest scholarships, that’s practically an entire summer’s salary.

And now that I read it, $3,000 over law school is not $3,000/year as reported in another source but it's still $1,000/year, which is still higher than actual cost.

The very specific case she was talking about doesn't mention cost.

[meda]

It doesn't seem high to me. My pills were $80 a month 4 years ago.

[Wolfie]

My pills are $23 a month (but I pay $6 with insurance). They work to solve the issues I was having with hormones (migraines and cysts), but for other people they need more expensive pills, so $100 a month doesn't seem out of range, especially if it is covering pap smears, and the other things you have to have when you are on hormones.

[Austin]

This is from the transcript:

And now that I read it, $3,000 over law school is not $3,000/year as reported in another source but it's still $1,000/year, which is still higher than actual cost.

The very specific case she was talking about doesn't mention cost.

I think the operative word there is "can". Different types and combinations of contraceptive, hormonal or not, will obviously vary in cost.

[debrand]

This is from the transcript:

And now that I read it, $3,000 over law school is not $3,000/year as reported in another source but it's still $1,000/year, which is still higher than actual cost.

The very specific case she was talking about doesn't mention cost.

We just picked up my daughters BC pills today. With insurance we pay $12/ month. The cost without insurance is $98/ month or over a $1,000 a year. Thank god we have insurance.

She is on a low dose BC. I can imagine that other brands might be more expensive

[NurseNell]

I just cannot believe some of the things Sandra says in her testimony. Like this:

Forty percent of female students at

Georgetown Law report struggling financially as a result of this policy. One told

us of how embarrassed and powerless she felt when she was standing at the

pharmacy counter, learning for the first time that contraception wasn’t covered,

and had to walk away because she couldn’t afford it. Women like her have no

choice but to go without contraception.

Law students aren't exactly dumb. There are plenty of Walgreen's, CVS', Targets in DC, probably even Walmart. Birth control pills are NOT very expensive, if you're willing to take generic less than $10/month, and about $20 if not generic. I know if I did not want to be pregnant I'd sure as hell find the $10 to $20/month to pay for the pill.

I think birth control pills should be covered, their low cost is a lot cheaper than a pregnancy and deliver, or an abortion. Until they are covered don't go saying stupid things like a law student can't afford the price. A high school girl might have trouble getting them but not an adult, esp one in law school.

Does anyone know, do most insurances cover Viagra?

[NurseNell]

We just picked up my daughters BC pills today. With insurance we pay $12/ month. The cost without insurance is $98/ month or over a $1,000 a year. Thank god we have insurance.

She is on a low dose BC. I can imagine that other brands might be more expensive

Insurance companies are notorious for upping the price when the actual price is much less. Can you go to the site I listed above and see what the quote there? Or check with Walgreen's or Target to see what they would actually charge you? I found out once that a co-pay I was paying was more than the actual cost of the drug (can't remember which drug, it was a few years ago), I raised holy hell and demanded I only pay the actual cost.