Political talker Rush Limbaugh, who put his large foot in his larger mouth when he called a lawschool student a "slut" and "prostitute" for her views on contraception, has stirred up quite a hornet's nest. He apologized for his comments, but the issue remains alive.
First, from Melinda Henneberger in the Washington Post: "Two days after Rush Limbaugh called a Georgetown law student a slut and a prostitute, and one day after he mocked President Obama for calling her to show support, the conservative commentator posted an apology to Sandra Fluke on his website on Saturday. "I did not mean a ;personal attack on Ms. Fluke."
"A succession of advertisers had pulled their commercials from his radio show. “For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week,’’ he said in the statement. In all that time, he’s said a lot of outrageous things on his show, but I can’t recall him ever before apologizing."
Speaking of advertisers, one of Limbaugh's longest-serving sponsors was Sacramento-based Sleep Train, a mattress company. We say "was" because they pulled out after Limbaugh aired his original comments.
From Chris Megerian and Shelby Grad in the LAT: "Since then, dozens of people have taken to Sleep Train's Facebook page to debate the company's decision. "Thanks for pulling your ads from the Rush show, your actions prove the value of your company," one woman wrote."
"Others attacked the company. "You are a bunch of cowards. You have advertised on Rush Limbaugh's show for over 25 years. His show has brought you millions of customers," a man wrote."
"Limbaugh, a conservative commentator whose first radio show was on KFBK 1530 in Sacramento, called a law student a “slut” and a “prostitute” for supporting access to birth control."
The tweets and retweets on the controversy lit up Twitter, including one from state Republican Party spokeswoman Jennifer Kerns, who went after an MSNBC pundit who criticized Limbaugh.
From the Bee's David Siders: "California Republican Party spokeswoman Jennifer Kerns suggested on Twitter on Friday that a pundit who criticized Rush Limbaugh for calling a law school student a "slut" is herself one, touching off a flood of criticism on the social networking site."
Kearns later apologized ...
From the LAT's Catherine Saillant, Maloy Moore and Doug Smith: "The scope of the practice is unclear because counties have resisted releasing complete pension data, citing the difficulty and cost of assembling the information."
"But an analysis by The Times of partial data from Venturaand Kern counties — two small windows into the problem — shows that spiking is affecting pension systems already staggered by massive obligations."
"In Ventura County, where the pension system is underfunded by $761 million, 84% of the retirees receiving more than $100,000 a year are receiving more than they did on the job. In Kern County, 77% of retirees with pensions greater than $100,000 a year are getting more now than they did before."
Speaking of government checks, a convicted killer received unemployment checks while he was behind bars. No kidding.
From the LAT's Jack Dolan: "A convicted killer who got caught because he’d tattooed a graphic mural of the murder scene on his chest allegedly raked in more than $30,000 in unemployment benefits while he sat in the Los Angeles County jail system, a sheriff's spokesman said."
"Anthony Garcia had family and friends cashing his $1,600-per-month government assistance checks while he served time, said Capt. Mike Parker, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. His accomplices would then deposit a portion of the money into Garcia’s jail account. They also shared the cash with Garcia’s fellow incarcerated gang members."