Hordes of political-correctniks are swarming all over radio bloviator Rush Limbaugh. He used some rather harsh language to pigeonhole Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke Rush apologized, Ms. Fluke rejected his apology, advertisers are leaving, and Rush-haters are milking every political drop – so much ado over the wrong thing …
On the surface, the ado began when Ms. Fluke was denied a panel seat at a Republican-run House Oversight hearing on Obamacare regulations of contraception services and products provided by health insurance plans.
For the cameras, Oversight Democrats walked out, then staged a mock hearing (again, for the cameras) starring Ms. Fluke, who incidentally (and ironically for Limbaugh) was not speaking for herself, but rather on behalf of “Law Students for Reproductive Justice” (LSRJ) and, as LSRJ’s news page brags, “millions of women.”
I watched, then read Fluke’s testimony, which is nothing special. Frankly, Fluke deserved to be turned away, especially in light of her activist history and credentials – plus revelations from Wonkblog at the Washington Post that Fluke enrolled at GU specifically to raise heck.
Really – Fluke “researched the Jesuit college’s health plans for students before enrolling, and found that birth control was not included. ‘I decided I was absolutely not willing to compromise the quality of my education [#13, Cornell Law is #14] in exchange for my health care,’ says Fluke, who has spent the past three years lobbying [to] change its policy on the issue.”
But the mock hearing is worth watching: Fluke (and her Congressional enablers) present a perfect political manifestation of “entitlement mentality” – the shameless and clueless hypocrisy of those who consider free stuff paid for by other people as their due.
Watching Fluke flashed me back to a Saturday Night Live skit from years ago (actually 1992, I Googled). One of the SNL actresses (Melanie Hutsell) plays a young zonkie complaining to “Bill Clinton” about everyone else having more stuff than her, and demanding, “Where’s my stuff?”
Then I flashed forward a little, to a rotten little brat my Mom and I heard pitching a Gummi Bears fit in the Anacortes Safeway. We then caught him swiping the Gummis behind his mom’s back. When we tattled, SHE pitched a fit!
Then I flashed forward again, to last fall in Zuccotti Park and Occupy Wall Street: Our Gummi Brat (or his cousin), having hocked his parents for a useless degree, is now stuck with his buddies in a smelly tent. Ninety-nine percent agree (by twinkling) everyone deserves more free stuff and the government should force “Wall Street” to pay for it. Forget a rational explanation for how or why … it’s justice, man! We’re entitled!
Could Fluke have explained herself to a real congressional panel? She asserted when she enrolled at GU Law, “we expected women to be treated equally.” So, why didn’t those on the mock panel ask Fluke if she “expected” GU’s insurance policy to fund, um, free French purses for men in the name of being “treated equally?”
What about Ms. Fluke’s hearsay assertion that “contraception, as you know, can cost a woman over $3,000 during law school?” Wow … I’d pay money to hear Fluke explain why others should “insure,” which in reality is “pay for,” a single penny of her (or anyone else’s) voluntary sex life, in or out of law school!
Fluke will never have to explain herself, of course, because like Stuff Girl, Gummi Brat and the Occupiers, she’s entitled to free stuff from other people, confiscated by the government, and her congressional enablers are okay with that. She’s one of them.
So how can one refer to “them” succinctly and fairly without inciting riots? How does one categorize the melding, or meltdown, of individual entitlement worldviews into a political ideology shared by “millions?” What could this ideology be called?
How about Slackerism? No? Gimmieism? Um, nope.
Oh! I know! Rats! According to Google, somebody beat me to it (in 2006), but it’s perfect: Entitlementalism, making “Entitlementalist” a perfectly civil and accurate tag for Sandra Fluke and her politics.
Try it, you’ll like it!