They are right that Limbaugh’s remarks are not comparable to Maher’s remarks.
Limbaugh was responding directly to Fluke’s political discourse by pointing out that the logical conclusion of her testimony before Congress was that she was asking the government to pay her for having sex. He should not have used the ‘s’ and ‘w’ words as part of civil discourse, which he has admitted and apologized for, but he was making the point of how ridiculous it was for someone to ask the government to pay the costs of their private recreational activity.
The vile language that Maher has used to describe Sara Palin and other conservative women has no cogent political argument behind it. It is simply intended to denigrate. And after many years, Maher has never apologized for his language.
So there really is no comparison between Maher and Limbaugh. Limbaugh is a satirist that strayed too far into hyperbole and immediately apologized for it. Maher is an unrepentant humorless mysoginist who never had a political point to make and who has never apologized for his vulgar slurs.
You beat me to it. Yes, the difference is that Limbaugh’s comments were meant to enlighten, Maher’s comments were intended to inflict pain. One political, one personal.
To me, the main difference between Limbaugh’s and Maher’s remarks is that Maher used a grossly inaccurate adjective to describe a mother of five who has been married for over twenty years.
Limbaugh used a couple of accurate descriptions to describe a 30 year old who went on national television and to the highest levels of government to demand payment for accessories to the lifestyle of a loose woman.
IF she had a long term shackup or common-law husband, the s word might not have been accurate. Notice that no man has seen fit to step forward to defend “his girl”.