#robin williams – @assholeofday on Tumblr

Rush Limbaugh, Asshole of the Day for August 13, 2014

Yesterday we named Shepard Smith Asshole of the Day for calling Robin Williams a coward for his suicide. It was awful and it needed to be called out because it was clear from Smith's apology that he didn't get that bravery or cowardice aren't at issue when it comes to suicide and depression. A friend of mine posted this on Facebook about it:

Anyone who is sick enough to kill themselves even though they leave behind a loving family has died of an illness as aggressive as cancer. This tragedy is nearly unreconcilable to the healthier mind.

I'm not sure if the words were hers, or someone else's, so if it's from somewhere, I apologize for not attributing it. (I know she won't want to be mentioned on this site though.)

But since then Rush Limbaugh has ventured into even more ridiculous territory. On his radio show Rush blames liberal ideology for Robin Williams' suicide:

So our last caller wanted to know, “What is the politics in the coverage of the suicide of Robin Williams?”

Well, I believe there is some. But I don’t think that the politics is driving it. I think there was, on the part of media and Hollywood, genuine affection for the guy that is driving it, but there is politics.

If you notice the coverage is focused on how much he had, but it wasn’t enough. “He had everything, everything that you would think would make you happy. But it didn’t.” Now, what is the left’s worldview in general? What is it? If you had to attach not a philosophy but an attitude to a leftist worldview, it’s one of pessimism and darkness, sadness. They’re never happy, are they? They’re always angry about something. No matter what they get, they’re always angry.

Yes, Rush Limbaugh, who has become rich beyond imagine by exploiting anger, resentment, racism, and sexism, is now accusing someone else of "pessimism and darkness".

And this argument doesn't even make any sense. Liberals have made people unable to accept happiness. Liberals are always angry about something. That's just wrong in so many ways, but let's look at a few:

Has he been to a Tea Party rally?
Seen the comments and replies when a liberal woman says something on the internet?
How about those town halls when Obamacare was being debated?
What about when Rush himself ranted angrily FOR DAYS about the idea of Sandra Fluke having birth control pills covered by health insurance? I recall that one being pretty angry.

Rush isn't stupid. He knows all this. He knows he makes a mint with anger and resentment, but now he's projecting that unhappiness he harvests for his own fame and profit onto liberals and blaming them for the death of a beloved figure. And for that, Rush Limbaugh is the Asshole of the Day.

It is Rush Limbaugh's sixth time as Asshole of the Day. Previous wins were for

Full story: Liberals Unite, and also Shut Down Rush Libmaugh page on Facebook.

#asshole of the day #Rush Limbaugh #robin williams #liberal bashing

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Shepard Smith, Asshole of the Day for August 12, 2014

by TeaPartyCat (Follow @TeaPartyCat)

There’s a long history of calling suicides an act of cowardice, and Fox News anchor Shep Smith added to it yesterday when reporting on Robin Williams:

It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? You could love three little things so much, watch them grow, they’re in their mid-20s, and they’re inspiring you, and exciting you, and they fill you up with the kind of joy you could never have known.

And yet, something inside you is so horrible or you’re such a coward or whatever the reason that you decide that you have to end it. Robin Williams, at 63, did that today.

But can you really call someone a coward who suffered from depression? Where does courage and bravery play in depression?

To call someone a coward means having to ignore their on-going depression, prior addictions which may aggravate it, and much more. To judge the actions of someone else without all the facts and call them a coward? That just seems wrong.

Smith has since apologized, saying in part:

I would never presume to know anything about his private life. And if any of his family members and friends were to have seen me use the word “coward,” I would be horrified. I would just to apologize to the end of the earth to anyone who might think that I meant to openly call him a coward.

To the core of my being, I regret it. It just came out of my mouth. And I’m so sorry. And to anyone and their families who see that, I am sorry.

Now, I don’t doubt his sincerity. And he says that he may have hastily used the word coward. Perhaps he reached to that word because culturally there’s a long history of calling suicide victims cowards and it just came out. But his apology was crafted and not spur of the moment, and there’s still a part missing. He’s very clear to apologize to anyone from Williams’ family who might have seen or heard that he said it. That’s nice, but that’s not really what I find offensive. Public figures will have people say things about them and judge them; Williams was a public figure for 30+ years and made tons of money and so people will say things.

Instead what I find missing is any apology for the idea that suicide is a cowardly act by those suffering depression. It’s insensitive to all the depressed people who entertain these thoughts. It’s insensitive to all the families of people who have lost someone with depression to suicide. Before depression was studied and understood better, not getting that connection was understandable. But it’s 2014. You can’t go around calling people suffering from depression “cowards” any more. And that is why Shepard Smith is the Asshole of the Day.

It is Shepard Smith’s first time as Asshole of the Day, but one of a long, long line of Fox News assholes.

Full story: Mediaite

#asshole of the day #shepard smith #robin williams #depression #fox news #suicide