December 6, 2010

Listen to Limbaugh for yourself

Here is a story about Mayor Art Ward seeking an apology from Rush Limbaugh for slurring Bristol on his nationally syndicated radio show.



Bristol resident Joel Wulff, a former water commissioner, wrote this open note to Rush Limbaugh today:

Rush,
I was disappointed by your comments about my home town, Bristol, CT.  I don't know if you have ever been here or are at all familiar with the place.  Bristol is home to a little over 60,000 people.  It is the home of ESPN which is our largest employer.  Lake Compounce, the nation's oldest amusement park is here as well.  We were a major manufacturing city, but we shared the fate of many locales as technology changed.  We were a major home of clock-makers, but none of them survived.  The so called "Dollar watch" was made here and was well known.  New Departure, the famed maker of ball bearings, was started here and merged into General Motors.  We still have The Barnes Group, symbol "B" on the NYSE and the largest spring maker in the world the last I knew.  The city is a good place to live.  Our parks, school system, museums, etc. attract many people.
The sad thing about this incident is that it most likely hurts your reputation much more than it harms us.  We know what we have.  We know that our future is as bright as anyone's.  The folks in Bristol who like you will now question everything you say and stand for.  For the rest, your action will simply verify their already low opinion of you.
Be well,
jb
Update on Monday at 12:40 p.m.: Don't miss the Free Republic discussion of this topic. It's kind of fun.
*****
Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

First thing some of our politicians past and present have to understand is Rush is an entertainer. Second is when did you get such thin skin. If you truly wanted an apology from Rush you should have stopped your letter where you listed all the positives that Bristol has to offer. Instead, you go on to berate him stooping below even his level.
Did you also request an apology from Seth Meyers when he basically said that all that was in Bristol was a carwash and ESPN. How about Keith Olberman when he said the best thing about Bristol is seeing it in your rear view mirror as you leave ESPN for I-84.
Grow up and stop acting like a spoiled little 3 year old.

Anonymous said...

What would you expect him to say about a city that elects idiotic left-wingers like Chris Wright?

Anonymous said...

Steve:

So why aren't you talking about the statement that the California state teachers retirement system is getting federal bail out money? We all pay Federal Income Taxes!

And to be honest I take Rush's word on whether our city pension system is getting federal bailout money over Stave Collins or TJ Barne$$ any day. Barne$$ probably has no clue...like the emperor and his "new clothes"!

Steve Collins said...

Read the transcript from Rush's show. He clearly has no idea what he's talking about.

Anonymous said...

Collins is the pot calling trhe kettle black.

Anonymous said...

Steve:

With all due respect to you (which is virtually nill), you have no idea what you're talking about either.

There is no such thing as the "taxpayers making money" on something the government does. If it were true, where is my f-ing dividend check? You are a neo-communinst and Barne$ is an elitist trust fund baby.

Anonymous said...

LMFAO! Rush is right! What does Bristol offer? We don't even have a downtown. This almost sounds like the Bristol bit was part of his show on purpose. Is this a conspiracy? HAHAH!

Steve Collins said...

To my anonymous friend,
If I understood high finance, would I be working as a pathetically paid reporter? Probably not.
Even so, I suggest you go read the transcript of Rush's show, or listen to it. It's crystal clear that he's utterly ignorant of what he's spouting off about in his diatribe that included a slur on Bristol.

Steve Collins said...

As for your idea that taxpayers can't make money, that's just plain stupid. The trust fund for municipal pensions INVESTS money and has over the years made a ton of profit. That benefits retirees, of course, who can be sure they'll get paid. But it also benefits taxpayers, who don't have to put more cash into the accounts because they have made money.

Anonymous said...

Many of of know of the many good things about Bristol, most of which are not just buildings or businesses, but its people.
We do have a lot to offer, we take care of our own.
Unfortunately,we tend to hide our light(s) under a bushel.
Maybe this will be a wake up and we will start to promote Bristol, market Bristol, make even more people aware of what we have to offer.

Art was right in responding. Hopefully it won't stop there.

Bill Stortz

Steve Collins said...

You apparently have never read The Communist Manifesto since there's nothing in it that sounds remotely like investing taxpayer money in various mutual funds to turn profits that help pay government workers who have retired.
Really, you need to get a grip there,9:37.
And not that you care, but I personally find communism loathsome. In every country where "communists" have taken power, they have wrecked the economy, caused vast numbers of deaths and stifled freedom.
I also find it sickening when people tar those they disagree within the American political system as communists or fascists, words that ought to be reserved for the extremists who have brought so much suffering into our world during the past century.
Democrats and Republicans are both mainstream American political parties that both deserve more respect than some of my anonymous friends here are willing to give.

Ben said...

It's clear that the news commentary can't be trusted any longer. There's no vetting done at these days, just post it. So what if it's wrong and cost somebody their job, or is slanderous.
This time is was just a city we all know, and love. No great harm done. Sometimes however it's peoples lives we affect.

Communist Manifesto stuff, just shows the hatred, and extrimist attitude some people have. There is no reasoning with them. Just a bunch of nmae calling, with no intelligence behind it.

Rush got it wrong, AGAIN.

It is true the bail outs were probably wasteful, and cost us plenty. Our national, and local bugets are bloated, and need to be trimmed. The right doesn't want to cut defense, and the left doesn't want to cut social services.

See? I can did it with out calling anybody names, or taking an extremist position.

Nice for you to hide behind the veil of anonymity.

Anonymous said...

Collins:

Re: The Communist Manifesto, you apparently can't decipher much from what you supposedly have read.

Clearly tax-payers don't "make money" on something they give up, the money they are forced to give to the government in taxes. By thinking other-wise would indicate that one would have some type of socialist train of thought, the blue-print of which is "The Communist Manifesto".

Again what don't you understand about that simple concept? If the government "makes money" on an investment, that's the government "making money" not the tax payers. Again the train of thought that the government collectively "makes" money on behalf of the tax-payer is clearly derived from Marx and his "Communist Manifesto". The only entitiy that creates money is a PRIVATE ORGANIZATION or private business.

What right does the government have telling us they made money when they go and spend it on govrnment? What an insult!

But I really don't expect much from you, a clue-less liberal.

Merry Christmas and may our lord and savior Jesus Christ save us from evil.

Steve Collins said...

Wow, 10:49, you really don't understand the essence of democracy, do you? The government is ours.

Anonymous said...

Steve:

Perhaps you an I can agree to disagree on that?

Anonymous said...

BRISTOL HAS NOTHING GOING FOR IT EXCEPT FOR ITS DOWN HILL SLIDE.

Ben said...

Communism does not equal socialism.

Agreed the only makers of capital are private sources, in our form of government.

I once ask a friend from Germany was his country socialist? He said no, you would say no. I asked him were is socialism to be found. He said look to the east, not Germany.
To me socialism is in the eye of the beholder. Government needs to take care of it's people, and those things are called socialist.

People are too willing to use refernces to Hilter, and Communism too easily. Rush being one of those people.

It's no excuse for not checking your sources, and facts. Let's face it, he's not a journalist, just an entertainer.

Ben said...

3:15 Wow, good come back.
Gonna love you Anonymous whimps.
Take your pot shots and call your names.
The only one ignorant is you.

The world isn't right, or, left.
The world isn't black, or, white.
It's something in the center with shades of grey.

Rush is a black or white, gotta be right guy. Well he get caught once AGAIN, not checking his facts.

I don't call socialist policies, communism cause that's just plain ignorant. Use the word sparingly where appropriate. Didn't think it was appropriate here.

Anonymous said...

Steve" "The essence of democracy"? LOL, you're a freakin' socialist! It's so obvious but you're too damn dumb to get it! ha ha ha. I'm really LOL...at YOU! What...like the "Peoples" Republic of China?

Anonymous said...

We have to be able to laugh at ourselves once in awhile. No big deal.

Anonymous said...

3:15 He is an entertainer ,big mouth who exploits people for fun. Like it or not. But unlike you I don't find him entertaining, Your ignorance is showing.

Anonymous said...

Communism:
A doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism.
Socialism:
b : a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state

Socialism and communism are almost identical. It's ridiculous to argue th differences when referring to ones ideology.

Ben: So you're too dumb and too arrogant to research something you pretend to know something about? What is the difference in your warped and hypocristal mind, you wuss-bag?

Steve Collins said...

6:27 - It was Abraham Lincoln, who was both brilliant and a Republican, who said our government is "of the people, by the people,for the people."
If you think Lincoln was a communist, well, there's no hope for you.

Anonymous said...

Steve:

It's almost hard for me to believe you don't get it.

In regards to Lincoln, the federal, state and municipal government was nothing like it is now when he was President.
The government should be by the people and for the people. Today it is not necessarily so. Our government (espcially in the northeast) is generally for the public employees and other special interest. The tyrany of the majority is apparent in this state. I'm surprised you as a reporter haven't seen that yet.

Lincoln did not believe in bloated, intrusive government like we have today. Certainly THOMAS JEFFERSON DID NOT either!

Jefferson said:
1)When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

2)I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

Steve Collins said...

7:34 - Jefferson is my hero.