Well, the default leader of the Republican party appears to be feeling the heat of the firestorm of criticism that exploded in the wake of his calling a student who testified before Congress “a slut”. So far, several major advertisers have pulled their money from his show, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Citrix, Legal Zoom, and Quicken Loans.
Here is what Rush had to say on his program a few days ago.
“What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex — what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex.”
Limbaugh then said, “ok, so she’s not a slut. She’s round-heeled.” “Round-heeled” is an old-fashioned term for promiscuity.
Rush Limbaugh: Sandra Fluke, Woman Denied Right To Speak At Contraception Hearing, A ‘Slut’
And a day or so later, when inklings of protest of the above started bubbling up, Rush upped the ante on his show with the following further attack.
It was Sandra Fluke who said that she was having so much sex she can’t afford it. […] She’s spending $3000, $1000 a year, on pills and she’s going broke and wants us to buy it. […] By her own admission, in her own words, Sandra Fluke is having so much sex that she can’t afford it. […] Does she have more boyfriends? They’re lined up around the block. Or they would have been in my day.
Limbaugh doubles-down on misogynist attack: Says Fluke has boyfriends ‘lined up around the block’+
And if that was not enough:
Besides calling her a “slut,” he also called her a “prostitute,” said that he wanted her to make sex tapes and post them online, and speculated that she only had a problem paying for contraception because she was having “so much sex.”
Rush Limbaugh Apologizes To Sandra Fluke For Calling Her A ‘Slut’
Here is the apology, as published on Huffington Post. I refuse to link to his web site and sully the innocent bits and bytes on the Internet that would have to provide the data.
“For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.
I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit? In my monologue, I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.
My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.”
Rush Limbaugh Apologizes To Sandra Fluke For Calling Her A ‘Slut’
No. That is not an apology. For 20 years Rush has filled the airwaves with a constant stream of hatred, bigotry, racism, and lies. He has wished America and Obama would fail. He has introduced neologisms like Feminazis to the language as part of his constant stream of misogynistic hatred of women. He imitated Michael Fox’ tremors from Parkinson’s disease relentlessly and hideously on the air on his show. He has repeatedly made vicious racist jokes about President Obama.
Limpbaugh, who takes vacation to the Caribbean with Viagra in his suitcase, is a pathetic excuse for a human being, with no moral standing.
Worse, he has helped create the crisis this nation finds itself in, as he via his radio show has been one of the prime movers in the descent into the madness of know-nothing militant ignorance on the right that is destroying this nation.
Any sponsor that continues to pay money on his shows simply has accepted the evil this man represents, and should be boycotted by any consumer with any sense of morality or ethics or sense of common decency.
Rush is a blight on civilization. A canker sore on the American psyche.
FWIW, I have read that Ms. Fluke is contemplating legal action. She should pursue Rush. He clearly defamed her. I suspect a good lawyer would find such a suit to be a slam dunk.
Further, the right wing is trying to defend Limbaugh by saying Fluke should not have made her sex life part of the discourse. As John Cole brilliantly points out on his blog, Ms. Fluke had NOT ONE SINGLE WORD about her personal sex life or activity in her testimony. Read the testimony at the link yourself. She testified about medical conditions requiring the use of the drugs. She spoke on nothing but women’s health issues in general. As Cole says in his criticism of one right wing commentator, Ed Morrissey:
Ed is lying. The people who made this issue, which was about medical health, into an issue about Sandra Fluke’s sex life are Rush Limbaugh and all the amoral cretins like Ed who decided that just like Graeme Frost, anyone who goes against what the right wants RIGHT NOW, is a target who needs to be destroyed.
Today one sponsor who had advertised on Limbaugh’s show announced that they would not be returning. Here is the statement from the CEO of Carbonite.
“No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse.”
A Message from Carbonite CEO, David Friend Regarding Ads on Limbaugh
