Rush Limbaugh has always been a gaseous windbag, but "slut" and "prostitute?" Really?
For anyone who may not have heard, the old right-wing shock jock blamed the victim. He waged a because she advocated insurance coverage of birth control.
"I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation," he said in a diluted apology that came only after advertisers started pulling out.
The wrong words? Ya think?
Personally, I've never been a fan of shock jocks—on either side of the political spectrum. There is very little, if anything, that has ever come out of Limbaugh's mouth that I would find entertaining. He is easy to ignore.
However, as a woman and a mom, this recent outrage has me seeing red. How can we raise our daughters to feel as equals when we, ourselves, are still getting the double standard?
Fluke is a respectable 30-year-old Georgetown law student, not a hooker. She was testifying before Congress, not selling dope on the street corner. What Limbaugh did is the political equivalent of telling a rape victim that she asked for it.
Speaking of which, for being as conservative as Limbaugh is, it's ironic that he is casting the first stone when he is not without sin. He called Fluke names when he is the one who is the self-admitted drug addict. Lest we forget what a hypocrite Limbaugh is.
Limbaugh is a professional talk show host. He makes a reportedly cool $50 mil a year to choose the right words. Saying what he means is his career, and he is paid hugely for it.
The next time he decides to squawk about the radical notion of opinionated women, instead of getting tangled up in the trivialness of words, perhaps he better stick to his native tongue: Oink.
Rush couldn't care less about the advertising revenue, as he explained today. He'll still get paid, and the advertisers were only shuffling their advertising on the same stations to different programs until y'all quit yer moaning. As to the language, please point me to your column of outrage and condemnation when Bill Maher called Sarah Palin the most vile name imaginable for a woman. As to Mike, "debasing and insulting rhetoric" is what we hear from Olbermann and Maher and Stewart and the like all day long, of course directed at Republicans in general and conservatives in particular. Google comments about Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin if you need a sampling.
And yes, by using the word "slut" he was attempting to shame her into silence.
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/kaiser_0698.html This isn't the 50's, birth control is preventative care that is as legitimate and valid as any other healthcare, and it should be treated as such.
Their track record is: Two Babies that died at or before birth, and one who is completely, severely disabled, and who’s prognosis is a death in the next few years maximum. They refer to her as a, “Miracle” because the Doctors said that she would die within two years, and it has now been three. THAT is not my idea of a miracle, but it IS my idea of flagrant irresponsibility to the unborn, while hiding behind being, “Pro-Life.”
Asking for equal medical coverage and calling out obvious misogyny makes one hyper-sensitive, eh? I am of the opinion that some men are so hyper-sensitive against women having sex/opinions/lives outside the home that they feel the need to denigrate and debase women. They do things to make it harder for women to receive healthcare or not being in a position of power...whine on local forums about supposed double standards.
“…the assumption that the only reason she would need the pill is so that she can "have a good time spreading her legs". THAT'S what I have a problem with.” And I would agree with you if that were all I had said. QUOTE: “If she further tried to substantiate that demand by saying the cost for non-medical emergency birth control was excessively expensive I would suggest to her that that she should have better self control than an animal or she has a psychological infirmity.” Megan: “By the way, I by no means need a refresher on the 1st amendment, thank you. You don’t? Then explain to us how you justify the obama regime demanding that a self-insured Catholic hospital pay for employee condoms and abortifacients! Oh yeah megan, I do respect women, I just view sandra fluke as a self serving political hack and while I am not a physician my background does elevate me beyond neophyte knowledge concerning women’s health issues. Working Man 5:56 am March 8, 2012 “As I read all the comments here it sickens me to think that all anyone has to do is wast there time!” So protecting the Constitution and our GUARANTEED RIGHTS is a “wast” of time in your world. It is disassociated people like you that allow for the decline of our country. It is disassociated people like you that are shocked as obama changes the very fabric of our country by “executive order”. You’re not a “working man” sir you’re a LAZY man.
1. Unemployment in February ----> 9.1% up from last month 2. Federal deficit hits a new record in February 3. Gas hits $6 per gallon in CA 4. Obama is slashing healthcare benefits to our military families in his new budget. How about the Patch writing an article about any of the above? Let's comment on these issues.
Nobody is giving away birth control "away at no charge." You are paying for your insurance either through a paycheck deduction or labor. It is YOUR insurance, you should be able to get the healthcare you need without some paternalistic/religious/controlling overlord telling you how you should live your life.
Again, this is NOT FUNDED BY TAXPAYERS. IT IS A PRIVATE INSURANCE ISSUE.
Really? Since you used the word. Do you really think any young girls are ever going to "feel equal" by advocating, even by implication, that being sexually promiscuous, i.e. a "slut", is okay? Which leads to a question. Why do almost all women hate the word "slut"? Didn't we have little "revolution" during the 60s & 70s that tried to convince women it was okay to be sexually promiscuous. Women still, far far more than men, look down on women who are sexually promiscuous. Turn red all you want. But you look pretty Orwellian for getting all upset over someone getting called something after they defended the foundational concepts that define the word. Or do you think it wrong to call someone who publicly defends the behaviors and foundational concepts of Nazism, a Nazi?