Because he is an asshole--is the short answer. But, as Friedersdorf notes, this says more about conservatism than this one misogynistic idiot. Conservatives celebrate this man, no matter what he says. Former Veep Dick Cheney joked about waterboarding with Limbaugh, and conservative organizations give him awards.
Obama called the young woman and told her that her parents should be proud of her. I can only imagine what that meant to her. By contrast, Mitt Romney hasn't said anything, and Santorum dismissed it as Limbaugh being an entertainer.
Sigh.
Adult males, supposedly reared in a religiously moral context can't just call this what it is. I am embarrassed for every conservative who votes for this party--a party so cowed that they can't stand up to this man.
9 comments:
I think it was Roger Ebert a few years ago that despite their popularity, talk show hosts like Limbaugh still had a very small audience when you looked at the numbers.
He is an asshole, plain and simple. Way back in the 90's, I remember listening to him, as he was different than anything else on the air. He was also fairly factual back then and offered an alternative to the mostly dull MSM. Now, he is just an obnoxious blowhard.
I am not trying to defend Romney, but why does he have to say anything about this? I agree that inviting him to speak or giving an award shows some level of agreement, but I just don't see/expect every conservative to express outrage.
I think I can answer that. The issue here is only partly the asshat that Rush has become. And to be fair, btw, he has always been that. Remember when he called a 13 year old Chelsea Clinton a dog? What adult does that? No "entertainer" who has ever been around a teenage girl going through a gawky stage would ever think to do that--unless they were assholes pure and simple.
But the broader issue is that he has been a much bigger voice of the Republican party and conservative movement than you want to acknowledge. When Dick Cheney wanted to reach out to the base, he did it on Rush's show--where they could make jokes about waterboarding and torture.
When Republicans have tried to stand up to him, he has unleashed his Dittoheads to call and yell, and they have always backed down. Eric Cantor called him an "entertainer" and had to back down.
But even more than that, this "slut" comment happens in the middle of Republicans going after women on every turn. Some 20 states now require an ultrasound and steps for women seeking abortion--because, of course, we can't trust women to make that decision, and they don't really know what they are doing. Contraception is even under fire, and when we have hearings on contraception and insurance, Republicans only interview men. What? No conservative women who oppose that mandate? I know for a fact there are. But Republicans have made this certainly look like a "war" (and I hate to use that word like that) on women.
Rush's comments further that belief that conservatives don't respect women. Obama demonstrated what adults do when someone is publicly shamed like this--he reached out to Ms Fluke. The optics are really bad for the Republican party on this, and Romney can only say that he would use different words than Rush. Wow. Brave.
Can't possibly dare alienating the Dittohead base, no matter how small it is. Because even the Tea Party idiots who don't listen to him will come to his defense as the "liberal media" is attacking a conservative.
I have already seen this, btw, with conservatives reflexively defending Rush and most of them have said they don't listen to him on any kind of regular basis.
Who is defending him in this case?
That is what makes this an interesting case. Some of my conservative friends are--I should have made that more clear. Public conservatives are not--though I just read this morning that Bill O'Reilly was saying very similar stuff--just not calling her names.
But what makes this interesting is that the conservatives who take advantage of Rush's celebrity within the movement, and appreciate him blowing the dog whistles for the movement, are caught here in ways that they haven't been in the past. Like I said, this has more resonance because it appears the Republicans are going after women--then one of their more visible and vocal talk show people makes it explicit.
Other wingers are leaping to Rush's defense.
Complete assface Ed Morrissey says: However, let’s keep in mind that it was Fluke who made her sexual activity a matter of national political debate…
As John Cole on Balloon Juice pointed out, Ed is lying. In fact, when Cole posts the transcript, Ed doubles-down, re-posts the transcript, and nowhere in there does she discuss her sex life!
Oh, but Ed tries to justify it: (first, read the except of the testimony that Ed singled-out here)"In case they missed this in English class, we is a self-inclusive pronoun. Otherwise, the correct pronoun would have been they. And in the real world, contraception involves sexual activity. No one was talking about the sex life of Georgetown law school students until Fluke made it an issue and claimed to represent the group, including herself."
What a crock of shit. First, in Ed's except, she doesn't discuss anyone's sex life. Oh, but because she referred to "we" instead of "they," well then she is just as guilty as the sluts who want slut pills to be slutty because now she presumes to speak for them.
No, dicknose. She is speaking foe women who want their medical needs NOT denied by the place they go to school. That's the WE she discussed.
But caught in a lie, the wingers double-down.
"Remember when he called a 13 year old Chelsea Clinton a dog?"
No, I don't remember that, streak. And neither do you.
http://lyingliar.com/?p=17
Actually, I think I do remember that. We saw a lot of clips of Limbaugh when he had that TV show, and I remember that one fairly clearly.
No you dont remember that. As pointed out in the link provided, your version of events didnt happen. Therefore, you're remembering nothing but a fantasy.
Have to congratulate you on your keeping up with the thread. The last comment was almost a year ago, but you are still coming back here to tell me I don't remember Rush Limbaugh being a gigantic ass. Hell, I don't even need the old story to know that. And I don't need any more comments to know that anyone defending Limbaugh is an ass.
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