The last two news cycles have been filled with reports of Rush Limbaugh's so-called "apology" to Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke. No doubt, you've all heard by now that Limbaugh's faulty understanding of how the birth control pill works (Rush, it's not like Viagra, which we know you know a lot about), led him to personally attack the woman who was denied the ability to testify at Rep. Darrel Issa's "religion" hearing on birth control.
Fluke has advocated for some time that Georgetown, a Catholic university, include birth control in the health care coverage provided through the college, which, contrary to what those on the political right want you to believe, all Georgetown students must have and must pay for themselves. As a result of wanting to have access to reproductive health care, which Limbaugh wrongly claimed would have to be paid for by all of us, he called Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute."
Rush has since "apologized" for those remarks, and now we're supposed to move on. Nice try, Rush. Both of Limbaugh's statements were non-apology apologies. He "apologized" for the words he chose and for creating a stink. He never apologized to Fluke personally or for his not-so-subtle inference that any woman who wants birth control to be covered by health insurance is the same. But what do we expect from the man who is apparently so obsessed and afraid of women that he's called Hillary Clinton the "Sex-cretary of State," he's mocked women in politics as "lard-asses," and has claimed that women were to blame for the downfall of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, as opposed to Weiner himself.
The larger issue is one that most news outlets are missing. By calling Fluke a slut and prostitute, Limbaugh called every woman in America who gets prescription birth control through her health insurance those same things. While my daughter isn't old enough (yet) to think about her reproductive years, my two stepdaughters are. And my nieces are. And loads of my friends still are. And that's where Limbaugh crossed the line.
No woman, regardless of political party, is going to stand for anyone calling her daughters or her friends sluts. And we sure don't like politicians who won't stand up to bullies who try to smear the good names of the girls and women in our lives. I'm talking to you Republican presidential contenders who refuse to take on the Limbaugh power machine and who kowtow to his kind of hateful misogyny. You're forgetting that we're the majority of voters and at the end of the day, we have a lot more power over your political future than Limbaugh.
Any candidate who isn't man enough (and, sadly, it's just men in this race) to stand up to a mean-spirited talk show host who claims to be the standard bearer of their political party is too much of a coward to make it to the White House. If a candidate doesn't have the cajones to do that, what could make any voter believe he could take on Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
While Limbaugh will ultimately get a pass for all this, the GOP presidential contenders who've been too afraid to call Limbaugh out should be the ones to hold accountable. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul should remember one thing -- women won't forget. We won't forget that you gave Limbaugh a pass on calling women a bunch of sluts and prostitutes, and on Election Day, we won't forget that none of you had the intestinal fortitude to stand up for half of all Americans.
Joanne Bamberger is the author of the Amazon.com bestseller, Mothers of intention: How Women and Social Media are Revolutionizing Politics in America (Bright Sky Press, 2011). Joanne, a Washington, D.C.-based writer and political/media analyst, is the founder of the political blog, PunditMom, and is the 2012 Election Editor/Contributor for iVillage.
Follow Joanne Bamberger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PunditMom
David Carr: The Bible Is Pro-Birth Control
Elizabeth Gregory: 'Slut' Limbaugh and the Virgin Queen
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
Don't get riled up over Rush's comments, he was JOKING?!
The left made him say these vile things.
Keep Rush on the air please. How else are the repubiCants going to get their marching orders ( talking points) ? Faux news ?
The conservative women I have talked to have NOT followed this other then what is baby spoon fed them from their church and right leaning news sources.
And with the recent attacks of the right wing ( ring ) on voting rights of the poor, young, and other groups will fuel their taste on denying a woman vote.
And dont forget Rush wants to watch all you women "getting paid " by taking birth control from an insurance company having sex. It should be available online for free .....
( any one ill yet?)
Dont get mad - vote and help others get out to vote!
Take back congress, and encourage old ( and one young) supreme court justices to retire.
Fantastic point. They are a bunch of wimps. I hope you are right in predicting this will cost them the election.
He said,"YOU on the left, have appointed him the Repubs flagbearer"; he thanked you all for the compliment but denied that he was, "connected to the leadership of the Repub party."
My interest was prompted by the seeming short sightedness in that you hope the Repubs lose an election because of a few words uttered by a radio show host! All of the troubles facing this country and the world, all you can think of is how insulted you are over a couple of words? It is a shame that there are Americans who will cheapen their right to vote, especially when their are millions who will never have that privlege.
It's no wonder the world sees Americans as silly, self absorbed, overfed children.
Personally, I hope this commotion ends soon because I will listen to his first hour to catch his latest respnses but I cannot take too much more. I used to listen to him in the beginning but he said something one day that caused me to roll my eyes and move on.
He said, "there are more trees on the American continent now than existed when the Europeans arrived." I live in Manhattan and I looked out the window to see those trees but they seem to have disappeared. I do not suffer fools, no matter their poli party.
Well, to console ourselves, we have to remember fifty percent of people have below average intelligence.
It's time everyone (and advertisers) take a stand against bullies in the classroom (and in the media.) Hopefully, this ordeal won't simply blow over quickly but will eventually be a lesson to emphasize there are better ways to resolve differences than being mean.
Perhaps it's a tad (actually, much more than a tad) too idealistic, but we can hope, can't we? ;-)
The author must believe that the Magic Money Fairy is going to pay for the birth control. If you think the insurance company is going to eat the cost then you really do live in fairly land. Therefore someone within Ms Fluke's pool of payers will have to cover some of her birth control. So is that fair to a gay person that does not need birth control, or the person that knows how to abstain from premarital sex, or someone that will have to skip a meal just to pay for Ms. Fluke's fun?
Rush pointed out that Ms Fluke was asking other to pay for her to have sex. So "What do you call a woman that wants to get paid for sex?" Then being logical Rush figured that Sandra should be having protected sex, which means a condom. So after doing the math on $1000 a year at a $1 per condom means that she was using at least 3 condoms a day. So the next question is "What do you call a woman that needs 3 condoms a day?"
Your math is irrelevant, and not applicable. Get a clue.
Not one Republican candidate agreed with Rush's description of Ms. Fluke, and all advised him an apology was in order.
The only area of agreement between Rush and Republicans is that taxpayers should not have to pay for others' birth control, and if you as an individual or employer object in conscience to providing birth control, you should not have to pay for it in the insurance policies you buy.
No one right, left or center, is talking about banning contraceptives. Even Santorum who came closer than anyone to the edge of that cliff, simply said he did not personally believe in contraception because he was a devout practicing Catholic.
Anyone whose primary focus was on providing women with free contraception wouldn't have been voting republican even before Rush opened his mouth. Unless you know a substantial number of hard line Democratic feminists who were planning to jump ship and vote R in November, I don't think Republicans have lost any votes.
Women, regardless of party affiliation, should not support anyone who does not wholeheartedly condemn the misogyny behind Rush's statements.
thank you!
The Good Ol' Boy Club will be dark age history sooner than we realize.