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As if we didn’t already know about Rush Limbaugh’s character, he felt the need to make sure we were clear on this issue. As everyone knows at this point, Rush Limbaugh, the conservative political pundit, called a Georgetown University Law Student a “slut” and a “prostitute” after her testimony before Congress about the need for birth control coverage in the health care package.
Limbaugh’s exact words were:
“What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex, what does that make her?” Limbaugh asked his listeners. “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. What does that make us? We’re the pimps.”
As a result of his remarks, Limbaugh has been taken to task. He’s lost some of his sponsors, including the Quicken Loans Inc. company. At first, they decided to stand by their man, but then they reversed their original decision, probably due to the heat they were receiving from others. As they said in a statement,
“Due to Rush Limbaugh’s continued inflammatory comments–along with the valuable feedback we have received from our clients and team members–Quicken Loans has suspended all advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio Program.”
In the aftermath of his disgusting diatribe, Limbaugh received harsh criticism from Democratic members of Congress. And they encouraged the Republican members to follow suit. John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, made a weak effort at sounded offended by Limbaugh’s words. As a statement from his office said, “The Speaker obviously believes the use of those words was inappropriate, as is trying to raise money off the situation.”
Even Obama got into the act, commending Sandra Fluke for her courage. On Friday, he called the law student and expressed his interest in how she was doing. As she described afterwards, President Obama did not want to get into a discussion about the birth control policy. Rather, he called because, as she said, “He wanted to talk about whether or not I was okay.”
Rush Limbaugh has sent issued an apology. In it he said,
“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…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.”
Too little, too late it seems.
