Posted on 03/03/2012 10:12:00 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Rush Limbaugh’s diatribes against Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University law student who spoke out about contraception, continue to roil the political environment. And it may be nicking the bottom line for the conservative talk show personality who draws millions of listeners daily.
Republicans, already facing a potential problem with many female voters over a controversial issue, are scrambling to respond – distancing themselves from a powerful voice among many of the party faithful. House Speaker John Boehner and GOP presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney put out statements – although the tone seemed grudging.
US Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who faces what could be a tough re-election campaign against Democrat Elizabeth Warren, says Limbaugh should apologize for calling Ms. Fluke “a slut,” “a prostitute,” and one of his signature slurs “a feminazi.”
But Limbaugh, who’s made himself very wealthy with his bloviating conservative commentary and mocking wise cracks, shows no sign of backing off, recently targeting other women as well for his ridicule.
When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi organized a meeting to hear Ms. Fluke’s testimony, Limbaugh referred to the former House Speaker as “Botox-filled.” When racecar driver Danica Patrick voiced her support of President Obama’s rule regarding contraception, Limbaugh said, “What would you expect from a woman driver?”
Whether or not it will make any difference to Limbaugh’s operation is unclear, but several advertisers on his syndicated radio show have pulled their ads and more are considering it.
Select Comfort, which sells Sleep Number mattresses, tweeted: "Recent comments by RUSH LIMBAUGH do not align w/our values, so we made decision to immediately suspend all advertising on that program."
Quicken Loans announced; “Due to continued inflammatory comments – along w/valuable feedback from clients & team members – QL has suspended ads on RUSH LIMBAUGH program."
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Forget a radio personality, I think my folks would have labelled me a slut.
Rumor has it Ms. Fluke is a lesbo athlete who uses the pill to regulate her menstrual cycle. Who knows. She voluntarily appeared before this committee knowing it would be televised. She’s an avid, vocal and very public advocate of her causes. This makes her a public figure who’s open to being mocked and hyperbolized. She might win in a lawsuit, but most slander and libel suits are overturned.
I think your post encapsulates the circumstances concisely. OTOH, perhaps a Qui Tam lawsuit for [her] perjury before Congress...?
It is irresponsible journalism to write about the possibility of a defamation lawsuit without including the quoted language. Of course, if they did, it’s clear he did not slander her.
Exactly.
And the key point is why should lesbians like Ms. Fluke receive free birth control pills paid for by the taxpayer just so she can regulate her menstrual cycle?
Yeah, I’m trying to figure out how the heck you can spend $80 a month on birth control. Morning After pills 5 times a week?
It was obvious from her testimony that she was an activist. No one should be surprised. What annoys me here is Rush taking the bait as he did. It hurts the Republican and conservative brands.
If I were Rush on Monday, I would be asking questions as to why lesbians should be entitled to free birth control pills paid for by the taxpayer.
Definition from Wikipedia seems to take the wind out of that sail, (especially with Discovery):
“Slut or slattern is a term applied to an individual who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous. The term is generally pejorative and often applied to women as an insult or offensive term of disparagement, meaning “dirty or slovenly.”[1] However some women have demonstrated saying they’re proud of being “sluts”, and have given it a positive connotation.”
Since she's an in your face activist, she should have no problem with having her deposition filmed and put on Youtube.
Has anyone interviewed the parents? If I did this, my father and mother would disown me.
My understanding is that he did not directly call her a slut. I believe that he said something to the equivalent that what the ‘lady’ described is the definition of a slut.
As to the "Sleep Number Beds" I do think that ditching Rush will really slash their market as Rush was often giving them to people so much that others, like myself, became fascinated with what their selling points really were.
Unfortunately, any mattress that needed to send me a video so that I might find out what they actually were selling for, surpassed my cash flow, though my hubby did by me some Bose headphones and they're the greatest (on a recent trip, he snoring away and I left with nowhere else to lay my head, snapped on my "noise cancelling" Bose, slept soundly!)
Here’s the actual Limbaugh quote (via MSN):
“[Fluke] testifies she’s having so much sex she can’t afford her own birth control pills, and she wants President Obama to provide them, or the Pope. ... What does it say about the college co-ed Susan [sic] Fluke, 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.” Limbaugh then corrected himself: “So she’s not a slut. She’s round-heeled.”
He’s not saying anything factually disparaging about her (which would have to be false for him to be liable). He is is saying that if the facts as SHE recounts them under oath are true, then he characterizes her as a slut. That can’t be slander.
This is a case made to order for Gloria Alred. She seldom cares whether she wins or loses, so long as someone gets tarred and she get 15 minutes in the spotlight.
My parents would have killed me!
I’d love to see it happen, since she’s actually a 30 year old feminist activist.
Truth is an ABSOLUTE defense.
We bought a sleep number bed years ago, back before they even started putting numbers on the controls. - First night I slept on it, my back woke up rested. So far, we’ve been able to just replace the innards when husband’s side of it goes kaplunk.
It has been great - and economical. We were replacing conventional mattresses every few months before we got the sleep number (before they were putting numbers on them).
I’d recommend getting a thick mattress pad for it if you get one; just works better to my way of thinking.
Look at the word choice. I listened to that particular program and I don't know how they can describe the presentation in that manner.
The Left lampoons conservatives all the time. It's their weapon of choice. Apparently turn-about is not "fairplay."
Well, disregard that Post # 58. Sleep Number bowing to pressure from the feminazis is a disappointment. I guess we’ll have to look for something similar to a Sleep Number mattress. - It’s just an air mattress; hardly something that some other company couldn’t copy and improve handily.
- So, Quicken Loans and Sleep Number “goodbye”; it’s been nice.
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