Associated Press
The controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh's attacks on Sandra Fluke appear to be moving from the front page, but the story is hardly finished. In fact, according to Media Matters' count, 45 advertisers -- and counting -- have now canceled their ads from the Republican host's radio show.
What's more, it seems Limbaugh isn't quite done sharing his thoughts on women. Adam Clark Estes reported this morning that he's got a new target, author Tracie McMillan, who'll be chatting with Rachel Maddow on tonight's show:
Less than a week after calling Sandra Fluke a "slut" on the air, Rush Limbaugh ran his mouth again on Tuesday, calling investigative journalist Tracie McMillan a "babe", an "authorette" and, more broadly, one of "these single white women." What makes the talk show host's poor choice of words even worse is that he was discussing McMillan's book, as he was trying to prove that the right wasn't waging a "war on women." From McMillan's point of view, this seemed an inopportune time to use diminutive terms in dismissing the in depth reporting and critically acclaimed work of a female author.
"It's been really interesting to have somebody be that openly dismissive of my work strictly based on the fact that I'm female," McMillan told The Atlantic Wire. "There's no other way to think about it except that Rush Limbaugh just doesn't think women count." McMillan went on to explain how her book approaches some difficult issues about the food that feeds America and the conditions for the workers that produce it, however Limbaugh didn't seem willing to engage in that debate. Instead, he focused on her being a woman.
When complaining about the author, Limbaugh told his listeners, "What is it with all of these young single white women, overeducated -- doesn't mean intelligent."
I'm not altogether sure what the host was trying to say with this -- I seem to have lost my far-right decoder ring -- but the larger point seems to be that Limbaugh doesn't care for McMillan's work, which immediately leads him to complain about her being a young woman.
It's almost as if this guy has a hangup regarding gender.
As for the larger point, Steve Kornacki noted yesterday that Limbaugh is "poisoning" the Republican brand. I suspect that's probably right, and given recent events, I also suspect Limbaugh doesn't care.
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Of course he doesn't care. Nor does he seem to get it. He's gotten away with so many outrageous comments and acts in the past, that I don't believe he understands the magnitude of what he's created this time.
This is not going to go away.
I agree...In his attempts to instill hatred for the left, he has created a monster that he is the head of. It is now out of control, and so is Rush.
He owned the GOP and so now it owns him and his mistake.
article - Rushes G.O.Pology http://www.gopeabrain.com/?p=88
I hope so. But he's gotten away with some truly breathtaking crap before.
And even if his show does ultimately fold under the outrage over his remarks, he will be able to flog the "good republican exercising his free speech CENSORED by the left-wing media" outrage for speaking fees and television appearances for a long time. I don't think this is the last we'll hear of him.
I hope Rush keeps up with the misogyny, I really do. The more out right he is about it, the faster sponsors will drop him. He can't go back and say 'I'm sorry about calling that girl a slut and a prostitute' (sincerely) What's done is done and he will now have the title of woman hater. Maybe now his sponsors will pay closer attention to what he says. Although I think it's kinda sad that it has come to this to get serious attention brought to his joke of 'entertainment'.
he is sure his base is as sexist as he is...and that they will stay with him. Just remember Andrew Dice Clay...oh you DON'T????????????
Dear God:
On behalf of the human race, I sincerely apologize to You for the role our sin of omission has played in allowing Rush Limbaugh to for so long trash Your "image and likeness" in the form of our humanity.
Please forgive us, for we have yet to fully commit, effectively organize, and use our collective power to confront Limbaugh's enablers at Disney, ABC, Clear Channel, et al and finally force them to scrub clean the air You so generously bequeathed us by permanently retiring from the airwaves the toxic turpitude and bigoted filth whose source is Rush Limbaugh, those like him, and their principle benefactors and beneficiaries.
Give us the strength to be resolute in purpose, persistent in practice, and joyful in solidarity as we drive from "Your House" AND our own "People's House" the rest of the sociopaths, pharisees, false prophets, idolators, money changers and polluters who've looted the treasures of our humanity and treasured earth.
Amen.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/hp_blogger_Ronald%20B.%20Robinson/rush-limbaugh-radio-stations-drop-show-fluke_n_1322609_139329077.html
Thank you Ronald Bruce, really!
Maybe, if this sort of American consumer outrage continues (followed by financial disengagement from the most outrageous of the Right Wing talking heads, by American companies) we will finally begin to achieve improved civility in American political and social discourse. I think THAT would be a VERY good thing for our country.
At least Mr. Limbaugh now knows that “words have
consequences”, and that "free speech" doesn't mean irresponsible speech isn't always free. In fact it may have a very high cost!
Rush Limbaugh loses 42 advertisers so far
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73675.html
“The list of companies that officially announced on Twitter, Facebook or in statements to other media outlets that they would stop advertising on the radio show include:
AccuQuote Life Insurance,
Allstate Insurance,
AOL,
Aquarium of the Pacific,
Bare Escentuals,
Bethesda Sedation Dentistry,
Bonobos,
Capital One,
Carbonite,
Cascades Dental,
Citrix,
Consolidated Credit Counseling
Services,
Constant Contact,
Cunningham Security,
Freedom Debt Relief,
Geico,
Girl Scouts,
Goodwill Industries,
Hadeed Carpet,
JCPenney,
Legal Zoom,
Matrix Direct,
Netflix,
Norway Savings Bank,
O’Reilly Auto Parts,
Philadelphia Orchestra,
PolyCom,
Portland Ovations,
ProFlowers,
Quicken Loans,
Regal Assets,
Reputation Rhino,
RSVP Discount Beverage,
Sears,
Sensa,
Service Magic,
Sleep Train,
Sleep Number,
St. Vincent’s Medical Center,
Tax Resolution,
Thompson Creek Windows and
Vitacost.”
Yes,what an outrage.Thank God we have clear thinking fair minded hosts like MSNBCs own Al Sharpton.A guy who calls people "punk faggots' on national television.Or his sensitive comments about blacks building pyramids long before those greek homos came over.Or his famous "get rid of the white interlopers" and his followers burned down a store called Freddys killing three people.Or his Tanna Brawley hoax.
Yes sir,when MSNBC trots out fair mined people like that I can see how outraged they would be over Rushs' comments.
Two wrongs still don't make Limbaugh right.
Say it with me this time: "But, ma, everybody's doing it!"
Thing about those "single white women" that Limbaugh thinks are over educated is -- they know how to vote and they will!
Rush and most of his followers cannot stand an educated woman of any color. The reason that he and all other misogynists and racists is that the only way they can build themselves up is by throwing someone else down. Most truly educated women would never submit to being thrown down by the likes of Rush.
There is a photograph circulating on Facebook today: a 50ish woman is holding a protest sign that says "I can't believe we STILL have to protest this @!$%#!"
This is a trend that has gone on too long. It is NOT funny and it never was. Those of the ilk who are passing this off as free speech and/or a poorly worded joke don't get it. Those of us who are still employed in corporate settings are forced to watch HR videos yearly about the sexual harrassment. Remarks such as Limbaugh made fall well within the legal definition of workplace sexual harrassment, should somebody wish to sue him or ClearChannel.
This is NOT about religion; it is not ultimately about contraception, abortion or even women's access to health care. It is about equal justice before the law - as I've said before. It is about living decently in a decent society.
He is arrogant enough to believe that he can get away with this and still retain all right winged friends and audience. Over and over, I see the supposed party of family values and virtue, kneel at his feet as he spews out discriminatory remarks, hatred for the left, his views on bigotry--including women, labor, voting, race, religions. The man is a slob and he imposes his immorality on the hypocritical, God loving conservatives. How can one support his filth, slander and lies and then, on the other hand, claim they are deeply religious and live by the Word of the Lord. Total hypocrisy. He is their 2nd God.
If Limbaugh is the right's second god, who is their first? Nuggan, the insane god of Borogrovia who abominates babies, ears, crop rotation, women knowing how to write, and many other things? I can't think of a more appropriate god for them.
You've put me in mind of John 8:44, particularly the part reading "When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." Sums Limbaugh up nicely.
Well,since Rush cant pass any laws I wonder what kind of simpleton would base their vote on a radio host.Probably the same type of voter who thinks 4 dollar a gallon gas under Bush is an outrage but 6 dollar a gallon gas under Obama is fine.
A Republican.
Somebody the other day said Rush talks only to old white truckers and travelling salesmen. I don't know if that is true, but I know his focus is on the feelings 50 year old and older white men who feel a lot of pressure competing in the market place. I suspect he feels that older white men, especially those who feel they are losing in the game of life, are deeply resentful of women. He can't help himself because his audience expects him to make such silly statements.
I do believe you're right. I have a friend who has been politically aware much longer than myself, who is convinced the Right feels if women were back in the kitchen that would handily solve the jobs crisis for men.
You are absolutely right Elaine I was posting on an article that was in our paper. I believe it was an article about the economy and a man responded saying the agenda of the republican party is get women back into the homes and men working. I wonder how that is supposed to work for those of us without husbands? How are we supposed to take care of ourselves?
In response to how single women are supposed to take care of themselves. In the regressive world of the modern GOP it means finding a husband who will support you and you having lots and lots of children. Or you will be labeled a spinster who must shamefully seek the assistance of the males of your family.
It would certainly explain this sudden obsession with eliminating access to birth control. I can't believe this is our fight in the 21st century. Handmaid's Tale? Or, my friend's comparison, the Battlestar Galactica episode where they find the "farm" where the cylons have imprisoned human females for the sole purpose of reproduction. Either one makes me shudder to imagine.
Who is trying to get rid of birth control?We are simply saying PAY FOR IT YOUSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gee, you think so? But the gender Limbaugh may be hung up on could be his own: He may have trouble with his own sexual identity as a male so he lashes out at women to feel better about himself.
He is probably also sexually frustrated and upset with himself because he can not keep a woman. The thought of him having sex is repulsive.
I don't believe he's a closeted gay, because I've never known a gay person who possessed as much raw hatred as this man has. They're simply better people than that. I'd suspect Limbauh has been summarily rejected by most all females since he was a child and, like all bullies, the only method he has ever developed to cope with anyone he can't control is to demean them. That's how children act, and that's what he still is. It's natural and expected that some children will act out this way, and they can be taught while still young to control themselves. It's far too late for this manchild to learn now.
It really cannot be said that Rush Limbaugh is "poisoning" the Republican brand. He's been shaping it for decades, after all. It's his creation. If, suddenly, some GOP leaders realize that it makes them look bad, all this misogyny and racism, well, I suppose that's interesting, but they can't simply be allowed to walk away from this stuff, which they have, as a group, nurtured.
I don't see how he can be poisoning the brand when that's who's doing the voting. That bit about "overeducated doesn't mean intelligent" comment is almost a straight line from Santorum's "wanting people to go to college makes you a snob." And the whole dismissive of women thing is a straight line from all the anti-women legislation going on.
Are we done talking about free contraceptives or just want to change the conversation to idiot things Rush says?
They were never free.
Oh right, Employers have to pay, thanks for setting me straight.
If Rushbo is truly "poisoning" the repuknican brand, I wish him well in continuing the work! However, Rush has been a mysogonistic, racist @sshole for many, many years and the only thing new about recent events is that he has partially been called on it.
It is unfortunate that Neutered Gingrich and Opus Dei Santorum and Mittens RMoney are not also perceived as "poisoning" the repuke brand.
Oh, but they are!
The tealiban elected him as their leader back in the 90s when they would actually send Rush the lies they wanted him to promote on his show. He actually read one letter from Noot that was full of inaccuracies about a bill the tealiban didn't want passed at that time and got his listeners to call and/or write their reps to vote it down. It got voted down.
When the tealiban say that he is not their spokesperson, they are plain full of it and stink to high heaven. How can you tell when that party is lying? When they open their mouth.
The man is a misogynistic dinosaur who needs to head off to the tar sands (along with his buddies Glenn Beck and Bill Mahr). They are not relevant - they never have been and now, just seem pathetic. The only problem is that some people believe the tripe they are handing out.
hear... hear.....excellent point...
Dont shut Rush up. He is hurting the Republican candidates. Bear in mind his listeners are old enough to have daughters ages 21-30, which is the group he is attacking. In an odd way this whole mess is a godsend because it's showing how out of touch Gingrich, Romney,Santorum are.
You know - I don't care if Rush still has a show and such - there are clearly those salesmen and truckers and middle American guys who love him. That's fine. Free market and all that.
What I want to see is for the GOP to cut their ties with him. I want to see him stop being invited to CPAC and to have politicians stop going on his show and to START pushing back against his extreme rhetoric. IOW - the party that GAVE him power and legitimacy needs to take it away.
Not holding my breath on that point though :-)
Seeing how he is constantly attacking women with hate and vulgarity I'm wondering if he is a closet gay. Since he's been married how many times? And he has no children and it's obvious he is against birth control so I would assume his wives where not aloud to take the pill. Makes me wonder Hmmm. Just saying. If we were the kind of person he is we could start spreading this around the wires. Hehe.
Oh please don't even speculate that Rush is gay...we shouldn't have to take responsibility for someone who loathes us.
Besides which, it implicitly says that being gay is a bad thing. Rush is bad + Rush is gay = gay is bad. Just don't go there.
Maybe, Rush Limbaugh has brain damage from all the drugs he took in the past? I have worked with several drug addicts, and it seems to be the case with some of them. Even for him, he seems to be digging himself deeper.
I stopped giving Rush so much grief for being on all of that Oxycontin. Having his head that far up his own ass must really be painful.
Maybe.I wonder if you say the same things about such famous junkies as Patrick Kennedy or Al Gores snot nosed kid.Somehow I doubt it.
His hang-up is caused because no woman wants him. Four marriages, and the word is that none of them were consummated.
Laura who in there right mind would want to consummate with him. YUCK!!! Thank God that he hasn't reproduced!!!
This is a sure sign he isn't gettin' ANY at home... He's too much of a coward to say those things to his spouse, so he drops his bombs on female guests If I run into him down here in Palm Beach, I'll have a sharp NCIS smack in the head for him...
This guy is a gift. He epitomizes the right so well it's perfect. Making misogynistic comments toward women while claiming he's not against women. He's so wrapped up in his ego he doesn't CARE what anyone one else thinks. As long as he says he's a great guy, he's a great guy.
I am surprised that the media isn't discussing the fact that Romney's old firm, Bain Capital, is a significant shareholder in Clear Channel, the company that ultimately owns the Rush Limbaugh show. Could that explain why Romney is reluctant to criticize Limbaugh because it could hurt his investment income? And shudder to think what might happen if Romney were to become president and how this would affect Clear Channel?
A dinosaur's last gasps.
Can one really be "over-educated?" The only reason you call a woman over-educated is because you think that it's not her place to be educated at all. I think this entire right-wing movement to silence women is because we've got 'em on the ropes ladies -- they're afraid of the number of educated women in our country at this moment in time.
Women who are smart enough to see through policies created by the good old boys network and held in place by old worn-out religious dogma.
They're afraid their power structure is in free-fall and they've pinpointed that collapse to the education and rights of women, to the ability for women to have choices in their life and to be more than just their servants and mothers of their children.
Well, if you're scared now boys, just keep your eyes peeled for the generation of young women raised by this one. They're coming for ya!
Sad. It would appear that America's women must once again pull themselves up from the days of sweat shops and unwanted pregnancies, along with being considered the property of their husbands.
And that is why I, an over-educated Northeastern elite, an activist in the fight ( and I can't believe we still have to defend this!I) for reproductive autonomy and the Second Wave of feminazism. have avoided signing a marriage contract. I wonder what ridiculous "crimes against chastity" are still on the books in MA, my native state?
Is anyone really surprised by anything Rush says? Certainly not. Is he poisoning the republican party? Not remotely. I say he is merely exposing the ugly under-belly they wish intelligent, free-thinking Americans would never get to witness.
As Mark Twain said,"Better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Way to go Rushbo; keep on talking. If any doubt remained, it is diminishing daily.
Misogyny ( /mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) is the hatred of women or girls. According to feminist theory, misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women.[1][2]Misogyny has been characterized as a prominent feature of various religions. In addition, many influential Western philosophers have been described as misogynistic. I'd say that sums it up.
Rash and his fellow right wing extremists have taken a chapter from the ‘bad magician’s handbook’. It’s all about distraction. Don’t look here, while I stuff the rabbit in the hat! While we are concentrating on Rash, his cronies are attacking voter rights, pushing a fundamentalist religious agenda and stalling the economy with lack of Congressional action. While we keep a watch on Rash and the circus that is the Republican primary, we cannot lose focus on everything else. There is method to the madness. Be ever vigilant.
Women are 53% of registered voters. I'm guessing that come November a lot of them won't be voting for Republicans.
I would't count on it. Alot of those women lean teabag.
People with highly authoritarian personalities are only about one-quarter to one-third of any given population. Low authoritarian personalities will almost never go for a right-wing candidate, while highly authoritarian personalities almost always will. The people ranging in between are more or less up for grabs, depending where exactly they fall between the extremes.
So the Republicans can rely on at most only as much as one-third of all women. Moderately authoritarian women may fall toward the GOP or away depending on the circumstances. If those circumstances include the perception that the Republican Party is on a jihad against women's basic reproductive and health-care rights, then as long as that continues through November, the Democrats should have very good results.
The soft center of the American electorate can be won or lost, and if the Republicans lose even a plurality of the female half of the center, they've lost the center period because it isn't just women that the GOP is alienating. Margins of victory are often very thin. They don't have to lose all women, they only have to lose enough women.
He has been embarrassing the GOP for years. He has always hated women - that much is woefully obvious. Finally, women are aware of what he's saying and are outraged!
from MM post about RL "Advertising is a business decision, it's not a social one. Only the leftists try to use extortion, pressure, threats to silence opposing voices. We don't do that."
Really? that's why Million Mom club hatefully went after JC Penny for hiring Ellen to be their spokesperson. but it seems to have backfired on the right in this instance. not for old Rush, though.