Further Media Miscellany

Posted by SoWellRead, March 3, 2012 —

The Latest Slut-Gate Developments

Pigs must be flying, because professional provocateur Rush Limbaugh has done the unthinkable: issued an apology for referring to Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University student who testified before a Congressional panel about insurance coverage for birth control, as a “slut” and a “prostitute.” His rant, which he concluded by demanding that Fluke (whose first name he can’t even get right) post her sex videos online for the taxpayers’ viewing pleasure:

What does it say about the college co-ed Susan 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. 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. The johns.

Naturally, the apology is technically a non-apology: “In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.”

In what reality is calling someone a “slut” not a personal attack? Try greeting your boss on Monday with “Good morning, you slut!” Hey, it’s not personal, it’s just business.

Unbelievably, Mitt Romney’s response to the incident was actually worse than that of Rick Santorum, who at least acknowledged that Limbaugh was “being absurd.” (Though Santorum then excused the behavior by claiming, “an entertainer can be absurd.”) Asked about Limbaugh’s remarks during a campaign event, Romney said, “I’ll just say this, which is it’s not the language I would have used.”

Seriously? What language would Romney have chosen instead? “Whore” instead of “slut”? “Hooker” instead of “prostitute”? Maybe “floozy” or “tramp” have been less offensive.

Out of all the media reactions to Limbaugh’s insults, that of Jennifer Rubin, a conservative blogger for the Washington Post, was perhaps most bizarre. Rubin, who regularly issues demands for President Obama to denounce ostensibly “anti-Semitic” remarks from figures so loosely associated with the White House that their only connection to Obama is the term “liberal,” declined to comment on the odious comments from an extremist in her own party. When asked for comment, Rubin wrote: “Needless to say I don’t respond to faux journalists, and I have nothing to say about a radio talk show host’s comments.”

Funny, because she has something to say about everything else under the sun. Equally humorous is the denunciation of “faux journalists” by someone whose greatest journalistic exploits include linking to various conservative websites and opining about Obama “throwing Israel under the bus.” Journalism usually entails first-hand reporting, not just tossing out opinions from behind a computer monitor. If Jennifer Rubin is a real journalist, then I am Walter Cronkite.

Also provoking eye-rolling is the response of Limbaugh’s advertisers. Quicken Loans and Sleep Train Mattresses both pulled their ads, and Pro Flowers tweeted, “We would like to assure you that we do not endorse the views expressed by Rush Limbaugh.” All I can say is, these companies are fleeing from Limbaugh’s program now? So . . . when the radio host told a black viewer to “take that bone out of your nose and call me back,” that wasn’t offensive enough? When he called the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib “sort of like hazing, a fraternity prank, sort of like that kind of fun,” that wasn’t sufficiently repulsive? And when Limbaugh repeatedly played a song called “Barack the Magic Negro,” that wasn’t grounds for advertisers to go elsewhere?

Too little, too late, folks.

We Just Make Stuff Up

Wendy Kaminer at The Atlantic confirms what I’ve been banging on about for awhile: that the NYT is running a deliberate  campaign of deception about Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruling that allowed corporations to make unlimited political donations. . . .

Further Media Miscellany « . . . So Well Read. . .

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See also Sandra Fluke Receives Call From Obama After Rush Limbaugh ‘Slut’ Comments

See also Independent Poll Shows Most Americans want Obama’s Health Care Reforms and Contraception Coverage

See also The Republican Conundrum