Blog #7: Has Rush Limbaugh finally gone too far?

This article is about recent remarks made by Mr. Limbaugh; a famous radio personality, with major influence on the Republican Party. Mr. Limbaugh made comments to a Sandra Fluke after she testified in support of mandatory employer health coverage of contraception in front of a nonofficial congressional committee. He called her a “slut” and a “prostitute,” while urging her to make public video tapes of her intimate acts. He said, “If we are going to have to pay for this then we want something in return, Ms. Fluke,” Limbaugh said on his radio show earlier this week. “And that would be the videos of all this sex posted online so we can see what we’re getting for our money.” She is a George Town law student and was astounded at these words and had this to say, “All [Limbaugh] needs to know is this is really inappropriate. This is outside the bounds of civil discourse.” Democrats and their political allies were immediately at her defense. Some 75 House Democrats have signed a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R) asking him to condemn Limbaugh’s words. Though some Republicans said they don’t support his rhetoric, they support the point about health insurance Limbaugh was trying to make. One posing the questions, “A law student is now a hardship case? She needs the rest of us to provide her with free contraceptives?” Few commentators predict that Limbaugh will back down. He makes his living saying outrageous things: that’s how he attracts 20 million listeners a day. Even a nascent boycott of Limbaugh’s advertisers organized by opponents probably won’t faze him.

We’re living in a world where gender inequality is a huge problem globally and though some believe it’s not happening in America, this is a prime example that it is indeed going on in America. I can’t help but think that if the situation were reversed and it was a woman making derogatory comments towards a man, on a national radio station, she would’ve already lost her job and been taken to court. I can’t rap my brain around what he said. I mean she was exercising her right to freedom of speech, so that makes her a “slut”? I don’t understand why he hasn’t been fired or furthermore, I don’t understand why he isn’t being sued for slander. The fact that contraception is even being thought about being done away with is mind bottling. This is another example of how men are trying to hinder women by telling them they can or cannot have birth control. How, in this “modern” society, is this even aloud to be talked about? To think that America is actually one of the better societies when it comes to women’s rights is scary; what is this telling our society or better yet, what is this doing to our society globally?

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2012/0302/Has-Rush-Limbaugh-finally-gone-too-far