WaPo: The GOP can no longer avoid its Rush Limbaugh problem

[spanone]

IN A DEMOCRACY, standards of civil discourse are as important as they are indefinable. Yet wherever one draws the line, Rush Limbaugh’s vile rants against Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke crossed it. Mr. Limbaugh is angry at President Obama’s efforts to require the provision of contraception under employer-paid health insurance and the White House’s attempts to make some political hay out of the policy. His way of showing this anger was to smear Ms. Fluke, who approached Congress to support the plan, as a “slut” seeking a government subsidy for her promiscuity.

Like other “shock jocks,” Mr. Limbaugh has committed verbal excesses in the past. But in its wanton vulgarity and cruelty, this episode stands out. Mr. Limbaugh’s audience, and those in politics who seek his favor as a means of reaching that audience, need to take special note.

We are not calling for censorship. Nor are we suggesting that the ostensible policy issue here — mandatory provision of contraception under health insurance paid for by religious-based institutions such as Georgetown — is a simple one. Those who questioned President Obama’s initial decisions in this area — we among them — were not waging a “war on women,” as Democrats have alleged in strident fundraising appeals.

What we are saying is that Mr. Limbaugh has abused his unique position within the conservative media to smear and vilify a citizen engaged in the exercise of her First Amendment rights, and in the process he debased a national political discourse that needs no further debasing. This is not the way a decent citizen behaves, much less a citizen who wields significant de facto power in a major political party. While Republican leaders owe no apology for Mr. Limbaugh’s comments, they do have a responsibility to repudiate them — and him.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-gop-can-no-longer-avoid-its-rush-limbaugh-problem/2012/03/02/gIQA1xvVnR_story.html?hpid=z2

[babylonsister]

1. Yep-finally someone comes out and says this! Rec'd! nt

[Raven]

2. Republican leaders DO owe an apology!

They have unleased this plague on the Country.

[Fumesucker]

3. I guess when he called Chelsea Clinton the White House Dog that wasn't vile enough for the WaPo..

[Frances]

12. I lived in Rockville, MD

when Bill Clinton was elected President. I remember being outraged that someone in the Style section of the Post wrote that Chelsea, who was about 12 at the time, had fat legs. I don't remember anyone on the Post writing that she was the White House Dog, though. Did that really happen?

[LibertyLover]

15. Yes, Limbaugh did make a "joke"

about Chelsea Clinton being the White House dog. You can google it.

[calimary]

22. Yes. That's what he called her. On the air.

And Chelsea Clinton was a young teenager, and a total noncombatant here. And big fat bully went and picked on a little girl. What does that tell you (well, that you didn't already know)?

So... please check out a thread I found elsewhere here - that is FABULOUS! How you can fight back at the local radio level, with some VERY shrewd suggestions from a former radio insider who speaks the absolute provable truth!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002374653

This should be said, read, and SPREAD!

[sofa king]

4. Anyone else think he was just trying to upstage a dead guy?

He did a good job of it, whether he wanted to or not. But any guy who can buy his way out of prison and flagrant parole violations is unlikely to be swayed by mere public opinion.

He controls a demographic that will freely give away its own wealth to enrich those wealthier than they. He's not going to lose advertisers for long, because Rush is an expert flenser who parts idiots from their money like nobody else can.

The way to stop Rush is to isolate him from the flow of money, power, and influence. That's all he cares about. So if someone finds a way to threaten those things, he'll start listening fast. Otherwise, the attention he gets merely reinforces his stature among his poor misguided followers.

[Major Hogwash]

19. Yes, and that is why he turned the dial for "sleaze" up to 11.

A gay friend of mine told me on Thursday night that Rush flew into a jealous rage on Thursday morning when he heard that the news of Breitbart's death was all over the internet and that Faux Snooze was concentrating on Brietbart's sudden demise that morning.
Because Rush Limbaugh is gay.
In fact, that's not even his real name.
And that's why Rush continued the attacks on Sandra Fluke the next day.
He wants everyone to forget about Brietbart, who hasn't even been buried yet, because Rush wants to be the soul of the GOP party, and he doesn't want to share any of the limelight with any corpse.

[Grassy Knoll]

28. That's exactly what he did......

Did you like the fake bomb scare to get FAUX noise to immediately step away from brietbart
to cover his phony "LOOK AT ME" insecurity smoke screen ?
And Faux goose stepped to their Queen.

[calimary]

23. See my post just above. Or better yet,

see THIS post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002374653

[crunch60]

29. How can so many people listen to this bastion of bullshit, I just don't understand it.

Dittohead: Someone that cannot think for themselves, and just repeats, what they are told.
If Rush Limpball is so confident, why does he not run to be a Senator or President? He is just a Chicken Hawk. He would not even debate Al Franken, when Franken called him a Big Fat Idiot. Franken even offered to let Limpball take either side of the debate.
This obese, balding, impotent, draft dodging republican drug addict has about as much credibility as the sheep who follow him: as in not much!

[still_one]

5. Hell, the corporate media can no longer avoid its limbaugh problem. However, they will go out of

there way to protect limbaugh

There was a time in this country when the media would not give a forum to a racist, sexist, and general low class human being

[gratuitous]

13. They've done it in the past

And the Washington Post has been one of the protectors and enablers of this vile human being. The major media have countless times excused that vile human being's excesses on various grounds, whether it's the "entertainer" dodge or (as the Post does in this piece) invoking the specter of "censorship" when folks say this vile human being needs to lose his platform.

Note to the Post: It's NOT censorship to say that this vile human being needs to lose his lucrative sinecure. He can continue to walk the streets, and mutter anything he wants to the ether. He's NOT entitled to abuse the public airwaves with his vile rantings. And it is not censorship if it does finally happen. You either should know better than that, or you're reanimating the corpse of HUAC to scare people. In either event, screw you.

This vile human being has no right to use the public airwaves.

[Downtown Hound]

6. Looks like the WaPo decided to temporarily pull its head out of its ass and write a good piece

Now it will probably re-insert head into aforementioned ass and go back to being the pathetic rag that it is, but hey, I'll take it where I can get it.

[global1]

7. The Repugs Are Going Out On A LIMBaugh.........nt

[ProSense]

8. The debate

Like other “shock jocks,” Mr. Limbaugh has committed verbal excesses in the past. But in its wanton vulgarity and cruelty, this episode stands out....What we are saying is that Mr. Limbaugh has abused his unique position within the conservative media to smear and vilify a citizen engaged in the exercise of her First Amendment rights, and in the process he debased a national political discourse that needs no further debasing. This is not the way a decent citizen behaves, much less a citizen who wields significant de facto power in a major political party. While Republican leaders owe no apology for Mr. Limbaugh’s comments, they do have a responsibility to repudiate them — and him.

...should have ended when he uttered the word "slut."

Instead, Presidential candidates are offering lame excuses and non-condemnations, media pundits are jumping to his defense and joining the attacks on Fluke.

This is not just an episode of "vulgarity and cruelty" by Limbaugh, but also of the "cruel" establishment that continues to prop up this vile blowhard.

[stanchaz]

9. What century is this?

Republi-cants....what a circus. These holier-than-thou clowns just LOVE to tell you what you can’t do. Their campaign slogan should be “No you can’t”. The headlines just keep coming: Republicans condemn condoms! Republicans legislate forced trans-vaginal probes. Republicans tell us to have children of rape ...as a gift from God.  Republicans insult women in hateful word and deed ....degrading women who simply want to plan their families, and control their own bodies. What’s next with these guys? Republicans mandating missionary-position only? Procreation, not recreation...or else?  I really really hate to admit it, but Newt was right. ‘Cause Newt and all his Republican friends SHOULD set up a moon colony.... AND GO THERE! Then they could tell each other what to do, and how to live, and who to love.... and who to hate...while leaving the REST of us alone, in peace, back here on Earth. Newt, I always KNEW that you were a problem-solver. Unfortunately, you and your Republican friends ARE the problem. P.S. We may laugh, and smile, and ridicule...but I know that this is not a game. People that are elected DO affect our lives, and the lives of those we love. It does matter. If I want a find a preacher I go to my place of worship, NOT my voting booth...

[Johnny2X2X]

10. Funny

Hilarious to see the candidates and party leaders sprint away from Rush as fast as they can. As if they haven't been his lap dogs for years and years. Rush is the head of the Republican Party, in many ways more important and influential than Boehner or any other Politician. He is the face of the party and he's been their Kingmaker for 2 decades, now he simply voices exactly what the party base thinks and they abandon him.

This is not going to end well for the GOP and especially not for Romney or Santorum.

[Historic NY]

11. You know when you get a cancer you usually cut it out....

every week, every hour, every minute, every second counts especially over the next coming months to remind people that their silence like a cancer grows too. I want him to fail miserably.

[LiberalAndProud]

14. There is no war on women.

Regardless of what is correct about this article, there are some glaring misstatements. For the WP to willfully ignore the assault on women's rights is harmful. So they distance themselves from over the top remarks but let the underlying issues remain untarnished. I'm not impressed.

[mmonk]

18. +1

[socialist_n_TN]

27. Yep, that's what I got out of this article too........

This RW rag is ignoring the behind the scenes true motivation of Slimebaugh and the rest of the Republican Party in favor of his overt reaction. That won't wash. I'm not impressed either.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

16. We could be waiting a very long time for Mitt Romney to repudiate Shitbaugh's words

Yesterday the coward said they were words he would not have used which is neither an approval nor a repudiation. Romney's non-position deserves repudiation itself.

[JBoy]

17. Funny how the article says there is no moral equivalence

between what Rush said and what Democrats have said on the subject, but then throughout the article presents the lazy MSM "both sides do it" bullshit.

Things don't always have to be "balanced". Sometimes one side is just nuts.

[MagickMuffin]

20. From the same article

Conservatives have a point when they protest that the “mainstream media” don’t always heed their legitimate grievances.

Ah, yes the MSM don't EVER air the GOPs grievances. Never in a million years do they get their message heard, pushed, and outright memed by the MSM.

[SoCalDem]

21. The GOP does not see this as a problem

They MUST use right wing radio/tv/other media to whip their base into a "frenzy du jour".

Limbaugh is practically autonomous, so none of this will matter to him.

What SHOULD happen is to have his "show" NEVER EVER again be put on Armed Forces Radio.

If local stations want to promote his invective , there is nothing "we" can do about it without HIM being the "victim" of censorship/loss of 1st amendment rights....BUT when he's allowed on AFR, that's another issue entirely

[deacon]

24. K/R

[Maven]

25. Fuck you, Washington Post, for attempting to legitimize this "debate" about women's rights.

Just fuck you.

[Blue Owl]

26. The Rushington Post ain't fit to wipe my ass

+1, fuck them.

[mia]

30. Is this before or after a Santorum problem?

Romney will lose. The best hope they have is Ron Paul.

[The Traveler]

31. They say there is no war on women

while they assault them. And they accuse common people who try to secure their rights of waging class war.

C'mon, people. We here all know the score. We know the story. We've known it for a long time.


Trav