Limbaugh is a twat, but should absolutely keep his job.

Rush Limbaugh is at it again. I’m sure no one is shocked that he said something extremely conservative and shocking on his radio program. He’s the right-wing version of “shock jocks” (a term that is kinda ridiculous) like Opie & Anthony and Howard Stern. He just keeps his rants to the right-wing conservative agenda and avoids stunts like having listeners engage in sexual activity in a famous NY church. In case you’ve been living in seclusion for the past week here’s what happened. Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke has been advocating before Congress to increase the availability of contraception methods such as birth control pills. Rush Limbaugh, and many other conservatives, felt that insurance companies and pharmacies should not be forced to cover and distribute these products. As a part of his broadcast Rush went on to label Ms. Fluke as a slut and prostitute based on the incorrect idea that you require more birth control pills if you’re having more sex. Now there are various groups calling for Rush to be suspended and/or fired for his comments. Celebrities and other personalities that have gone through similar circumstances in the past are being interviewed for their opinions. As I see it, there are 2 main issues raised in this little exchange. First is the obvious one regarding a woman’s sexual rights. This is one of the few times that I actually see eye-to-eye on a social issue with my friend Julie. She believes strongly in a woman’s right to stand on the same sexual footing as men. She has participated in the Slut Walk in Boston and often engages in conversations on the issue at gatherings. (Yes, these often become uncomfortable to watch.) Essentially the root of the issue is that women are expected to remain chaste and never have sex. Any woman that does engage in open sexual relationships with multiple partners is labeled a slut, whore, etc. Men that do the same are either applauded for their efforts or at worst simply seen as doing what guys do. Men aren’t held to this same, archaic, sexual standard of chastity. I don’t hear anyone complaining about their insurance covering Viagra and Cialis. And those are drugs whose dosage is dependent on frequency of sex and therefore do lead to men being paid to have sex. Do Christian Scientists rally against having to pay for medicare even though they don’t believe in medical science? On the other hand, a company’s insurance plan should not be forced to cover any specific medication or treatment. I’ve had many plans over the years and have had various medicines covered to different degrees. Your employer should be free to decide what level of coverage they will provide for their employees. If the employees don’t like it they are free to purchase additional insurance or find a new employer that provides an insurance package more to their liking. The federal government has no business telling private companies what they do and don’t have to offer. Issue #2 is Rush’s right to say what he said about Ms. Fluke. The first amendment does protect Rush’s right to go in public and call Ms. Fluke a slut so long as it does not impact her pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, or cause a danger to public safety. The fact that he did it as a part of his radio show is a slightly different situation, but given that his job is to express his personal views to anyone that wants to listen, he should be protected. If you don’t want to listen to what he is saying you don’t have to set your radio to his broadcast. Simple solution. He in no way has impeded Ms. Fluke from pursuing a career and living her life. I get called much worse things by better people than Rush and it doesn’t bother me. I do what I do knowing that not everyone will like it. Now then, people are freely allowed to get upset by what he said. But just because someone said something that upset you doesn’t mean that person needs to be silenced. If that was the case no one would be able to say anything to anyone. If you’re riding the subway and mention to a friend that you support gay marriage you very likely offended someone within ear-shot. Does that mean you need to be silenced and chastised for your view? How about we expand this to the international realm? Different cultures have different moral standards. Should all Western media be banned and silenced in Islamic regions because they find our views on women to be offensive? I’m not, however, saying that people should just take it and do nothing. If you find Rush’s comments to be offensive and against your values, don’t listen. He will remain on the radio as long as ratings dictate it. Try to enlighten other people on why you feel his comments were wrong without attacking him. Stop using products/services that advertise on his show. I even support people contacting those advertisers to inform them that you are no longer purchasing their product/service because of their alignment with Limbaugh. What people shouldn’t be doing is campaigning to remove him from the airways. If we start setting this precedent that people that say things that upset someone get silenced, where does it end? Who decides what is a noble cause to revolt against and say offensive things about and what isn’t? When a conservative is attacked and insulted as ignorant for not supporting gay marriage why is there no outrage? Why aren’t stations pressured to fire those personalities? It’s a double-standard and a dangerous one. At the end of the day I don’t think anything is going to happen. Rush will possibly receive a paid suspension and temporarily lose a few of his 600+ syndicated stations and numerous advertisers. And 6 months from now it’ll probably be like nothing ever happened. Sandra Fluke will keep up her campaign for contraception availability and be in no way hindered, and likely helped, by what Rush said. People are just too easy to become “outraged” and too easy to move on. (While I think Julie is insane and rarely agree with her methods and delivery, I do respect that she does not back down for the things she believes in and feels strongly about. She’ll attack me today no differently that she would have 5 years ago for saying the things I sometimes say. And she actively supports and campaigns for her causes.) I’d like to add that I fully support gay marriage. It’s just a very good topic to use as a counter-point in this discussion. In no way am I advocating against it or against the people that support it and rally behind it.