I Would Have Said Trollop or Slattern or Strumpet

Mitt "Profiles in Courage" Romney responding to Rush Limbuagh's reprehensible attack on law student Sandra Fluke mustered the appropriate outrage thusly:

"I'll just say this, which is it’s not the language I would have used," he said. "I’m focusing on the issues I think are significant in the country today."

The women of America, not to mention the parent of every daughter, are deeply impressed by Mitt's stand up character.

Needless to say I was really happy to hear that Obama had called Fluke to voice his support.    It was not only the right thing to do, it was also really politically savvy.  I think before this campaign is over we may be speaking of the gender chasm rather than gap.

Comments

[oddjob]

Ta-Nehisi Coates has a must-read post up about all this in the context of the Conservative Movement's normalization of cruelty:

Earlier today I wrote that arguably the dominant trait of the conservative movement was cruelty. I obviously meant that word "arguably" to be there. But to give some sense of what I meant, I offer the following....

[Corvus9]

Man, I followed the last link and watched the video of Andrea Mitchell interviewing Fluke, and this is not going to be good for Republicans. Mitchell is just super-sympathetic to Fluke. There is just no attempt at bullshit evenhandedness, Mitchell just straight up treats Fluke as someone who has been deeply wronged. What does it tell you when Alan Greespan's wife is on TV reading out statements depicting high-level Republican spokesmen as straight-up misogynistic? Some kind of line has been crossed here, and the normal beltway excuses might stop working for Republicans on this one.

[Sir Charles]

Corvus,

I agree -- Mitchell who has always struck me as a great exemplar of crappy inside the beltway journalism, seems to be genuinely offended by this recent orgy of misogyny.

This is not a good sign for the Republicans. At long last their true nature seems to be revealing itself in ways that even the Villagers are finding hard to ignore.

Hell, Chris Matthews is finding them misogynistic!

[jeanne marie]

Oddjob, TNC is on fire this week. Several "must reads".

I don't know what to say about Limbaugh. I was sure he'd be gone after his oxy scandal - especially that it was on the heals of him arguing for harsher penalties for black drug dealers. But I was wrong, obviously.

And, unfortunately, I've seen too many commenters on Maddow's blog and on Facebook basically agreeing with Limbaugh's argument if not his language.

I would love this to be a tipping point, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Joe S]

Sir C, When your hatred of women offends the traditionalist chauvenists among us, you know you've gone too far.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Well, I'd been planning on waiting until after Super Tuesday to pop back and explain why the Limbaugh story had made it impossible for me to keep banging my head against the wall, and how I'd probably take a much longer vacation from writing about politics, but since you brought it up...

I made the following comment, and repeated it -- with additions -- on Benen/Maddow. It explains why this is not -- even if Rush is fired -- a triumph for us, or a sufficient hit on Republican misogyny -- and that the easy way he led us around by the nose is what has finally turned me off:

The story is about Sandra Fluke, not Rush Limbaugh. The story is about saving women's lives, not about sex. Everytime we come up with a new 'nickname' we guarantee that the only people who will hear us are people who are already convinced of what we are saying. Big deal. [less relevant here than there, but you'd think people would realize we have had 20 years to come up with new ways of playing games with his name, and that we reeeely aren't likely to come up with one nobody else has thought of.]

Sign the petitions too, let's get him retired to his tropical paradise, as a secondary thing.

But don't let him become so big that we forget we are talking about real legislation that actually affects real people.

[this was my addition to the repost.]His ex-colleague used the term, but Rush really demonstrated how a real 'rodeo clown' operates. If the matador is on trouble, the clown jumps up and down and makes a fool of himself and the dumb herd of donkeys bull runs after the clown so the matador can escape. This was a real place where we could have suitably gored the matador, but there gpoes the clown, and we wind up running across the arena to chase him, and the matador gets forgotten. So, as i ended the comment:

If we do, we're playing just the game he wants us to.

Some triumph. The story was first about the Republicans' attempt to discuss women's health issues with all male advisors.

Then it was about thw Democrats' producing a female witness, and the Republicans' refusal to air her testimony.

Then it was about her actual testimony -- which was a story about a gay female friend (who obviously didn't need contraception to prevent pregnancy) using the pill to control her ovarian cysts amd emdometriosis, how she couldn't afford $100 a month, nor could her classmates. Which was a dagger right into the last shred of argument for the Republican position.

Those were the three parts that would have made this a wedge to drive the sexes farther apart politically, and would have even convinced some Republican men to relook at the position of their party.

Then "Up Jumps Rush" and it takes him three days, but he does it. He kills all three parts of the original story -- in the public's mind -- and replaces it with a new one. (Oh not to us, not to peope who already knew the facts -- but as I've tried to say, what matters is not what people say in blogs, but what they say around water coolers, in carpools, and at neighborhood barbecues.)

Here's how the story's being seen now:

"It's all about those awful things Rush said about whatsername, that woman, the one who spoke in front of the committee, the co-ed who was asking for free birth control."

The people who will be actually discussing this with their friends and neighbors aren't going to have heard her testimony, or remember the whole thing about her having to have it broadcast on YouTube. They didn't hear what she actually said -- nor are they going to go check it out. Like most people, certainly including myself, they scan headlines, then read a couple of paragraphs on a story that might interest them, then if they are caught, they read the whole thing. (Or translate that to tv or radio.)

So Rush made all the deadly details go away. No endrometriosis, no all-male panel, no Republican attempt to shut up Fluke. And we are cheering the attacks on him as he did.

The man may make me want to redecorate the floor with my last four meals, but I think I understand why Republicans are willing to 'kneel and kiss his ring.' He does the job for them -- and leads us around by the nose -- and we fall for it, every fucking time.

If the Komen story and the initial reaction to it got me energized and optimistic, (I say 'initial' because, after all our fine words, I have the feeling that Komen's contributions this year may drop by about .5%, at best) this one has just deflated me.

Maybe I'll be back, when I can see a picture of the Democratic Donkey and not hear him trying to decide which part of the Oz trio to sing. The Republican Elephant is the Tin Man, obviously, but the donkey could sing either the Scarecrow's or the Lion's.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

The 'herd of donkeys bull' is because we don't have a 'strike' function on our HTML. Anyway, anybody have any reason why I got this one wrong?

Or any reason why I shouldn't do what I once did in a van that was threatening to fishtail into disaster anytime we passed 35 mph on the Parkway; to close my eyes and ask everyone to 'wake me if we survive.'

[Sir Charles]

Jim,

I disagree. What Limbaugh has done is lay the misogyny bare in this so-called debate, laid it out stark and bold and ugly.

People are not typically going to grasp the details of this kind of debate and what it was that Sandra Fluke was initially discussing before Congress. What is coming across is a contemptible attitude towards women and the idea that they should enjoy any kind of sexual autonomy.

I think you are missing the political benefit of having this kind of stark divide illustrated in vibrant colors.

And putting Republican leaders in the position of choosing between Rush and decency is quite helpful I think. It exposes their gutlessness and weakness.

I don't think women are missing the message here. And they do make up a majority of the electorate -- a fact not lost on the President.

[kathy a.]

i just do not see people "falling" for what rush said -- not at all. he basically called every woman who uses birth control sluts and prostitutes. a great many women use contraceptives at some point in their lives, the vast majority of women who have been sexually active. even married women. even my own mother. to punish these women, he further opines that we should all post sex tapes for people like him to enjoy, truly a wtf conclusion.

i agree with SC, that this is the most tasteless and raw misogyny. and think ta-nehisi grasps its place in the larger GOP picture, the normalization of cruelty. it is too too far even for very conservative people.

in other news, santorum wants to invalidate existing gay marriages. which other marriages will go next?

[jeanne marie]

OK, I'll hold my breath ;)

[Linkmeister]

Drum at Mother Jones thinks this was an obvious moment for Romney to play Clinton to Sister Souljah and he blew it. He might be right.

Glad the comments are back. What was the technical glitch?

[kathy a.]

kathleen parker at wapo is not exactly a flaming liberal, right? while she does not have a fundamental opposition to birth control -- argues in fact that "access to contraception hasn’t been controversial except in the Catholic Church for some time" -- she also does not think those with opposition should have to pay for it. so, she and i are not friends on birth control being considered basic women's health care that needs to be covered by insurance.

but in her opinion piece yesterday, she argues that rush has managed to unite "decent people of all stripes and persuasions with his vile remarks about a Georgetown University law student," and she thinks rush owes an apology. i think the following is just grand:

...Limbaugh also helped advance the argument from the left that Republicans are waging a war against women. After referring to Fluke as a “slut” and a “prostitute,” he offered the following proposition:

“So, Miss Fluke, and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal. If we are going to pay for your contraceptives . . . we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

The image suggested is equally degrading to Limbaugh, given his obvious familiarity with “watching,” and invites unflattering speculation. To wit: It is entirely possible that Limbaugh himself never needed contraception in college, but virtue in the absence of opportunity is hardly a moral triumph.

one must appreciate a good take-down from a very different political corner.

dana milbank is a little on fire with his piece reviewing recent GOP antics with regard to women, and asking if they remember that women vote? why yes, thanks -- we do.

[Paula B]

But Milbank blows an opportunity to say something meaningful when he, in passing, mentions "Rick Santorum, who has voiced doubts about the constitutional protections for birth control."

Voiced doubts? What planet is he on?

There's a lot of nice background in his column but it's short on reasoned opinion, and that's unforgivable when you have the platform to opine on such a volatile issue.

[Paula B]

Let's take a tally:
To woo the evangelicals, the GOP has launched a full-scale attack comprised of punitive legislation coupled with demeaning and abusive language against half the population regardless of age, income level, education, state of residence or party registration. Only prerequisite for abuse is gender. (Isn't there a law against that?)
According to the 2010 US Census, which predicted a population of 311,591,917 in 2012:
Women: 50.8% of population
Evangelicals: 35-20% or US population, including women

Even if every born-again woman fell for the GOP line, they'd still lose. Where they have clout is at (some) state level(s), where the percentages are closer and fewer women are going to buck the tide in conservative communities, in spite of their own best interests.

[kathy a.]

oh, i agree, paula. that's why i said milbank is "a little on fire." santorum's own world-o-crazy is enough to fill columns from here to the moon, and growing daily.

birth control has been protected for virtually my lifetime, and i am 54 years old. griswold v. connecticut (1965) sealed the deal in outlying portions of the country. so excuse me, but santorum "has doubts" about the constitutionality of birth control????

my mother was a lifelong republican. i stuffed mailboxes for nixon when i was 3 years old. she kept a can of "goldwater" in the kitchen for years. when she died, she had signed photos from dubya and laura, framed and displayed prominently. my mother used birth control. not very well, apparently, because 3 of the 4 of us were claimed to be accidents, but she managed the pill successfully after my baby sister was born very prematurely and they thought she would not survive. she was not doing that again.

[Paula B]

Tweet from William K. Wolfrum:‏
I just sent Rush Limbaugh a video of the wife and I having sex while listening to NPR. Figured he'd feel entitled to it.

[kathy a.]

you can only imagine how underwhelmed i am by rush's so-called apology. bad choice of words. intended to be humorous. This. Does. Not. Suffice.

[Sir Charles]

Fuck.That.Motherfucker.

Actually I am shocked that he went this far. He must be scared, which is amazing.

[kathy a.]

he was following romney's "i wouldn't use that choice of words," so i hope romney gets all the glory he deserves for sitting the fence on sluts, prostitutes, and sex tapes.

[Paula B]

I read on Twitter that five advertisers have pulled out. Maybe that was an incentive. Talk about sluts! He only sings for money.

[Paula B]

The NYT says six, as of today.

[nancy]

kathy -- You should see the twitter world responding to this 'apology'. It's a rapid wonder.

sluts, prostitutes, and sex tapes. And let's not forget us 'feminazis'. I thought he'd abandoned the term some time ago. Very definitely not. Who is he talking about? It's code for intelligent working women I suppose.

This feminazi votes and is politically active, cares deeply about the men in her life, baked cookies as a room mother and owns way too many cookbooks -- also a bit of make-up which I know how to apply discreetly. Appreciates Christmas perfume gifts, hates to shop and sneaks the occasional fag. Who the hell is he talking about? Any female with a brain in her head and some expectation of full participation, along side men, in discussing policies which affect us all?

What a sorry Neanderthal is Rush. I usually agree with pm carpenter but not today . "Keep Rush on the Air". No, time for Rush to go somewhere away from the public airwaves, strategy be damned.

[kathy a.]

i'd probably have apoplexy by now, if i was on twitter. but the NYT does indeed have a sum-up of rush's bad day on the internet. i linked on through to some twitter-talk, and my fave so far is:

BREAKING: Sheriff Arpaio announces his cold case posse will investigate the authenticity of Rush Limbaugh's apology.

[KN]

I keep seeing 15 or 30 second video clips, a still of sandra fluke, then Limbaugh's slut-prostitute, statements tightly clipped, then the R candidate's vacillation, inappropriate, not words I would have chosen, then other R big wigs apologizing to rush, then at the end a hundred variations on the theme, Issa's committee of men, a pharmacist saying I won't fill this prescription slut. Etc. This looks like electoral gold for dem PACs to me.

I don't buy the connect three things approach prup, too complicated. Two is the most you can mix using Tee Vee.
Admittedly the campaign I sketched above is going after one demographic but you have to realize that a substantial fraction of that demo is also aligned with the other demo in a way and to an extent that there is a strong sympathy.

The possibilities are endless. But mind you, I do not write off the repubs, they will do anything and everything to win. Are they desperate? I don't think so, I think they are still quite a bit smug over 2010. Let that be their downfall.

The absolute crux of this coming election is turnout, and the subtext to that is down ballot awareness of the electorate that repubs deliberately lie to get elected.
Admittedly I am relying on the notion that most of us, women, men, blacks, whites, greens - whatever, are capable of discriminating between individuals who are entirely out for themselves, and those rare birds who actually heed the call for leadership in favor of the greater good.

I could go on and on, there really are a lot of big problems that need to be addressed. We should put this one to bed in the sense of filing a truly damning piece of evidence to be hauled out when the time is ripe.

Let's try to get back on point - our economy needs more jobs. We need to take immediate action to squelch speculation in energy comodities. We need to take immediate action to forestall illegal foreclosures. We need to SOCIALIZE health care because global health is a global issue. The Masque of the Red Death? We need to take immediate action to reduce the release of sequestered carbon and find means to produce power from carbon neutral sources. We need to do something about global population growth. We know unequivocally that the earth is a finite object sailing around a nuclear furnace through a vacuum. You cannot have an infinite population living on a finite point of dust.

Yeah prup, I've lived in Brooklyn.

[oddjob]

The story is about Sandra Fluke, not Rush Limbaugh.

It may have been that way at first, but what I heard this morning on WBZ (an all-news AM radio channel in Boston during the day) was a headline that simply said Rush Limbaugh had apologized via his blog.

Whoever the story was about at first at this point it's about Limbaugh.

[oddjob]

I disagree. What Limbaugh has done is lay the misogyny bare in this so-called debate, laid it out stark and bold and ugly.

My take as well.

[oddjob]

At the moment in Ohio Obama leads all GOP contenders by double digits (& more would vote for his re-election than approve of his performance).

[oddjob]

"...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.

...

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.

...

For the good of U.S. political culture — or at least its own political self-interest — the GOP must distance itself from Mr. Limbaugh. In response to listener complaints and, apparently, the promptings of its own corporate conscience, Sleep Train Mattress Centers has quit advertising on Mr. Limbaugh’s show. Dare Republican leaders show less decency?"

Excerpts from today's WaPo editorial condeming Limbaugh's diatribe.

(Hat tip, Sully.)

[Sir Charles]

oddjob,

That Ohio news couldn't be better. It's early, of course, and things can change, but Ohio, from the Republican perspective, is the election.

There is no path to electoral victory for them that does not include Ohio.

Moreover, Ohio is a pretty good bellweather of national voting trends too, having gone for the winning candidate in 25 of the last 27 presidential elections. A Republican has never captured the presidency when losing Ohio.

[Paula B]

Firestorm convince advertisers to disown Limbaugh:
http://bit.ly/xdAMsF

[oddjob]

2011 storms trigger [Massachusetts] home insurance rate hikes
(Increases as high as 20 percent proposed)

[Paula B]

Homeowner insurance for our cabin in Wilmington VT almost doubled in price, from $600/an to $1160. We're up on a hill so had no damage (and made no claims) from the floods, but much of the downtown was wrecked. The bill arrived Friday and I plan to call the insurance agent tomorrow to complain. Will contact the state insurance board, if necessary.

[oddjob]

My condo is almost on the ocean. We've had (i.e. "we" = the condo association) to absorb substantial increases in our condo insurance numerous times in previous years for large hurricane damage elsewhere in the country (Katrina was only one of those years). I fear to learn what's going to happen to my condo fee after Irene is figured into our insurance policy. I may have to sell the place.

[oddjob]

"Intensifying debate over conservative social values — and Republican icon Rush Limbaugh — overshadowed the nation's economic concerns Sunday as the Republican presidential campaign hurtled toward Super Tuesday contests that could re-shape the nomination battle and shift the direction of the Grand Old Party...."

Associated Press article posted by Seattle Post Intelligencer.

[kathy a.]

you know what? there is no GOP solution to the nation's economic concerns. they are a one-note band: cut taxes, especially for the rich. punish the unworthy (the not-rich) by cutting whatever they need, because the rich are more deserving. cut pensions, access to health care, access to social security, wages, job security, housing assistance, food assistance, schools, regulation and oversight of predatory industries -- all good, as long as the profits keep coming for those at the top. compelling, no?

so i guess the candidates are not so wrought up about the "conservative social values" so recently laid bare via their good friend rush, since they'd rather talk about sluts than about liking rich people better than other people. oh, no, they would "not use those words" -- but bashing their lessers is what they are all about.

[oddjob]

Laissez faire!

(Or, if you prefer Gerald Ford: A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Or, if you prefer Thoreau: That government is best which governs least!

Or, if you prefer Jefferson: "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yeild, [sic] and government to gain ground.")

Myself, I think that government governs best that enables the largest proportion of its member citizens to pursue the widest variety of life choices.

[jeanne marie]

Trollop or Slattern or Strumpet or how about SKANK?? The women I know who share this disdain for Fluke is scary:

Sandra Fluke does not Speak for Me

[kathy a.]

here is a link to a transcript of what ms. fluke said. there are other sources, too, reporting the same transcript.

[Sir Charles]

oddjob,

Yes.

jm,

God what a piece of garbage that was. I continue to be amazed at how truly stupid college conservatives are -- you would think getting into Georgetown would give you the intellectual chops to write a half decent argument. Evidently not.

kathy,

You mean when she gave salacious details about the sex life that she wants taxpayers to support.

(I am fascinated how people keep acting like they are paying for the birth control coverage of these women -- they don't seem to understand that 1) there is essentially no cost to providing this coverage; and 2) that the employees or students who work and/or pay premiums certainly cover any such cost.)

[nancy]

I don't see the Rush controversy going away soon. He and his program were on the ropes more than one knew in 2009, right up until his remarks hoping that Obama would "fail" generated headlines. Apparently the radio business is more fragile than one might have guessed , so losing that many advertisers in the past three days is a very big deal.

The power of conservative radio is a phenomenon as much of direct marketing as of politics. Radio advertising is about the call to action: Show up at this sale and say that you heard about it here and get an extra 5 percent off. Go to this restaurant for brunch and get a free Bloody Mary (and then enter a contest and win a trip to Las Vegas). Put your money into this bank and, if you do it today, get a toaster. Rush, along with his advertisers’ calls to action, adapts this form to his pet political causes. Indeed, this became a curious demonstration of Rush’s commercial appeal. “If he could get people to write letters to their congressman, which they did by the bushel,” says Vanden-Handel, “then reasonably he might also get people to buy pre-owned cars.”

And

It is, rather, a crueler demographic point. The dirty little secret of conservative talk radio is that the average age of listeners is 67 and rising, according to Sinton—the Fox News audience, likewise, is in its mid-60s: “What sort of continuing power do you have as your audience strokes out?”

You can begin to make plausibly large statements about the end of—or at least a crisis in—conservative media. “There are fewer advertisers, fewer listeners, shrinking networks, shallower penetration,” says Sinton. “A lowering tide lowers all ships.”

Watching everyone squirm is pretty fascinating. Limbaugh's brother is on twitter talking about how unfair all of this is to Rush and calling the past few days a 'witch hunt'. Yeah. Cry us a river.

[Sir Charles]

nancy,

I love when they play the victim.

[oddjob]

Thanks for that link, nancy (evil grin)! :)

[kathy a.]

good link, nancy!

SC, she didn't give any salacious details, unless you consider the ER visits of a friend to be sexy.

but yay, i convinced my most politically conservative friend (who lives in israel, and is not socially conservative) that things are off the rails with rush and all the related crap about contraception. she has a good number of views with which i do not agree, but she can't understand why we do not have universal health care.

i really hope israel doesn't start bombing iran.

[KN]

It would be nice to see Mr. Limbaugh hounded out of his brainless multimillion dollar job. Then sued for slander. Did he not at one point invoke all the women of Georgetown in his pronouncements? A few thousand suits might whittle down his hundreds of millions stash.

In any event, as a male, I apologize to all those humans who happen to be of the opposite sex or otherwise and who are offended and injured by this crude and ignorant bigotry. Personally, I rejoice in your existence.

[paula b]

I heart KN.

[oddjob]

Chris Cillizza suggests the GOP's mandarins get it.