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Sandra Fluke: Rush Limbaugh's "Apology" Means Nothing
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 5, 2012
Modified Mar 5, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 5, 2012
Modified Mar 5, 2012
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Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student who was called a "slut" and a "prostitute" by popular right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, appeared on The View today to discuss the firestorm. Advertisers have suspended their ads on his show—just joined by AOL—in spite of Limbaugh's limp apology, claiming he was just being "humorous." Today, Fluke said of his maybe-mea culpa, "I don't think a statement like this saying that his choice of words was not the best changes anything, especially when the statement is issued when he's under significant pressure" from advertisers.
Fluke, 30, student and activist, had testified before Democratic House members to explain why Georgetown students' contraception should be covered by health insurance (Georgetown is a Jesuit school). Last week, Limbaugh mocked Fluke—and women, really— for days: "So, Ms. Fluke and the rest of you feminazis, here's the deal: If we are going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. And I'll tell you what it is. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."
On the program, Fluke added that she didn't want a call from Limbaugh, "The statements he's made about me over the air are personal enough, so I'd rather not have a personal phone call with him."
Additionally, Fluke also told people to go to Media Matters to see the list of media figures defending Limbaugh "who think it's acceptable" to say these things about women. And former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum explains why Limbaugh's remarks are a new low and why excuses that liberal media figures' misogyny (see David Letterman, Ed Schultz, Bill Maher), "Letterman is not a political figure at all; and while Maher and Schultz strongly identify as liberals, neither qualifies as anything like a powerbroker in the Democratic Party. I'm sure the Barack Obama re-election effort is happy to have Maher's million-dollar gift, but I sincerely doubt there is a Democratic congressman who worries much whether Maher criticizes him. A word of criticism from Limbaugh, by contrast, will reduce almost any member of the Republican caucus to abject groveling."
Tagged
birth control
contraception
david frum
georgetown university
misogyny
rush limbaugh
sandra fluke
slut shaming
the view
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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