No Republican Will Ever Be the Commander in Chief in the War on Women

It’s been one week since Rush Limbaugh began his attack on Sandra Fluke, and thus, on women. Men and women across the country have rallied against Limbaugh through twitter, facebook, blogs, and e-mail. Virtually every media source has had some type of report or commentary on the outrageous things said by Limbaugh, not only on Wednesday, but in the days that followed. Over 36 advertisers have discontinued association with the Rush Limbaugh Show, and the number is growing daily… The real question is “Why?” Why now? Consider the many outrageous remarks of Limbaugh from past shows which did not result in anything approaching the current outcry.

1. “In Obama’s America, the white kids now get beat up, with the black kids cheering, ‘Yeah, right on, right on, right on’ … Kid shouldn’t have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses — it was invading space and stuff.”

2. “If homosexuality being inborn is what makes it acceptable, why does racism being inborn not make racism acceptable? … We are born that way. We don’t choose it. So shouldn’t it be acceptable, excuse — this is according to the way the left thinks about things.” Source

3. . “Barack the Magic Negro“

This original song aired on The Rush Limbaugh Show several times. Chip Saltzman, a 2008 candidate for RNC chair, put it on a mix CD and distributed it to his colleagues. The gift backfired; Michael Steele was elected instead.

4. [To an African-American caller] “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”

5. “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”

6. [To a caller arguing that black people need to be heard] “They are 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?”

7. [When a Mexican won the New York Marathon] “An immigration agent chased him the last 10 miles.

8. Jared Loughner has the Democrats’ “full support”

Limbaugh suggested that the shooter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat, was being aided by the same party:

“What Mr. Loughner knows is that he has the full support of a major political party in this country. He’s sitting there in jail. He knows what’s going on, he knows that. … The Democrat party is attempting to find anybody but him to blame. He knows if he plays his cards right, he’s just a victim. … That smiling mug shot — this guy clearly understands he’s getting all the attention and he understands he’s got a political party doing everything it can, plus a local sheriff doing everything that they can to make sure he’s not convicted of murder — but something lesser.”

9. “The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re invested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he didn’t really deserve.”

10. “Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.” In spite of these offensive and socially incorrect remarks, the public outcry that resulted from these remarks, pales in comparison to the outcry over his remarks to Sandra Fluke.

Consider the attacks on women that have occurred in the last year, and have been termed the “War on Women”:

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women’s access to abortion care, they’re actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven’t yet. Shocker.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to “accuser.” But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain “victims.”

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that couldmake it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.

5) In Congress, Republicans have a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids’ preschool program. Why? No need, they said.Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress just voted for a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn’t enough, Republicans are pushing toeliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can’t make this stuff up).

It could be argued that the comments of Rush Limbaugh do not have nearly the devastating effect on women that these new laws and attacks on women. Each of these laws or policies could be considered to be the result of a conservative philosophy, instead of simply a direct attack on women. Opposition to abortion, for example, could be justified by a philosophical aversion to the termination of any pregnancy, instead of a desire to harm women. It could be argued that people opposed to abortion were not targeting women, but instead simply fighting for “life.” The difference in the comments of Rush Limbaugh is that his comments could not be justified or explained as anything but an unfounded, direct attack, on an intelligent, poised, and coherent woman who was testifying about the medical needs of women that have nothing to do with birth control. Instead of advocating the need for “birth control” she was highlighting the fundamental inability of women to get much needed health care because it was called “birth control” instead of “hormone therapy.”

Mr. Limbaugh’s attack became a “Republican” problem when the leading candidates for the Republican nomination were unwilling to express outrage at his remarks. George Will, a right wing conservative commentator, colorfully articulated the problem with the Republican response to Limbaugh. He explained:

“[House Speaker John] Boehner comes out and says Rush’s language was inappropriate,” Will said. “Using the salad fork for your entree, that’s inappropriate. Not this stuff.”

Commenting on Limbaugh’s tirade, Mitt Romney timidly observed that “slut” and “prostitute” were not necessarily the words he would have chosen, as if Limbaugh were simply in need of a thesaurus.

Rick Santorum called Limbaugh’s comments “absurd,” but seemed to give Rush a pass since he is an entertainer whose job it is to be absurd.

Newt Gingrich simply took the Limbaugh flap as one more opportunity to denounce the “liberal media.”

 

Men and women across the country are outraged by Limbaugh’s direct, offensive, and unprovoked attack on a woman who was attempting to represent women who are being injured in the War on Women. Sandra Fluke was not joining in the war, but was simply making the observation that a war was being waged. Even though Ms. Fluke was not armed, Rush Limbaugh lodged a direct assault on an innocent civilian, for all the country to witness. When the Republicans failed to condemn the attack on an innocent bystander in the war, the Republicans were viewed as participating in the attack.

Edmund Burke said:

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich did nothing to stand up to Rush Limbaugh. Republican leaders allowed evil to triumph. The President is supposed to be the Commander in Chief. If a candidate for President won’t fight for an innocent women in the War on Women, then he doesn’t deserve to be our Commander in Chief.