Rush Needs A McGovern Moment

If Rush had said something once, maybe. That’s not what happened. He slammed her for three consecutive days.

I have been on radio or TV all of my adult life. I have said my share of stupid regrettable things on-the-air. As far as I remember they were all inadvertent. I don’t believe that was the case with Rush Limbaugh though he has apologized for his mistreatment of Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student he called a slut and prostitute and from whom he requested sex tapes!

“For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.”

This was not a case of bad word choice. If Rush had said something once… maybe. That’s not what happened. He slammed Ms. Fluke for three consecutive days.

Under any circumstances it’s tough to understand how calling someone a slut and prostitute could be anything but a personal attack!

Rush is just part of the plague eating away at the Republican Party. This weekend on Meet the Press GOP strategist Mike Murphy lamented the troubles Republicans were seeing after our scorched earth primary season and some very loud, very socially conservative rhetoric.

On behalf of the Republican establishment, it’s about damn time because we want this thing to get over because we see those independent voters eroding as we scare the hell out of them with the histrionics of our primary.

Maybe it’s best for the Republicans to suffer the same fate Mitt Romney proposed for homeowners about to face foreclosure with underwater mortgages.

Don’t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up. Let it turn around and come back up.

Here’s my tough love prescription. Republicans need to hit bottom as the Democrats did with George McGovern in 1972 (Nixon carried 49 states, McGovern carried Massachusetts and D.C.). They cannot exist as a mainstream party if they’re going to exist so far right of the mainstream.

I have many conservative friends some of whom read this blog. I am suggesting this for your own good.

Yes, America is loaded with conservatives. They’re just not that conservative!

As for Rush, his website this evening features an entry titled: “Don’t Worry, Folks: Advertisers Who Don’t Want Your Business Will Be Replaced.” He needs a McGovern moment too.

20 thoughts on “Rush Needs A McGovern Moment”

  1. Along with the McGovern moment (great analogy by the way), a few hundred (or more) dope slaps might do the trick.

  2. As for Rush, his website this evening features an entry titled: “Don’t Worry, Folks: Advertisers Who Don’t Want Your Business Will Be Replaced.”

    begs the question:

    “Who’s the prostitute now, Rush?”

  3. Thank you, Geoff. I don’t care who you are or why. You just don’t call any woman a degrading name because that effects all of us, period!

  4. Rush is not just a conservative. He’s an idiot and a woman-hater. Hearing about this whole story has made me so, so angry. Wasn’t the sex tape request day 2 of his bashing? His response after complaining about how “liberals” got so upset about his name-calling? If she were a prostitute she could pay for her own birth control I’m sure. I hope she’s a supreme court justice some day. Rush forgets that 51% of America if female–likely even 51% of the Republican party!

  5. This has got to be one of the scariest times in our nation. The crap that has been spewing from the mouths of the ultra-conservative nuts is terrible, but people believe it!!! What will happen to our country if people actually vote a Republican in? Horrible thought…

  6. Geoff, while I’m a republican not afraid to admit it, from the beginning of this primary cycle None of those who are running speak for me, or us Moderates. I’ve been waiting for the Ultra conservatives to crash and burn. But even I didn’t see them going down this low. While I still would prefer someone other than the President for another 4 years, I too see the outcome if this crap doesn’t stop and one of them starts talking some sense. Rush doesn’t speak for the party, but he is close friends with those that do.
    Oh don’t forget in 1976 my party took a hit much like the dem’s did with McGovern in 1972. Your view is correct. Looks like history is gonna repeat itself.

  7. Great post, Geoff. What’s that old adage? Something like the person who resorts to name calling first is the one losing the argument? Limbaugh could have easily disagreed with Ms. Fluke in an intelligent manner, without insults and name calling, but he choose to be inflammatory. I don’t think he takes this country and her problems seriously..I think he is egotistical and self serving. Otherwise he would spend less time spewing out hate and more time offering intelligent solutions. Perhaps “intelligent” is the key word here. As for the politicians, there’s another old adage “Moderation in all things.”

  8. Just one note: McGovern was an anti-war candidate who did not represent the “far left” of the time. The radical left was so disenchanted with the choice they ran a pig for president. McGovern’s anti-war position was validated by history, as Kissinger and Nixon conducted an outrageous illegal bombing campaign against sovereign nations and prolonged a war that could have been ended in 1968 in Paris had not Kissinger manipulated the process to Nixon’s political advantage. McGovern was no extremist, just a Democratic liberal with Midwestern common sense.
    So let’s say a McGovern moment metaphorically, before you give Rush and Santorum and Gingrich and Romney (whose Bain Capital I understand actually owns a piece of Clear Channel) more credit than they are do.

  9. Let’s face it, he and Beck are loons BUT what is SO scary,I know people who ACTUALLY think these two men speak the gospel truth!!! That is even more scary than they are.I sincerely hope that they crash and burn along with all the other “ultra rights” who want to set women’s right back to the stone age.

  10. I will go beyond your analysis and say 99.5% of the controversial things Rush says is not accidental and neither was this. I agree entirely with your analysis. I used to listen to Rush daily but I couldn’t take it anymore…actually the entire battle between conservatives and liberals just makes me dizzy and I try not to be a part of it.

  11. I disagree with the way Rush has handled this situation, but I do not think Sandra Fluke is the innocent altruistic co-ed she is being portrayed as. A little searching shows there is more to the story.

  12. I believe Rush Limbaugh to be an extremely unhappy human being, hence the vitriolic speech that comes out of his mouth. That being said, it does not excuse him or his recent words. He obviously meant to say every word, and apologized only in an effort to retain sponsorships.

  13. Meh, Rush is not worth the effort of turning the dial to find his drivel…

    But yeah, entirely too many people love to listen to clowns like Rush.

    I like to think I grew up and got smarter…I’ll form my own opinions, thankyouverymuch!

  14. How come it was ok for these people to say this stuff:
    -Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a MILF.
    -Robert Kennedy, Jr. calls Senator Inhofe a Prostitute and a Call Girl.
    -Ed Schultz calls Laura Ingraham a slut.

    Geoff, I could go on and on. You know there’s a double-standard. It’s time you call the liberals on the carpet, too.

    Harold K. Friefeld

    1. The “Hey, they’re doing it, too!” defense is great, if you’re eight years old. Older than that, and it’s just embarrassing.

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