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talkpolitics
Earlier this afternoon, Sandra Fluke received a personal phone call from President Obama, two days after she was called a "slut" on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Ms Fluke attends the prestigious Georgetown University (a Jesuit school) and its president released earlier today a letter of support for Ms. Fluke, strongly critical of Mr. Limbaugh's comments, calling them "vile and misogynistic." Ms. Fluke broke the news about her call from the President during an interview on Andrea Mitchell's show. Fluke was the woman who was to testify before the Republican House Committee hearing but was denied by Darryl Issa, who instead had an all male panel testify on the subject of birth control and freedom of religion. A week later, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi held a non-binding hearing and asked Ms. Fluke to appear. Rush Limbaugh went on the offensive on his radio show and "...demanded that Fluke release tapes of her having sex in exchange for the contraception that she argued should be covered by employers." Fluke said the President's phone call was completely unexpected and added "What was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud. And that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much."
Joe Scarborough, a former conservative Republican member of the United States House of Representatives stated in an interview, he's had several conversations with what he described as "fire breathing conservatives" going into panic mode over the recent news cycles painting Republicans as opposed to women's rights and birth control when instead they are allowing President Obama off the hook, and thinks the election will be lost because of the focus on issues that don't matter, and were settled years ago.
It seems that the some in the Republican party are so intent on pushing it more to the right, at the expense of moderate and women voters, the chances of winning the Senate back (Olympia Snowe's retirement all but guarantees that her seat will go to a Democrat), or winning the White House are going to be severely crippled (this has happened already in a key state, Virginia, which has seen a significant movement by independent and women voters from Romney to President Obama because of the forced ultrasound amendment for abortions). While Rush Limbaugh doesn't speak for all conservatives obviously, he is the face for one of the largest audiences in talk radio, and the massive condemnation, he's now receiving should wake him up, or at least give him pause for making such reckless statements
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 20:14 (UTC)It's an opinion shared by most people who study propaganda and dehumanization.
Those acts of violence you refer to followed dehumanizing language. Yes, violence is a form of dehumanization, but it's not the only form dehumanization takes.
What we've seen this week is a form of dehumanization typically used against uppity women. Rush has attempted to rob Fluke of her dignity by repeatedly invoking the image of her having sex in as degrading a manner as possible. Her feelings don't actually matter one way or the other. What counts is to reduce her in the eyes of many to nothing more than a c*nt.
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 20:44 (UTC)When a woman was referred to as a "slut" by a cop last year, a sitting President didn't make a phone call to spare her feelings. Women fought for themselves.
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 20:47 (UTC)Lots of women's rights supporters CHEERED when Mr. Olbermann was fired from MSNBC.
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 21:02 (UTC)Did the cop have a national venue with an audience of thousands and temendous political clout? Did he call her a slut in various ways over the course of three days?
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 22:38 (UTC)Did the cop have a national venue with an audience of thousands and temendous political clout? - The actions of the women who fought against his actions made it an INTERNATIONAL issue.
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 22:49 (UTC)I gather from what you say about the cop that the answer is "no."
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 23:03 (UTC)...a three day campaign of villification... Transcripts or audio from these three separate days?
Someone in power who calls someone a "slut" isn't that important just because they don't have a nationally syndicated radio show? I'm sure the women who participated in the Slut Walks will be happy with your analysis.
(no subject)
Date: 4/3/12 23:10 (UTC)Yes, comments from a person with a nationally syndicated show, who has been a source of talking points for a major political party are more important and likely to have an impact than comments from someone who is not. Are you denying this?
President Obama has not called every single liberal woman subjected to these kind of remarks from right wing pundits. Why do you think that is?
(no subject)
Date: 5/3/12 02:37 (UTC)Are you denying this? Yep, I am. Cause when you say something like that, it means you wouldn't care as equally about someone within earshot of you being called a "slut" just because the person saying it isn't doing so from a bully pulpit. YOU are admitting YOU wanna be selective in behavior that YOU deemed "dehumanizing".
President Obama has not called every single liberal woman subjected to these kind of remarks from right wing pundits. Why do you think that is? -- Cause 2012 is an election year.
(no subject)
Date: 5/3/12 16:07 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5/3/12 16:07 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5/3/12 17:21 (UTC)Even Operation Rescue, the extreme antiabortion group that organized a six-week blockade of Tiller's office in 1991, issued a statement condemning the murder. "We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning," Troy Newman, the organization's president, said.
These unqualified reproaches are nothing new. The organized antiabortion movement has always opposed violence against abortion providers. That has never stopped opportunistic prochoice activists, however, from conflating their passionate rhetoric with the behavior of individual criminals. True to form, on Sunday, Mike Hendricks of the Kansas City Star accused anyone who had criticized Tiller as a murderer (Tiller aborted healthy, nine-month old fetuses) of being an "accomplice" to his death. You can read the full article for yourself: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124398690567579389.html
When the Republican Party also apologizes for treating Holocaust deniers and genocide profiteers as respectable representations of itself, I will accept this logic. -- As if the Dems don't have Holocaust deniers? Please! The U.S. ambassador to Germany was a Dem and his daughter had a relationship with Hitler (and several other soldiers).
But that would imply an argument grounded in intellectual honesty, which this kind of discussion is not. You're right. It's not, mostly because you seem to have this notion that all Republicans are in lock-step with each other, that we ALL listen to Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh or even Pat Robertson. News flash: Not all Republicans do any of that.
Just click your heels and keep believing it and I'm sure soon enough, it'll be true...
(no subject)
Date: 8/3/12 18:58 (UTC)And really, we're bringing in Joe Kennedy here? In that case I'll just point out that if the 1940s Tea Party had had its way Europe would have either self-destructed or turned into Stalin's Happy Fun Ball. The Republicans were the "Better Hitler than Roosevelt" types then, and they never wanted to fight Nazi Germany, because y'see it fought the USSR and that by itself made it good. Robert Taft and his ilk were walking pieces of putrescent filth not worth besmirching the name of the US Congress, just like that alcoholic pissant who served by a real Soviet spy the whole time he was ruining innocent people's lives, and like his fellow con men flat failures is hailed as a hero by a movement which has yet to find someone who succeeded worth a fraction of its time.
Sure, some of them listen to G. Gordon Liddy, a crook, Oliver North, a traitor, and Michael Savage, an insane little asstard who has no place in a civilized discourse instead. Nowadays Republicans willingly damn their own heroes like Lincoln, Grant, TR, and other such Republicans who were civilized and embrace corrupt scumbag traitors. That's their problem, the rest of us prefer Americans who defend America, not sell guns to Iran and claim a nation they sold guns to is the great new Soviet Union.
(no subject)
Date: 8/3/12 20:22 (UTC)Randal Terry himself came out and said Tiller "reaped what he sowed" and was regretful that Tiller wasn't executed by the state.
Some denouncement.
(no subject)
Date: 8/3/12 21:05 (UTC)Wait, what? You're comparing the US Ambassador to Germany from... 1930? To current republicans?
Seriously?
(no subject)
Date: 8/3/12 21:39 (UTC)^Yeah, I don't think the grandpappy of the Big Bad Liberal Family Of Old Fart GOP PropagandaTM would qualify as a moral equivalency cheap route.
(no subject)
Date: 8/3/12 21:52 (UTC)You're still mad about that house falling on your sister aren't you?