Slut Rush

[Updates, three so far, at end of post]

There has been a row brewing for some time over in the USA over employers’ provision of health care, with the so-called Blunt Amendment – named for the junior Senator from Missouri – finally being killed off by the Senate. This would have allowed any employer, faith based or otherwise, to opt out of providing birth control coverage (churches were already exempt).

And that should have been that, but in the meantime, a law student at Georgetown called Sandra Fluke had first been prevented from giving testimony to Congress, then had been invited to speak to Democrat members only, on the issue. Thus far this does not appear controversial: those House Democrats were mindful that no woman had been among those giving testimony.

But then came a series of interventions by the deeply unpleasant Rush Limbaugh, beginning on Wednesday, and, in the legendary words of Theresa May, I am not making this up: “What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke [sic], who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex”.

Anyone thinking that was nasty would have been well advised to avoid the Limbaugh show the next day, when he went for Ms Fluke again: she was “Having so much sex, it’s amazing she can still walk”. But this was a mere sighting shot, as witness “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”.

He wasn’t finished. On Friday he returned to attacking Ms Fluke, saying she had boyfriends “lined up around the block. They would have been in my day”. Barack Obama, in the meantime, called Ms Fluke and thanked her for speaking out about the concerns of many American women.

As so often with politics Stateside – and it’s something that is infecting too much debate in the UK, especially that coming from the right – the reaction has been intensely polarised. Right leaning commentators have either kept quiet or played down Limbaugh’s incendiary comments.

Ms Fluke has been smeared as a Democrat activist and plant, and there have been accusations that she is not a student. Fortunately, moves are afoot to persuade advertisers to pull their presence from the Limbaugh show, and several have already done so. This was the technique that hurt Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse) after Glenn Beck called the Prez a racist.

It’s only sad that there are some in the States prepared to stand by Limbaugh.

[UPDATE1 4 March 1400 hours: Limbaugh, someone who is not given to the practice of retraction, has apparently apologised to Sandra Fluke, although his act not only appears to be less than unequivocal, but also gives every sign of being driven by the number of advertisers dropping his show.

David Friend, CEO of Carbonite, said that even though Limbaugh had recanted, his firm was still going to pull its advertising, telling "No one with daughters the age of Sandra Fluke, and I have two, could possibly abide the insult and abuse heaped upon this courageous and well-intentioned young lady".

Sadly, in the meantime, Fox News has clearly made the decision to take the same line as Limbaugh. Top rating host Bill O'Reilly attacked Ms Fluke, saying "Let me get this straight, Ms Fluke, and I'm asking this with all due respect, you want me to give you my hard-earned money so that you can have sex?".

Bill-O could, of course, have bothered himself to do a little research. Ms Fluke is calling for her University's private health plan to cover birth control. Here endeth yet another lesson in the lengths to which the American right will go to attack anyone it perceives as being of inconvenient thought]

[UPDATE2 5 March: Fox News host Chris Wallace has revealed during a panel discussion on his Sunday show that his employer covers contraception for female employees on its own health care plan, albeit with a co-payment.

Maybe someone should tell Bill O'Reilly, so he can upbraid those of his colleagues benefiting from the cover. In the meantime, Rush Limbaugh is shipping advertisers and not so far getting any of them back. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy]

[UPDATE3 6 March: the advertisers keep on leaving the Limbaugh show. The list now exceeds 20 of them, with two radio stations pulling the show from their schedules. Major advertising names deciding that Rushie is too hot for them to handle include AOL, insurer Allstate, and retailer Sears.

Being loud and provocative is Limbaugh's stock in trade. Trouble is, this time he went too far. But you do not have to look too hard to find right-wingers in the US engaging in whataboutery or otherwise excusing him. For some, this is proving a very difficult learning experience]