Rush To Judgement

The definition of "news" is that the item in question should be deemed noteworthy, in some way a departure from the status quo. By this reckoning, Rush Limbaugh's most recent outburst aimed at Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke hardly meets this criteria. His rambling associations about the relative costs of birth control and taxpayer's responsibility to fund such services are nothing out of the ordinary. He leaped abruptly from the health care concern to the character of the woman who chose to testify before congress in support of their national health care policy that would compel her college to offer health plans that cover her birth control. It should surprise no one that he called Ms. Fluke a "prostitute" and a "slut." By his reasoning: "What does it say about the college coed ... who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex." A day later he expanded on this theme: "If we're going to have to pay for this, then we want something in return, Ms. Fluke. And that would be the videos of all this sex posted online so we can see what we're getting for our money." That was Wednesday and Thursday. By Saturday, six advertisers had pulled sponsorship of Limbaugh's show and Republicans distanced themselves from the comments. That's when the news happened.
"For over twenty years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week," Limbaugh said in his statement. "In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke." Rush apologized. If there were presses anymore, they would be stopped. Of course, the apology stopped immediately after the poor word choice. His opinion on the matter of government subsidized contraception remains unswayed. "I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities," he said. "What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? Where do we draw the line? If this is accepted as the norm, what will follow? Will we be debating if taxpayers should pay for new sneakers for all students that are interested in running to keep fit?" Of course, not everyone can afford addiction to prescription pain killers and subsequent rehab. Personal responsibility and accountability on Rush's part? That would be news indeed.