March 2012

Rush Limbaugh looks to no longer be immune from his misogynistic name calling that has polluted our public airwaves for 20 years:

Premiere Networks, which distributes Limbaugh as well as a host of other right-wing talkers, sent an email out to its affiliates early Friday listing 98 large corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”

This is big. According to the radio-industry website Radio-Info.com, which first posted excerpts of the Premiere memo, among the 98 companies that have decided to no longer sponsor these programs are “carmakers (Ford, GM, Toyota), insurance companies (Allstate, Geico, Prudential, State Farm), and restaurants (McDonald’s, Subway).” Together, these talk-radio advertising staples represent millions of dollars in revenue.

While they aren't singling out Limbaugh, he is in the hit list along with pretty much the rest of right-wing talk radio.

But what Limbaugh did was attack one of his most important demographics:

But this latest controversy comes at a particularly difficult time for right-wing talk radio. They are playing to a (sometimes literally) dying demographic. Rush & Co. rate best among old, white males. They have been steadily losing women and young listeners, who are alienated by the angry, negative, obsessive approach to political conservations. Add to that the fact that women ages 24–55 are the prize advertising demographic, and you have a perfect storm emerging after Limbaugh’s Sandra Fluke comments.

Considering the big money these talkers are paid and the need for advertisers, this could very well be right-wing talk radio heading towards its death bed. Not only that, but the social media age has helped hasten their trip:

One big contributor to the housing crash in 2008 was speculation. One of the biggest drivers of oil prices is price speculation. Now President Obama wants to do something about it:

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to "reconstitute" a task force examining oil and gas speculation.

But the task force, which Obama initially proposed last April when a big spike in gas prices sparked public outrage, has met only four or five times, mostly around the time it was created, and has not reported to the public on its activities, McClatchy News Service reported. Critics say the group has fallen short of its mission thus far.

While this is good news, I can't help but wonder why Obama has been so reactionary on speculation instead of taking a proactive stance. Speculation is like the entire country paying for a few rich people's trips to Vegas. They are gambling and their assets are all ours - our economy and cost of living. It's time to put an end to this crap once and for all. Let the actual market dictate price, not a few greedy gamblers.

Rush Limbaugh may have really stepped in it this time. On his show yesterday he called Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown student and contraceptive advocate, a "slut". He also said that any woman who advocates for contraceptives should post their online sex videos:

Yesterday Sandra Flake responded to Rush on the Ed Schultz show:

I guess my reaction is the reaction a lot of women have when they’ve been called these names. Initially you’re stunned but then, very quickly, you’re outraged because this is, historically, the kind of language that is used to silence women, especially women who stand up and say that these are their reproductive health care needs and this is what they need. And what’s been amazing to me today is the outpouring of support. Everyone from members of Congress to Georgetown faculty to so many women who’ve contacted me, and I think it’s clear from what they’ve said that they’re not going to be silenced by this.

This fat, sexist pig that the Republican Party has anointed their messiah has really opened up can here. It's bad enough that the GOP is fighting back against their image of being a sexist party, but when you got their hero making these kind of derogatory remarks towards women, it just undoes everything they have been trying to repair. Now we have some Republicans responding:

Carly Fiorina, National Republican Senatorial Committee Vice-Chairman, on Friday condemned Rush Limbaugh for calling law student Sandra Fluke a “slut.”