Today Rush Limbaugh continued his apology (almost), taking full responsibility for his comments (weelllllll….), and moved on and didn’t take any more swipes at Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke (OK so he talked about her being at a lot of demonstrations and being an activist during some years at college). No matter. Limbaugh’s listeners are loyal. And in the past 24 hours we met some of them in our email box.
Some of the emails can’t be reproduced here due to too colorful language.
One did offer me a suggestion on what I should do but I don’t think my computer will fit up there.
Another said you can’t be a moderate if you don’t like Rush Limbaugh. (Oh.)
Here are three emails that we’ll run here since the writers did not put them in our comments section and it also gives their ideas more exposure. In deference to these emailers, I am not adding their names. But I have not changed a word except to remove words that could not be in a family newspaper or on a site that uses newspaper standards such as TMV.
Also: this site does NOT agree with in any way with the remarks about Sandra Fluke in these emails. In fact, they show that these listeners didn’t even read her actual testimony. Their “facts” are based on Limbaugh’s comments. They are reproduced here to enlighten TMV readers about the kinds of emails we’ve gotten for running posts critical of Limbaugh.. And they also show the power of Limbaugh to influence his listeners.
From Mr. A:
How sad is the USA? What you pathetic people are doing is absolutely
wrong. How dare you give Bill Clinton a pass. All of you low-life
liberals called all of Clintons skanks every name in the book and no
one said anything about it. Not one person of the low life left. You
people are disgusting and YOU are the reason America is not the leader
of the world any longer. No other country wants to be like the US
cause liberals have destroyed out culture, society and traditions. So
what do you call someone who sleeps around with so many guys that they
run out of money to buy birth control pills? Oh thats right, a SKANK.
A liberal SKANK……..
TO MR. A: I never knew my little weblog determined the fate on the United States. Also, if you look at THIS LINK you’ll see that her testimony was not accurately described or implied by Limbaugh.
You might take a deep breath. Intense hatred can give you zits.
From Mr. B:
You whores and sluts pressured some companies into dropping Limbaugh.
So what? I’m dropping those companies. I cancelled my carbonite
subscription today and told proflowers that I’m no longer buying from
them. There are PLENTY of similar services around. (DELETED WORD) THEM for their
cowardice in the face of an orchestrated left wing pressure campaign.
And (DELETED WORD) YOU for parroting the far left. Why should anyone pay the way
of that Georgetown slut’s contraception when she’s attending a high
priced PRIVATE law school? Why should taxpayers and insurance company
subscribers cover that sluts sexual course through the blacks on the
Georgetown basketball team? Let her (DELETED WORD) and (DELETED WORD) on her OWN DIME, not
ours. You people are blind and idiotic and this will cost the sponsors
FAR more than it costs Rush.
TO MR. B: Do I take it from your email that you don’t donate to the NAACP?
And, yes, I think you might research what she actually said in her testimony, but I know that’s oh so 20th century since Rush told you what she said and why check it out yourself? Defending someone you listen to who agrees with you who you consider a friend (you spend 3 hours five days a week with him) is more fun that researching the actual facts.
P.S. I take it back suggesting you don’t research. By your email it would seem you have info about the Georgetown basketball team, its racial make up, etc. You wouldn’t just make that up would you?
Miss D:
You have a lot of nerve going after Rush the way you did. I thought
America was a land where free speech was the norm. Oh I forgot, that
was before the liberals went crazy and replaced free speech with
Political Correctness!!!I hope to God that the FCC tells you liberal asses to go fly a kite.
He should NOT be fined or anything else.I will not patronize ANY of the sponsors who dropped Rush over this
stupidity.Why aren’t you involved in something meaningful—like the report by
Sheriff Arpaio which confirms that the Liar-in-Chief is an INELIGIBLE
POTUS???!!!???!
Miss D: I didn’t know that Sheriff Arapaio has confirmed that Barack Obama is ineligible for office. In fact, news reports didn’t say that. They said he “suspected” it.
So I suggest you alert all the news outlets at THIS LINK that they had their stories wrong.
P.S. Thanks for giving me that mental image of a liberal’s behind flying a kite..
Of course, these emails do not reflect the viewpoints of all Limbaugh listeners (I think.)
I’m sure that when if the advertisers that pulled out of Limbaugh’s show read these letters on TMV (remember Mr. A says we had enormous influence over the country’s destiny) they’d regret losing customers such as this.
And they may hear directly from them:
They may send them angry letters written in crayon.
UPDATE: Another Rush fan says Fluke is a (liberal) fascist.
Miss E:
You’re efforts to deny free speech and encroach upon religious
freedom are shameful. Sandra Fluke is a birth control activist whose
objective, like Obama’s, is to force a Jesuit religious organization
to abandon tradition and conscience for her convenience. Fluke is a
fascist; casting her as a whore was overly charitable. Your comments
suggest that you share the same self-serving, egotistical values.
Miss E: Sorry I’m not so observant. When I watched Fluke’s testimony and saw her on TV I didn’t see any sign that she was a fascist. I didn’t even hear this song. FYI, I have thoughts on people who use the fascist comparison, but pointing that out only shows my self-serving egostical values — but here it is anyway.
UPDATE Mr. F (left in a way other than email to TMV):
YOU ARE FAR FROM MODERATE…YOU ARE LIBERAL AND UNAMERICAN…SCHULTZ
CAN MAKE ANY COMMENTS HE WANTS AND IT IS OK…BUT RUSH LIMBAUGH???
FIRE ALL YOUR TORPEDOS RIGHT?? IT IS A SHAME…THIS IS WHT I AM SENDING TO **ALL** THE ADVERTISERS…TO WHOM IT MAY
CONCERN…RUSH LIMBAUGH HAS THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH. YOU, AS AN
AMERICAN COMPANY SHOULD SUPPORT HIM…HE HAS MADE YOU ALL SO MUCH
MONEY OVER THE YEARS…PLEASE STAND WITH HIM NOW, WHEN HE NEEDS YOU
MOST. DON’T JUMP ON THE ANTI-AMERICAN SWERVE GOING ON AGAINST HIM. WE
USE YOU ALL ON A REGULAR BASIS…BUT WOULD BE FORCED TO GO ELSEWERE IF
YOU DROP HIM AS A SPONSOR. THIS IS NOT A FORM LETTER, I TYPED AND
THOUGHT IT OUT MYSELF. KEEP THE AMERICAN DREAM OF FREE SPEECH AND
LIBERTY…AS WELL AS CAPITALISM…WHICH YOU ENJOY!! THANK YOU!!
To Mr. F: Hey, I never knew that to dislike Limbaugh’s three day attacks on a woman with whom he disagreed made you a)a liberal b)American. Kindly do a Google search and re-read all of the posts here and on other sites Schultz’s over the line comments were soundly criticized and he quickly announced he was going off the air without pay, did a long unconditional apology and called the person who he had insulted, Laura Ingraham, who accepted the apology. Schultz’s comment was as disgusting as Limbaugh’s but he quickly ended it and unconditionally apologized. Limbaugh kept the controversy alive by keeping it going — which he still did yesterday after his apology. But none of these facts really matter to you since the Schultz comparison (even if flawed) gives you something to use to attack and it feels good.
PS: I’ve gotten several emails saying that if you are critical of Limbaugh you can’t be a moderate, centrist or independent. I never KNEW Limbaugh’s show embraced moderates and moderation. I thought he was always highly critical of moderates and moderation. And, particularly, of moderate Republicans. I guess I’ll have to listen again (well, maybe not.)
The issue here is not free speech. The issue here is a three day misogynistic rant of abusive speech that would have gotten any other talk show host in America suspended, fired, or perhaps sued.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.