# I pit Rush Limbaugh for being an idiot about birth control **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593 "2012-03-02T22:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/261 "2012-03-04T21:33:56Z")
I’m glad Rush said what he did. No, seriously I am. I don’t want him to apologize and I don’t want him to shut up. He’s the only conservative pundit out there is who isn’t afraid to be real about the misogynistic elephant in the room. People (especially women) of all political persuasions need to pay attention to what he’s saying and realize that he’s not just speaking for himself. He’s saying what’s on the mind of everyone who actually thinks insurance converage for BC pills is an issue worth crying over. This has nothing to do with religious freedom. This is about the Republican party disregarding women’s health and well-being to score political points. By any means necessary. I applaud that he put it out there so starkly, so indefensibly. Brazen slut. Brazen indeed, Rush. The only thing more brazen that calling a Fluke a slut would be calling Obama a nigger. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/262 "2012-03-04T23:22:15Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > On a personal note, all my life when I hear the word “Rush” I automatically hear a riff by the Canadian trio. Limbaugh has taken that away from me. When I hear the word “rush” now, all I hear the the rantings of a fat misogynist. I always think of [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY__KcyIcEk) (starts at 1.05) by another Canadian band. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/263 "2012-03-04T23:38:22Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > And hell yes, women can sleep with as many people as they see fit, and damn the consequences. You’d be wise to note that they can do that with or without birth control. Using birth control does not mean you are somehow obligated to have more sex with more men and put your health at risk. And not taking it does not mean you are obligated not to. So why the handwringing? Your question reminds me of something I posted in a thread a while back about conservative opposition to abortion. This is my opinion on where the handwringing is coming from: > [@ywtf](#): > > Like others, I do believe a lot of it comes down to a visceral reaction against women being “free” to have sex without getting saddled with unwanted consequences. It’s not fair, you see, that a slut can be a slut and not be burdened with the bastards her wanton conduct would naturally produce. With abortion in place, the sluts can blend in with non-sluts, without anyone being the wiser. This disrupts society because it makes it harder to put women in their little boxes. The chaste women don’t know who to look down upon to make themselves feel superior and the men can only speculate as to who is sufficiently pure. > > But I don’t think most people who are anti-abortion are conscious of feeling this way. They probably do think their stance is about protecting children. And I’m sure back in the day, contraception was perceived in the same way that abortion is now. The concern, at the root of it is, is not about children, but about consequence-free sex. Nevermind that abortion is not consequence-free (and neither is birth control). > > I also noticed a long time ago that conservatives seem to think anything that keeps people from incurring negative consequences is automatically deemed bad if the action associated with the consequence is deemed bad. For instance, I’m currently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s What the Dog Hears. In one chapter, he discusses a radical intervention for chronic homelessness that is being implemented in Denver, CO. The intervention? Provide housing, rehab, and counseling to these people. Get them off the street so they don’t rack up huge hospital bills when they get sick and drunk in the alleys, thereby creating a drain on society. Now although this method is backed by a pretty compelling analysis of costs-benefits that shows that society is probably better off with this system in place, many conservative detractors can’t stomach the idea that no-account bums get this kind of helping hand. Because it goes against their “everyone must face the consequences” philosophy. It doesn’t matter to them whether housing the chronic homeless serves the greater good. They are more concerned that some drug-addicted slacker somewhere could be getting away with free rent and groceries, and they’re not, and it is just not right! > > Opposition to abortion is not that much different. Women having pre-marital sex\* is deemed bad. And because it prevents women from dealing with the consequences of their bad behavior, abortion must also be bad. Now we could throw out figures all day which show how society is better off with legalized, accessible abortion, but people who put stock in the “all natural consequences are just” belief system care not one whit about any of that. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/264 "2012-03-05T00:43:25Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > I applaud that he put it out there so starkly, so indefensibly. Brazen slut. Brazen indeed, Rush. The only thing more brazen that calling a Fluke a slut would be calling Obama a nigger. It would not surprise me to find out Rush had done exactly that. He’s the sort of idiot who exists solely to make Republicans like Chris Christie look classy by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/265 "2012-03-05T00:57:45Z")
Oh yes, that woman made brazen overtures, with a gilt-edged guarantee. She had a golden glint in her eye and a silver voice with a counterfeit ring. Just melt her down and you’ll reveal a lump of lead, cold as steel, here, where a woman’s _heart_ should be! (cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep). ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/266 "2012-03-05T00:57:54Z")
Well, there was the whole “Barack the Magic Negro” thing. The guy’s been a pig so often, it’s easy to lose track. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/267 "2012-03-05T01:31:50Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > It would not surprise me to find out Rush had done exactly that. He’s the sort of idiot who exists solely to make Republicans like Chris Christie look classy by comparison. THAT’S what it is! Kudos on this! If someone hears “right-wing” and “rude” right now, they don’t think Romney/Santorum/Gingrich/Bachmann/Cain, they think Limbaugh. He takes the heat, the so-called candidates look ten times better. We should soon be seeing write-in votes for Limbaugh on Super Tuesday. Wouldn’t surprise me. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/268 "2012-03-05T02:45:05Z")
So, where can I find a list of his sponsors so I can notify them of my intent to vote with my dollars? Without, ya know, actually delving into his website. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/269 "2012-03-05T03:11:08Z")
The world conservatives want to see: > **[I've spent the past 2 days trying to convince my 16 y/o she is not a "slut"...](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/03/04/1070800/-I-ve-spent-the-past-2-days-trying-to-convince-my-16-y-o-she-is-not-a-slut-?via=siderec)** > > I can hardly type, can hardly put this into words! I have been writing and rewriting this because if I don't break down in tears, I get so angry that I can't think straight! I know that so much has ... ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/270 "2012-03-05T04:25:30Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > The world conservatives want to see: > > [I've spent the past 2 days trying to convince my 16 y/o she is not a "slut" \*\*Final update tonight](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/04/1070800/-I-ve-spent-the-past-2-days-trying-to-convince-my-16-y-o-she-is-not-a-slut-?via=siderec) Oh dear god, that just about broke my heart. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/271 "2012-03-05T04:47:26Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > It depends on whether or not you’re insured (which was, as I recally, the _whole frigging point of her appearance_) and we’ve gone around with this one lately. [More details here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=642233). > > Think about what people pay for other prescription drugs. I actually started that thread. The cheapest price for birth control is $9 a month for generic birth control pills at Wal-mart or Target. I still don’t understand why there aren’t birth control pills available on the $4 generic menu. I also noticed that in Spain you can buy birth control over the counter. I don’t understand why it requires a doctor prescription. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/272 "2012-03-05T05:23:37Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I actually started that thread. The cheapest price for birth control is $9 a month for generic birth control pills at Wal-mart or Target. I still don’t understand why there aren’t birth control pills available on the $4 generic menu. I also noticed that in Spain you can buy birth control over the counter. I don’t understand why it requires a doctor prescription. Look at the efforts by the religious right to get the stuff BANNED altogether. Look at Rush’s poisonous attitude towards women, and the slightly less venomous words of Santorum, and Romney, and O’Reilly, and many others who won’t speak out against them; and realize that it is people enmeshed in this conservative cultural environment who make the rules, and you can reason out why they’re not easier to get. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/273 "2012-03-05T06:12:05Z")
I’m not surprised at the number of dittoheads on the comments on Facebook sites for news links and for products that have pulled advertising are furious that Rush “was forced to apologize”. What does surprise me is how many of them are coming from women. Man, there are some truly hate filled right wing she-bitches out there who apparently agree with the birth control=slut analogy. \*There’s a movement afoot to boycott the sponsors who withdrew. Since Rush doesn’t have anything remotely like the 20 million listeners he claims (there’s lots of asterisks by that) I can’t imagine it making much of a dent. \*I’m always amazed at how many people, right and left, seem to think “the right to free speech” means “the right to say anything you want, no matter how incendiar, without any consequences whatsoever”. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/274 "2012-03-05T06:33:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > > [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > > > The world conservatives want to see: > > > > [I've spent the past 2 days trying to convince my 16 y/o she is not a "slut" \*\*Final update tonight](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/04/1070800/-I-ve-spent-the-past-2-days-trying-to-convince-my-16-y-o-she-is-not-a-slut-?via=siderec) > > Oh dear god, that just about broke my heart. I had to turn my head away: I was truly afraid that I was going to be sick, and I doubt that vomit would do my laptop any good. The reptilian part of me reallyreallyreally wants all the bitches involved to be visited with the same condition as the subject — trebled, if possible. It probably wouldn’t teach them empathy, but it might teach them to keep their [checks forum] fucking mouths shut. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/275 "2012-03-05T12:00:59Z")
\*I’m always amazed at how many people, right and left, seem to think “the right to free speech” means “the right to say anything you want, no matter how incendiar, without any consequences whatsoever”. [/QUOTE] I’m constantly amazed that the Constitution lovin’ Right doesn’t understand “free speech”. I always tell them free speech is about the government limiting your speech. It doesn’t protect you from public scorn. I assume you are pro ‘free market’. Let the market decide if they want to support Limbaugh’s comments. So far, the answer seems to be ‘no’. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/276 "2012-03-05T14:33:00Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > I had to turn my head away: I was truly afraid that I was going to be sick, and I doubt that vomit would do my laptop any good. > > The reptilian part of me reallyreallyreally wants all the bitches involved to be visited with the same condition as the subject — trebled, if possible. It probably wouldn’t teach them empathy, but it might teach them to keep their [checks forum] fucking mouths shut. What’s nuts is that in a few years, odds are, most of the little shits picking on her will be on birth control themselves. Voluntarily. Hope they choke on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/277 "2012-03-05T15:37:02Z")
I bet Rush tries to say he just said all that junk last week to get all the libs to listen to his show today. I loved listening to him the day after Obama won the election. He had trouble formulating complete thoughts and just shook papers a lot. He was stunned and nearly speechless. LOL ! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/278 "2012-03-05T17:00:50Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > The world conservatives want to see: > > [I've spent the past 2 days trying to convince my 16 y/o she is not a "slut" \*\*Final update tonight](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/04/1070800/-I-ve-spent-the-past-2-days-trying-to-convince-my-16-y-o-she-is-not-a-slut-?via=siderec) I’m having a tough time believing 16-year-old girls were talking about “that guy on the radio says you’re a slut!” I don’t know, that just feels incredibly fake to me. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/279 "2012-03-05T17:22:40Z")
David Frum has actually pushed back at Rush’s “the other side does it too!” defenders: [http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/05/](http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/05/)… I about fell out of my chair. Even allowing for the waves of sanity that have been breaking over Frum lately, it’s a stunner to hear that from anyone on the right. Which in itself is a sad, sad commentary. Meanwhile, advertisers are fleeing Rush in disgusted droves. See, for example, the comments by the head of Carbonite; it wasn’t just the economic hit that motivated his company to pull its advertising: > [@](#): > > ``` > "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. Mr. Limbaugh, with his highly personal attacks on Miss Fluke, overstepped any reasonable bounds of decency. Even though Mr. Limbaugh has now issued an apology, we have nonetheless decided to withdraw our advertising from his show. We hope that our action, along with the other advertisers who have already withdrawn their ads, will ultimately contribute to a more civilized public discourse." > > ``` [http://www.carbonite.com/en/blog/A-Message-from-Carbonite-CEO-David-Friend-Regarding-Ads-on-Limbaugh](http://www.carbonite.com/en/blog/A-Message-from-Carbonite-CEO-David-Friend-Regarding-Ads-on-Limbaugh) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593/280 "2012-03-05T17:24:33Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’m having a tough time believing 16-year-old girls were talking about “that guy on the radio says you’re a slut!” I don’t know, that just feels incredibly fake to me. I think some skepticism is warranted, but more importantly, that it’s counterproductive to focus on the outliers who take birth control to treat a medical condition. The message should be that the vast majority of women use it for contraception, which doesn’t make them sluts---- and not “well, a few non-sluts use it too…” It’s the same failed strategy used by the “fat acceptance” movement when they lamely focus on the tiny percentage of obese people with a glandular condition, or to a lesser extent by pot supporters who focus solely on medicinal marijuana (although that strategy seems to have succeeded, at least in California). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-rush-limbaugh-for-being-an-idiot-about-birth-control/614593.md?page=15)