Following up on an earlier item, waiting for Rush Limbaugh to apologize for his misogynistic tirades this week is probably pointless. The more interesting point is what the host’s advertisers think about his remarks.
One of Rush Limbaugh’s advertisers announced Friday that it was pulling all of its commercials from his radio show in the wake of Limbaugh’s incendiary comments about a female law student and contraception.
After being bombarded on Twitter, mattress store Sleep Train said that it would no longer advertise during Limbaugh’s top-rated show following days of outrage over Limbaugh’s statements about Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown student who was denied a chance to speak at a Congressional hearing about birth control.
“We are pulling our ads with Rush Limbaugh and appreciate the community’s feedback,” the company wrote in a tweet.
ThinkProgress added, “ProFlowers, eHarmony, and several other companies have also been fielding complaints as well, and both companies have said they are considering taking action as well.”
A spokesperson for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was willing to go so far as to say Limbaugh’s attacks were “inappropriate.” Under the circumstances, that’s a pretty mild rebuke for such ugly and offensive language.
What’s more, to reiterate a point from this morning, the larger political implications matter. Thanks to an aggressive culture-war agenda — including, but not limited to, contraception, abortion rights, and mandatory ultrasounds — Republicans have made themselves vulnerable to criticism as an anti-woman party. Limbaugh’s over-the-top misogyny, coupled with his role as a leading GOP voice, make it that much easier for Democrats to make their case this election year. Indeed, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) connected Limbaugh with the Republican agenda in an interview with Greg Sargent this morning. If Republicans had any control over Limbaugh, GOP leaders might put in a call to the host, asking him to scale back the anti-woman rhetoric for a while. Unfortunately for the party, the power seems to run in the other direction — Limbaugh gives orders to Republicans, not the other way around.
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