Rush Limbaugh's Latest Defense: Rappers 'Say Anything They Want'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/06/rush-limbaugh-defends-san_n_1324077.html?ref=mostpopular

Rush Limbaugh's Latest Defense: Rappers 'Say Anything They Want'


Danielle Cadet
First Posted: 03/ 6/2012 1:16 pm Updated: 03/ 6/2012 1:19 pm


Rush Limbaugh has managed to cause quite a media frenzy since his offensive comments about law student, Sandra Fluke, have caught the nation's attention. But the controversial radio host, known for his conservative views and sharp tongue has claimed a defense for his actions that might just make more people shake their heads and roll their eyes: rappers do it all the time.

After Limbaugh referred to Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute" (in addition to a number of other offensive comments) for advocating that insurance companies cover birth control, he issued an apology saying his words were "insulting." But in response to the continued flight of advertisers from his show--a number that now totals close to a dozen sponsors--he expressed his outrage at his unfair treatment in a culture that has tolerated such language elsewhere, like rap music.

"You talk about a double standard," Limbaugh said in a post on his website. "One of the greatest illustrations of it is that rappers can practically say anything they want about women, and it's called art."

Limbaugh went on to discuss the media and Democratic party's role in the deterioration of morality in society:

Every minority according to the left, every minority in the country is a victim of a tyrannical majority. Every aspect of the Democrat Party agenda is to reverse that, and what's happening here is that everybody is allowing these winds to blow them over. And there's no resistance to it...It's the Democrats and the media that use the power of intimidation to get people to cave on their own morality, to give it up. All for the sake of avoiding confrontation or opposition.

Limbaugh's original comment about Fluke and his rapper defense are reminiscent of a similar incident in 2007 when another radio host, Don Imus, referred to the primarily black Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy headed ho's." Imus said that the phrase "originated in the black community," citing the degradation of women in hip hop music.

More recently in December 2011, the Dutch fashion magazine, Jackie came under fire for referring to singer Rihanna as "the ultimate n***abitch." The magazine editor (who later resigned after the backlash) issued an apology on their Facebook page. Hoeke also referred to the prevalence of the expression in the media:

It was stupid, it was naive to think that this was an acceptable form of slang--you hear it all the time on tv and radio, then your idea of what is normal apparently shifts--but it was especially misguided: there was no malice behind it.

Is Rush Limbaugh simply scraping for another scape goat, or do he, Imus and Jackie magazine have a point?

He's a clown. Pay no attention.

Oh yeah..."other people do it". Yeah that excuses anything. Limbaugh is a dinosaur that needs to join the rest in extinction.

So Rush, if a rapper jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump of the Brooklyn Bridge? Well...we can hope.

Uh, there was a little difference. Rappers ref nigga bitch ho's in general.

They don't take a specific, nice young law student who expresses her views legitimately in a forum by invitation and call her a slut by name. That moves from an abstract misogyny to an unacceptable personal slander.

Rush, you clueless, insensitive boor, here's a clue - YOU pissed off a bunch of decent folks when YOU did that and now YOU should suffer the consequences.

Shale wrote:Uh, there was a little difference. Rappers ref nigga bitch ho's in general.

They don't take a specific, nice young law student who expresses her views legitimately in a forum by invitation and call her a slut by name. That moves from an abstract misogyny to an unacceptable personal slander.

Rush, you clueless, insensitive boor, here's a clue - YOU pissed off a bunch of decent folks when YOU did that and now YOU should suffer the consequences.

And not only call her a "slut" & a "prostitute" but outright LIE about what she said. She never said nor implied any such thing.

For anyone who may be unfamiliar with the actual facts & not right wing rhetoric, this is the woman in question. Her testimony is very thoughtful & intelligent. If anyone can tell me which part makes her a slut, prostitute or sex crazed woman who can't pay for her pills I'd love for it to be pointed out.

Some people just refuse to shut up.

ALL THE REASONS WHY HIS DEFENSE UTTERLY FAILS:

1. "You talk about a double standard," Limbaugh said in a post on his website. "One of the greatest illustrations of it is that rappers can practically say anything they want about women, and it's called art."

Actually, it's also called trashy, offensive and inappropriate by the conservative right (including by people like you) AND the "liberal media" which is ultimately controlled by this thing called the FCC. Rappers who use such language are invariably DEMONIZED by you and all of your friends over at Fox News. So what you're really saying is that it's not okay for rappers to use that language in artistic forms of expression, but when I do it while targeting someone with a different political ideology than my own, it's no big deal. There was no malice behind me calling out a specific college student a SLUT and a PROSTITUTE.

2. After Limbaugh referred to Fluke as a "slut" and a "prostitute" (in addition to a number of other offensive comments) for advocating that insurance companies cover birth control, he issued an apology saying his words were "insulting."

If you acknowledge yourself that your comments were insulting towards the person you were talking about, you cannot later claim that there was no malice behind your comments because you end up contradicting yourself. You've already voided out that as a possible defense when you apologized for essentially acting out of malice!

3. But in response to the continued flight of advertisers from his show--a number that now totals close to a dozen sponsors--he expressed his outrage at his unfair treatment in a culture that has tolerated such language elsewhere, like rap music.

WHAT "UNFAIR" TREATMENT? Point 1: Since when did those same sponsors go around promoting the rappers that use offensive language? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't promote them anymore than yourself at this point. Point 2: Rappers are artists and entertainers who get paid for their art. You either like their stuff or you don't. You either buy their records or you don't. You either pay to get into their concerts or you don't. Rush Limbaugh is a right wing political commentator whose a radio talk show host and an opinion leader in American conservatism! We don't pay to listen to Rush Limbaugh, we either tune into his show or turn the channel! Rush Limbaugh doesn't get paid for an art form. Rush Limbaugh is allegedly in the business of dishing out honest political opinion's based on "facts" from a conservative perspective! That means, what Rush Limbaugh says is therefore logically supposed to carry more weight with citizens of this country in terms of political activism. So why in the hell would you expect us to treat Rush Limbaugh the same as we treat FUCKING RAPPERS? To expect "fair" treatment between a political commentator with a radio show and a rapper is psychotic....just like you Rush!

4. Every minority according to the left, every minority in the country is a victim of a tyrannical majority.

Uh, no Rush, actually that would be according to what HISTORY irrefutably shows in every context. And anyone who thinks otherwise is highly ignorant of American history (which apparently includes you and your devout listeners). The fact that a specific group is described as a "minority" is in itself an example of victimization! The "left" apparently understands that, why don't you?

5. Every aspect of the Democrat Party agenda is to reverse that, and what's happening here is that everybody is allowing these winds to blow them over. And there's no resistance to it...

Of course there is no resistance to it. Why do you think that is Rush? Could it be perhaps because most people realize that minorities ARE usually oppressed in some way by the so-called majority. Even your own people on the right know that. THAT'S WHY THERE IS NO RESISTANCE! One cannot resist facts.

6. It's the Democrats and the media that use the power of intimidation to get people to cave on their own morality, to give it up. All for the sake of avoiding confrontation or opposition.

And that MIGHT be a good argument IF your idea of "morality" was something other than calling a college student a SLUT and a PROSTITUTE for no goddamn reason. But since that's clearly a highly IMMORAL thing to do, you have no fucking case! Furthermore, the conservative right uses the power of intimidation to get people to vote on legislature designed to destroy the rights of others and bury anybody's sense of "morality" that conflicts with their own. How is that any less EVIL than what you claim Democrats do?