Well, during my campaign for Congress in 2010, some right-wing bloggers issued some party photos of me that went viral. And of course, this is a time-honored tradition of a way of degrading women, painting them as sluts, to undermine their credibility and to silence their voices as Sandra Fluke said herself. And, of course Rush Limbaugh jumped on that bandwagon… So, I’ve been there, and I’ve seen what it’s like to be raked through the coals the way that Sandra is. Which is part of why I’ve had so much passion around this issue, because I don’t want to see any woman have to go through what I went through and what Sandra’s going through now…
…This has touched such a nerve with women, because we’ve had one thing after another. And I think on this issue, Rush did not realize what he was stepping into…he also doesn’t understand the age of social media we are living in…Calling a woman a slut and a prostitute is not just “absurd” [as Rick Santorum said], it’s despicable, it’s deplorable, and the fact that Santorum can’t call it that is in itself despicable and deplorable. I mean, why are these guys so afraid of Rush Limbaugh?
I couldn’t agree more with all of this. Also, thanks to Krystal Ball for her efforts to Boycott Rush, and to fight back against these cowardly right-wing men who are denigrating women, trying to control their bodies and infringe upon their freedom (see the Virginia Republican Party’s efforts on trans-vaginal ultrasounds, “personhood,” etc., etc. for more examples of that). Bottom line: do not patronize ANY business that is sponsoring Rush Limbaugh’s viciously misogynistic hate speech. And do not, obviously, vote Republican! End of story.
P.S. Willard “Mitt” Romney issued perhaps the most pathetic statement of all, saying that Rush’s vicious hate speech wasn’t the language he’d use. Sorry, but that’s not even CLOSE to a condemnation, and won’t even come close to cutting it. Seriously, is the Republican strategy for 2012 and beyond to TRY and lose the women’s vote?!?
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