In courting controversy over his Sandra Fluke comments, Rush Limbaugh was forced to apologize. If Rush had dug a little deeper he would not have taken the bait, and avoided giving legitimacy towards any activist allegations of Republican misogyny.
Judging by their namesake, Law Students for Reproductive Justice are just another typical group of progressive activists, so when the Contraception Mandate came along, LSRJ jumped into agitation mode. This was where the first appearance of Sandra Fluke occurred at the National Press Club event “Catholic Students for Women’s Health” on February 9, 2012. Fluke as well as other Catholic university students expressed support for the Obama administration’s mandate on contraception, apposing statements issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. CSPAN – HUFFPO
On February 16, 2012, the Committee Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled “Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?”. According to hearing notes: “This hearing is about basic question of religious freedom, and whether or not protection will be afforded to religious institutions who wish to follow their conscience in refusing to pay for products they find morally objectionable”. Clerical members of various faiths were scheduled to appear at the hearing, at which committee member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md had tried to plant Sandra Fluke as an additional witness. Rep. Darrel Issa refused, and his staff issued the following statement: “As the hearing is not about reproductive rights but instead about the administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience, he believes that Ms. Fluke is not an appropriate witness.”. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y then took the snub as perceived gender bias, using the event to stage a walk out with Fluke, and issuing press statements accusing Republicans of ushering an ‘Autocratic Regime‘. Not to be outdone, on February 23, 2012 the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee (chaired by Nancy Pelsoi) held a hearing that only featured witness Sandra Fluke, delivering her testimony which slightly differed from her prepared February 16 statement.
At each step of the way, Sandra Fluke used language that epitomized activist rhetoric, fitting within the confines of exalting the almighty entitlement system. In taking on sensationalism in pointing out such absurdity, Rush ignore the key points of Fluke’s activist antics. If a person is going to a Catholic university while vocally attacking Catholic beliefs, they are either a non-Catholic or an activist Rush! The other warning sign Rush was seeing a witness being planted into a Congressional Hearing who was later deemed unsuitable, followed with theatrics/walk out by Democrats. Without taking these actions into account, Limbaugh’s rebut of the bluff may have had some merit. However taking upon the route of a ‘Shock-Jock’ in dealing with serious political analysis, Rush instead shot everyone on the Right in the foot.
We live in a time when controlling the narrative becomes more valuable then the truth itself. The role of any pundit is to debunk agitation, not fall victim to it’s intentions.
You can called this ‘Hindsight Bias’ all you like, but when Limbaugh called a Fluke a ‘Slut’, he only benefited his agitators, while pushing his own supporter base closer towards appeasing his critical base.
Craig Edwards
