Rush Limbaugh Trips On His Big Ego

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright March 7, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

          Syndicated on 600 stations and with a listening audience of around 15 million, the 61-year-old garrulous conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh reluctantly apologized for calling 30-year-old Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” for testifying before Congress about the need for health plans to pay for birth control.  Limbaugh went ballistic Feb. 29 on his daily show ranting about something related to Fluke not being able to afford having sex.  While Rush got more tangential, it revealed something more than politically incorrect speech but instead an impulsive lack of judgment over the airwaves.  Getting dropped March 5 by another sponsor ProFlowers.com, Rush brushed off the some 10 sponsors no longer affiliating with the biggest radio talk show in U.S. history.  No one denies Rush’s on-air talent, only his self-destructive impulses.

            After losing several sponsors and creating a national distraction to the GOP presidential primary race, Rush finally apologized.  “For 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week,” said Rush.  “In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation.  I did not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke,” showing how little the popular conservative commentator knows about damage control.  Calling Rush’s remarks “reprehensible and inappropriate,” President Barack Obama threw in his two cents into the controversy.  Rush reacted to Fluke’s testimony at a Democratic event Feb. 29 on Capitol Hill to support Barack’s former position of supporting faith-based hospitals providing free birth control for plan subscribers.  When the contraception controversy threatened to monopolize the headlines, the president hastily recanted.

            Trying to un-ring the bell, Limbaugh apologized for the inappropriate language.  “My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir.  I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choice,” said Limbaugh, after his previous damage control attempts to assuage the crisis failed.  Even his usual ally House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) condemned Rush’s language.  Rush got himself into more hot water responding to Obama’s sympathy phone call to Fluke.  “That is so compassionate.  What a great guy,” said Limbaugh sarcastically.  “The president called her to make sure she’s OK.  What is she 30 years old?  Thirty years old, student at Georgetown Law who admits to admits to having so much sex she can’t afford it,” said Limbaugh, going over the top, especially trying to apologize, sound sincere and get beyond the firestorm.

            Rush’s sponsors bailed out after he kept justifying his off-the-wall remarks, then turned his ire to his real nemesis:  President Barack Obama.  “Will President Obama now give back the $1 million that Bill Maher just gave his super PAC,” asked Limbaugh on his daily show.  “You want to get some of the tapes of that Bill Maher has called Sarah Palin?  The “C” word over and over again,” showing the insincerity of his staged contrition, pushing more of his sponsors to bail out.  Sincere apologies don’t include the real reasons for launching the attack of Fluke.  “Not one person says, Well, did you ever think about maybe backing off the amount of sex you have,” said Limbaugh, knowing that Fluke’s sex-life has nothing to do with expecting Catholic hospitals to provide free birth control.  When Limbaugh said Democrats “want to blame me as being the person they should fear,” it revealed his possible paranoia.

            No one with Rush’s experience and media savvy would go off the rails unless he forgot to take his medication, prompting uncontainable emotions and cognitive distortions associated with untreated conditions like bipolar disorder or certain mental disorders or breakdowns.  Dragging “Democrats” into the fray mud the extent of Rush’s paranoia.  He, not the Democrats, called Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute,” prompting his sponsors to pull the advertising plug.  Now that Rush’s catching the blowback, he’s got no one to blame but himself.  He’ll spin the persecution as some kind of left-wing conspiracy, encouraging his audience to dig in.  Instead of bashing Obama or continuing to justify attacking Fluke, Rush should back off the airwaves and lay low.  More explanations at this point seem to backfire, digging him in more deeply into unwanted controversy.

            Rush’s inept damage control shows that his apology was largely insincere, prompting his sponsors to leave in droves.  While new advertisers will no doubt pick up the slack, Rush needs to take a real inventory of his vulnerabilities and triggers that left him embroiled in unwanted controversy.  Because he’s spoken for conservative Republican causes since 1984, it’s difficult for Rush to disaffiliate himself with the Party.  When he goes off the rails during a heated election year, it’s bound to create unwanted distraction.  Instead of justifying his actions or blaming Democrats, Rush needs to own-up his positions and paranoia.  While there’s a sizable audience that agrees the government shouldn’t waste money on gratuitous birth control, a big one believes birth control has its place.  Now that Rush has weighed in on the tropic, it’s time to take a lower profile.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.       

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