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    Rush Limbaugh: Sexist or adorable fuzzball?

    By Erin Flaherty, Shine staff | Love + Sex – Fri, Dec 5, 2008 11:23 PM EST


    Last night Barbara Walters interviewed Rush Limbaugh as part of her "10 Most Fascinating People" special, and she could barely contain her animosity towards Rush for that unfortunate Hillary aging comment he infamously made earlier this year, blurting out, "What's with you Rush?" This erm, hard-hitting moment in television journalism was followed closely by, "Who is the real Rush?" to which he responded: "I am a harmless, lovable little fuzzball...I am the most unthreatening, tolerant, lovable guy you could ever meet." Uh huh.

    Now, I'll admit it, Rush Limbaugh is not winning any points from me with enthusiastic claims like, "I love Sarah Palin!"--he defended his admiration by saying that she only seemed "uninformed in one interview," and I would LOVE to know which one, out of the many interviews where she proved herself to have less civic knowledge than your average grade schooler, he was referring to-- and alluding to this terribly polarizing, mythical idea that there is a "battle between the elites" and those who are not in this country, uttered from a man who makes more money than millions of Americans. But what has always, and continues to infuriate me about Rush is his blatant disregard for women, despite the fact that he drools over Governor Palin, whom he consistently refers to as a "babe."

    There are numerous well-documented examples of Rush's backwards views on women, (and don't even get me started on the various racist remarks he has also made). Remember that time Mr. Limbaugh said that women who protest sexual harassment "actually wish" to be sexually harassed? Cute. Or when he said "women still live longer than men because their lives are easier," and the moment where he stated that New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd comes across as "miserable" and said, "Must be a guy. Isn't it always a guy when a woman's unhappy?" Of course, there's his repeated use of the term "femi-Nazis" on his show, and the fact that he calls the National Organization for Women (NOW) the "National Association of Gals" (his acronym: "NAG") instead. And oh yes, as Barbara mentioned, regarding Hillary Clinton's presidential nomination prospects, he had the audacity to claim to his audience of millions, "Will Americans want to watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?"

    It may be noted here that he has also repeatedly used the phrase "testicle lock box" in association with the senator, ahem.

    To be fair, if you look at the context in which Rush was speaking, as he indeed defended himself to Babs when confronted on the issue, he wasn't being as overtly misogynistic as was portrayed:

    "I want you to understand that I'm talking about the evolution of American culture here, and not so much Mrs Clinton," Limbaugh had told his audience that fateful day. "It could be anybody, and it's really not very complicated. Americans are addicted to physical perfection, thanks to Hollywood and thanks to television."

    That's shamefully true. But given Rush Limbaugh's record of blatant sexism, I find it hard to sympathize. I was, however, taken aback by his claim that he's just a sweet and lovable guy, and a bit tickled at Barbara Walters' subsequent closing with "Rush, you darling fuzzball, say something nice about the next President of the United States." And let me be clear: Personally, I have no problem with conservative commentary. However, I do take issue with prominent radio hosts launching repeated attacks against women. For that, perhaps I'm just another "femi-Nazi."

    You weigh in: How do you feel about conservative America's highly successful shock jock? Is he a sweetheart as he claims, or an enemy to the female sex?

    See also:

    Barbara Walters' 10 most fascinating people

    Sex(ism) and Politics: McCain's choice of Sarah Palin

    How did you feel about Hillary's concession speech?

     

    116 comments

    • MC
      MC  •  2 years 5 months ago
      Yes a fuzzball, but brains aren't everything!
    • Man's lib
      Man's lib  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Anyone who calls a woman a "feminazi" being a huggable fuzzball? PLEEAAASSEE!!!
    • DC
      DC  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Man's lib, I don't know you but I love you.... LMAO!!!!
    • J
      J  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Erin whats your name who wrote this. You obviously have political differences with him. Don't write articles that spew YOUR opinions b/c frankly that's not supposed to the point. The point is... do we like Rush?? And yes sweetheart a lot of people do!! And a lot of people agree with his views and are thankful that he is one of the FEW conservativses out there with enough guts to say what most of us are thinking. So you may not like him or approve... but who cares... a lot of people do! And my vote is that he is a lovable fuzz ball... who has the courage to FREE SPEECH... which is what you just used to write this very one sided article, so you should be thankful for that!
    • Lenorra
      Lenorra  •  3 years 6 months ago
      its very strange the way every one talks about sex im a vergin so sex i
      not in my book
    • victorious(baby ridah!)
      victorious(baby ridah!)  •  3 years 6 months ago
      i have attempted to listen to limbash several times and all i come away with is:
      PIG!
    • drumdoctor
      drumdoctor  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Rush is an oppotunist alright. He has taken the oppotunity to make a living at something he's good at and enjoys. Isn't that what everybody
      really wants to do(enjoy what makes their living). What he's good at is,provoking thought. Just look at all the negative and positive thoughts that he provoked with his responses to Barbara's questions.
      Why is it OKAY for Barbara,Blitzer,King,Huffington,Clinton and all the other LIBS to run their mouths but its not OKAY for a comment from a conservative point of view. You will find if you search your mind and your own thoughts that what motivates your fear of Mr. Limbaugh is the thought that he may be dead-on-right with some of his commentary. Everyone blows it sometime or another thats what happens when you talk for a living. I'm sure he screwed up as a DJ too. He just didn't have as many people listening.
    • Man's lib
      Man's lib  •  3 years 6 months ago
      He is a ignorant idiot that has republican thugs as followers. For years, he railed that drug users belonged in prison. When he was caught shopping doctors for his drugs, he begged like a beaotch for leniency and made a deal to stay out of prison. What a fricken hypocrite!!!
      He belongs in prison with Bush/Cheney/Rove/Rice/Rumsfeld!!!
    • Gregoire
      Gregoire  •  3 years 6 months ago
      it seems that a lot of people want to have a liberal-biased world where everyone agrees. that's not how the world is, no matter how much we want it to be that way. according to his ratings and his paycheck, someone is listening to this guy, no matter how much you disagree with his politics. there has to be a balance, even to the hold-hands-and-sing-happy-songs-crowd. for every tree-hugger there is a gun-toter. this guy has capitalized (to the tune of millions) on the fears and thoughts of thousands (ne millions) of listeners. and to "grits", there's only one conservative on the view. how fair is that?
    • john
      john  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Why is it when the leftist talk about Rush or President Bush, they have to use hatefull name calling or some kind of words that i would not say in front of my kids. Why don't they say something of subtance. My mom always told me if u can't say something nice u should not say nothing at all. I am a big fan of Rush and believe that a lot of Americans maybe even the majority have his way of thinking. God bless Rush.
    • Man's lib
      Man's lib  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Surfergurl- Your a smart lady. You love me and you hate bloated republican shills. Your my dream come true!!
    • Jo L
      Jo L  •  3 years 6 months ago
      1. he's not fascinating and never will be. why was he chosen?

      2. he gets paid millions to spread poison, anger, and lies. i guess doing drugs was the only way to cope with all the negative energy and bad karma.
    • asida
      asida  •  3 years 6 months ago
      hi
    • DrBoaz
      DrBoaz  •  3 years 6 months ago
      Hmmm....I have listened to Rush off and on since 1990. Could someone please list out some those terrible racist remarks he supposedly made? Is he racist because he mocks Jesse Jackson's voice after getting a total pass by the media after his infidelity as a "reverend" came to light? How did that same media treat Jimmy Swaggart when he did the same- he was crucified. The flip-flops of the main-stream media are astounding and consistently reliable.

      Leftists of the world- admit your hardcore bias in all things political. Would you be celebrating the first black president if it were Ms. Rice, Gen. Powell, or Judge Thomas? Absolutely not because they do not share your socialist, liberal agenda.

      Would you support a conservative female senator for sticking to her man if , while acting as the first lady, she stood silent as her president husband humped every ounce of female flesh available? She would have been ridiculed as a sell out of feminist ideals by the same femi-nazis for supporting an obviously sexist, unfaithful, disrespectful playa of a spouse.

      Could Rush simply be the most successful radio personality on the planet for reasons other than his supposedly total innate evil? Give it a rest.
    • Man's lib
      Man's lib  •  3 years 6 months ago
      The fur that makes up his fur ball is scum from the sewer he crawled out of!!!
    • THE MAGIK OF AYAS
      THE MAGIK OF AYAS  •  3 years 6 months ago
      vnvbn
    • Jellybean
      Jellybean  •  3 years 6 months ago
      hahaha the funny thing is... i have a feeling that liberals are jealous if not, bitter of him, because he's expressing all the elements that a liberal adores; being successful without completing college, making lots of money doing a job he likes, being the black sheep of the family, and practicing freedom of speech to the fullest.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 years 6 months ago
      lifi is vary happy,when i do fulfil sexualy injoy .
    • Brent
      Brent  •  3 years 6 months ago
      It takes courage to face the truth. If you can't stand Rush, you're a wuss.
    • Big Johnson
      Big Johnson  •  3 years 5 months ago
      he should have gone to prison...
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