A Few Words on Rush/Kirk

Like many women people, I have found myself dismayed/offended/disgusted/angered/enraged/disheartened (shall I continue) with the dangerous and hateful words spewed under the guise of free speech in recent days by both Rush Limbaugh and Kirk Cameron. I am (all of those words above) every time I hear or read about such remarks, and such a misuse of that very basic freedom, but for some reason in the backlash to these two small-minded people's words this past week, I found myself having a stronger reaction. And though this blog is usually not such a forum for me, and I do try to keep it lighthearted, I felt it an appropriate outlet for the few words I'd like to proclaim in response. I was partially inspired by my own thoughts and partially by the words of actress Martha Plimpton, who tweeted the following:

"The word 'equality' shows up too much in our founding documents for anyone to pretend it's not the American way."

Kirk Cameron spoke to Piers Morgan in an episode that aired last Friday about his belief that homosexuality is "detrimental and destructive." Frankly, I'm not sure why Morgan's people would have Cameron on - he's entirely irrelevant and while HIS WORDS are more than detrimental and destructive and his way of thinking is small and ignorant, I have every confidence that he will find his way straight back into oblivion. We will hear even less of his name than we have in the last 20 years, and we'll be all the better for it. It's a shame that Mr. Cameron couldn't use his former star status to preach love and peace if he has to preach at all. But that's all I want to say about him, so I'm done.

Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand is a much bigger danger, in my opinion. He has *current* followers who hang on his words. He uses the airways and the privilege of the free speech our country affords to breath hate and ugliness into the world. While his words against Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke are outrageous and inappropriate on every level, there is something even more offensive to me in his behavior than the utterance of little words like "bitch" or "slut." Yes, those words are uncalled for. But most women have had one or two of those or other choice monikers thrown their way once or twice in their lives, and if we're being honest, we've probably hurled them around once or twice at each other ourselves. They're terrible words to use against another person, but as the adage goes, "sticks and stones..." you know the rest. These are little blips. Let insecure, closed-minded men get their rocks off spitting those names out. Who cares? It's not okay to use them; don't confuse my response to Mr. Limbaugh's hate speech for approval. But to me, the worst part of what he said came after he called Ms. Fluke names. "So Miss Fluke," he said, "if we are going to ... pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."

I'm sorry, WHAT?! Why aren't we talking more about the disgusting, horrifying, reproachful, disparaging, rude, despicable, hateful, infantile, and DANGEROUS implications of that statement. That takes name-calling to a whole new level, and essentially amounts to threats and a personal violation. What Ms. Fluke said or stands for or believes, no matter what you think of it, does not on any level or planet give ANY HUMAN BEING the right to dehumanize or humiliate her or any other woman in that way. To me, those sickening words amount to a crime, and a worse one than calling a woman a bitch. If you call me a bitch, I won't like it, and it'll likely hurt my feelings a bit, but I'll also think you're pathetic and intimidated by me. What Mr. Limbaugh did, on the other hand, amounts to a verbal assault, no matter which side of the birth control aisle you find yourself sitting on. And he should suffer consequences for such a pitiful and abject abuse of freedom of speech.

These are just my opinions. They represent only my own thoughts and views.