Limbaugh credited "militant feminazis" for alleged lack of majority support for abortion rights
On the August 29 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh once again referred to abortion rights advocates as "feminazis," claiming that they have "made every abortion, regardless of cost, mandatory."
After reading from an August 29 Washington Post report on efforts by state legislatures to limit abortion rights, Limbaugh concluded -- questionably -- that "the majority opinion of the country is not pro-choice." Limbaugh then asserted that "[t]he militant feminazis, the militant feminists who have made every abortion, regardless of the cost, mandatory" are responsible for the alleged lack of majority support for abortion rights. "Over the years," Limbaugh claimed, "militant feminazism has backfired on them."
In fact, polling suggests that Limbaugh's conclusion is questionable. While an April 25-26 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll found that only a plurality of respondents -- 47 percent -- said they were "pro-choice," a July 22-24 Gallup poll (subscription required) found that a slight majority -- 51 percent -- identified themselves as pro-choice. In both polls, 42 percent of respondents said they were "pro-life." Both polls had a margin of error of 3 percent.
Moreover, a May 12-16 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that the majority of respondents -- 55 percent -- said the choice to have an abortion should be left up to a "woman and her doctor." Twenty-nine percent said abortion should be legal only in cases of rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother; 14 percent said it should always be illegal. The margin of error was 3.1 percent. Additionally, a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press poll conducted July 13-17 found that "[a] consistent majority of Americans (65%) are opposed to overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a woman's right to abortion." The poll had a 3 percent margin of error. As Media Matters for America has documented, recent polls have consistently found that more than six in 10 Americans believe Roe should be upheld.
Limbaugh has frequently conflated feminism and Nazism in the past. On June 22, he defended his past use of the term "feminazi" as "right" and "accurate" but falsely claimed that he hadn't "used that term on this program in years."
From the August 29 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: How can this be happening, ladies and gentlemen? How could these people in these states do it? It is happening in blue states as well. How can this be if the majority opinion of the country is pro-choice? Well, the answer to the question is, the majority opinion of the country is not pro-choice. And to whom do we owe gratitude? The militant feminazis, the militant feminists who have made every abortion, regardless of the cost, mandatory, who have made it clear that that's the sole reason they exist. I mean, every abortion possible can happen. Over the years, militant feminazism has backfired on them. With a little help.
Limbaugh claims that abortion is "mandatory"; but American women are not being forced to have abortions. Rather, if the American Taliban has its way, women will be mandated to have children. And if that happens, the American Taliban will not be mandated, in any way, to assist and support these women.
For Rush's edification, the forced abortions are happening in Saipan, the place Tom DeLay called a shining beacon for everything the Republican party stands for including indentured servitude, 7 day work weeks, no overtime pay, sweat shop conditions, and prostitution.
I have to agree with Tom. That list IS everything the Republican party wants for America. Except the prostitution. That they will covet for themselves.
All I want to know is, if making (and keeping) abortion legal, makes more people personally against abortion, that means they're less likely to have them, right? (Oddly enough, there was a similar claim made regarding abortions going down during Clinton's term.) So this just bolsters the Democrats claim that if abortion is safe and legal, the amounts will decline. Therefore, Limbaugh and his cronies should be for INCREASED access to abortions, so fewer people will have them.
Did I get it right? It's tough to think like a conservative...
Want to think like a Limbaugh Conservative?
Here's how:
NOTE: you will need an assistant
1 - open your kitchen cabinet and pull out the heaviest skillet, griddle or pot you own - this will be referred to as the LC (Limbaugh Conservatisizer)
2 - hand the LC to your assistant
3 - turn so you are facing away from your assistant and close your eyes
4 - tell your assistant, using all their strength, to strike you in the head with the LC
When you regain consciousness, congratulate yourself - you're now a Dittohead.
Did I get it right? It's tough to think like a conservative
Actually no, you didn't get it right; the attempt fails on two counts:
1) You tried to think it through from premise to conclusion.
2) You assumed the logic had to be consistent across the argument.
(Waiting now for the "Oh yeah? Liberals have no logic!" responses from those so unimaginative that they have to piggyback on others' sarcasm.)
I think the majority of people believe in the rights of a woman to choose for herself, under many circumstances. Blimpo is spewing right wing-nut sewage out of his lying mouth again.
Lardbaugh continues to show how out of touch he is with public opinion. He just keeps pounding the drum of the conservative agenda by making ridiculous generalizations without any stats, facts, or research of any kind.
Given his marital history and his past addictions, this man has become the very embodiment of hypocrisy. Whatever is wrong with America at any given moment, just blame it on anyone you can deem as liberal, progressive, Democrat, counterculture, etc.
Rush appeals to the basest instincts of some very angry people. He then scapegoats the groups against whom the angry (mostly white males) listeners have a grudge. Women, minorities, immigrants make good targets for the irrational and emotional arguments. In the early 90's there was a shooting at Simon's Rock College in Massachusetts. Several students were killed by a gun wielding fellow student. The son of a friend of mine ran into the snow to escape the gunman. The murderer (a gifted student) was a big fan of Rush Limbaugh. I'm surprised that there haven't been more of such incidents by crazed "ditto-heads."!
What I can't get over is the fact that so many of the people who are anti-abortion are also anti-contraception, which is quite simply illogical. If you don't want people to have abortions, the most sensible thing to do is to be in favor of a safe and effective way to prevent pregnancy so that they won't have to resort to abortion. It seems a little paradoxical (not to mention hypocritical) when people sing the praises of drugs such as Viagra while making it more and more difficult for women to prevent the potential consequences resulting from it! Then again, increasingly, that's our society for you -- buy now, pay later...
It's not about anti abortion vs anti contraception. I am not against contraception, as long as the people that want it pay for it. It is about responsibility and choice, those that choose to have sex, with or without protection, and become pregnant are responsible for the child they create. Don't look to the government, that is immoral. Abortions should be as rare as possible, I hope everyone agrees on that.
Yes, they should be rare. That's the same tune that many liberals sing, but Lardbaugh doesn't hear it that way. If someone tells Lardbaugh, "I think abortions should be rare," what he hears is, "I want us to have more abortions."
Abortions should be as rare as possible -- I won't disagree with you there. However, it seems to me that the Religious Right is doing everything in its power to hinder the most practical and common-sense ways of achieving this. Such as...
Permitting contraceptive manufacturers to advertise on radio and television. Doesn't it strike you as a little strange that we have media advertisements for Viagra so people can improve their sex lives, but none for products to help them prevent the natural consequences thereof?
Encouraging the FDA to stop dragging its heels on morning-after measures such as the "Plan B" pill. Strictly speaking, these are not a form of abortion -- most medical doctors will tell you that the ratio of conception to implantation is not 1:1 as some would like to believe, even without the use of contraception.
Permit sex education other than abstinence-only programs to be taught in school, including information regarding the different methods of contraception and how to use them properly.
If you want people to make sensible choices, keeping them ignorant is not the way to go about it -- they must be given access to as much information as possible regarding exactly what their choices are. Don't you agree?
Well said.
Binary beings that they are, neocons know not nuance.
Very well said. To add a couple items:
Contraception to implantation ratio averages 3:1 (caught that on a Learning Channel program from early 90s). One of my difficulties accepting life begins at contraception is the fact that only 1 out of 3 fertilized eggs implant in the womb (someone will have to explain to me the Intelligent Design of that).
I think it is also worthy to note that it appears the real reason abortions have been going down for the last 15 years or so is the changing attitude towards contraceptives. There is a very real possibility that abortions can be brought down drastically (approaching zero) if contraceptives are made more available to the masses, and more people find it acceptable to use it consistently (stop demonizing sex).
Shut up, Limbo. It didn't make sense the last time you said it...or the time before that...or the time before that...
Rushbo seems to be stuck in '90s Rush, where his didactic phrases elicited rash reactions, simply because nobody before had his essence of irrational non-sensitivity. Now, like a record played too many times, the groove has worn out and thus too his act.
The poster child for birht control has issues with it, go figure.
Sorry -- birth control not birth control
Where's Helloagain on this thread? I'm sure he's a Limbaugh kind of guy!!!!!
Since when were feminists militant? When did a feminist EVER resort to violence to impose her political agenda? Answer: NEVER.
Ironically, it is the anti-abortion crowd that routinely shoots doctors and burns down women's clinics.
Rush is so easy to invalidate it isn't even enjoyable anymore.
Ever since Limbaugh first began gaining national attention, I've been of the opinion that Rush defines a "feminazi" as any woman who doesn't keep to what he thinks her proper place should be...what my ancestors sometimes called Kinder, Kuche, und Kirche (and ironically enough, this belief was remarkably popular among the Nazis). Most divorce lawyers will tell you that the majority of divorces are not initiated by the husband -- but by the wife. While we don't know whether it was Limbaugh or his ex-wives who initiated his previous divorces, the statistics suggest that it was more likely the wives -- and it occurs to me that perhaps they did so at least in part because they grew tired of his chauvinistic attitude. There's a difference between being macho and being a Neanderthal...
I'll concede that there are some among the feminist movement who are somewhat radical in their views, but I've never heard of any who have advocated terrorism as a means of achieving their ends -- the anti-abortion movement can't say the same, and I challenge anyone among them to point out where "the end justifies the means" appears within the New Testament. I'll also admit that I have heard of cases in which young women (or strictly speaking, girls) were manipulated into having abortions without their full consent -- however, these do not represent a majority of abortion procedures performed. Also, in at least one of the specific cases I read about, it was the girl's father who was forcing her to have an abortion -- partially because it was he who had made her pregnant. If people want to eliminate abortions, one of the things they should work on first is eliminating the sexual abuse of children -- promiscuity among teenage girls appears to have at least some correlation to sexual abuse, because many of them come to believe that their only worth resides in their sexuality.
Excellent points. Philosophers say there is love and there is power, and too much or one / too little of the other is problematic. One finds in Rushie almost nothing except power, and with it, the predictable, addictive urge for more. It's not tempered with love so it's actually a fairly empty existence. The feminazi comment is about power/control. On its surface I personally am "for" no abortions. I just am not for using the power of the State to achieve this. I would be for using the love of the collective/community in a multifaceted way. That's key - not a binary way, e.g., advances in adoption, sex ed., contraception, faith-based / secular approaches to abstinence. Moreover, the problem of unwanted pregnancy is a red herring. Other things like males behavior, HIV, alcohol/drugs - what percentage of unintended pregnancies involved alcohol, or were a function of poor supervision, or lack of more meaningful and structured lives?
Limpball is the poster boy for retroactive abortion.