Rush Limbaugh And Joe Scarborough, Will They Ever Evolve?

[MrsSpringsteen]

Wow, true credits to the male species. Yes they're just two know it all blowhards, but the truly scary thought is that anyone in their male audience might approve of this crap and think the way they do..

Like someone said in the comments


"OK women

This is what the far right thinks of you. Shut up stay pregnant, barefoot and dont bother your pretty little heads with all that complicated man stuff. This is even uglier than it seems on the surface"



http://mediamatters.org/items/200612010005

On the November 30 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh proclaimed: My "cat's taught me more about women, than anything my whole life"

LIMBAUGH: My cat -- here's how you can get fooled. My cat comes to me when she wants to be fed. I have learned this. I accept it for what it is. Many people in my position would think my cat's coming to me because she loves me. Well, she likes me, and she is attached, but she comes to me when she wants to be fed. And after I feed her -- guess what -- she's off to wherever she wants to be in the house, until the next time she gets hungry. She's smart enough to know she can't feed herself. She's actually a very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn't have to do anything for it, which is why I say this cat's taught me more about women, than anything my whole life. But we put voices in their mouths.



SCARBOROUGH: Of course, Rachel, of course Danny is talking about the president of the United States. But we're getting so much politics on The View. Shouldn't this be a program at this time of the year about how to make Christmas balls out of popcorn and pine cones?

SKLAR: Oh, I don't know, Joe. Were you recently appointed the head of programming for The View?

[laughter]

SCARBOROUGH: No.

SKLAR: This should be a program about putting popcorn on pine cones? I'm just going to forget you said that.

SCARBOROUGH: Come on -- it is a dayside show for women. It is --

SKLAR: Why shouldn't they talk about politics?

SCARBOROUGH: It is -- come on.

 

[BonosSaint]

Rush is just cranky because he has to pay for it.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I feel so sorry for his cat and Daryn Kagan-but at least he's just a bad memory for her now. She left CNN and started some sort of good news web site-the first good news story involved her splitting with Rush

 

[BonosSaint]

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

Sucks to have Rush Limbaugh's sex appeal, I guess.

 

[Irvine511]

Rush misses the drugs.

and obviously needs the Viagra.

 

[Bono's shades]

You know what really ticks me off? Michael Richards and Mel Gibson say incredibly racist stuff and it causes an uproar (and rightly so), but when media figures like Limbaugh and Scarborough make sexist remarks, hardly anybody pays attention.

 

[Axver]

So you can be from the Stone Age and still get a nationally syndicated radio show in the US? Wow.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

You know what really ticks me off? Michael Richards and Mel Gibson say incredibly racist stuff and it causes an uproar (and rightly so), but when media figures like Limbaugh and Scarborough make sexist remarks, hardly anybody pays attention.

You know what, you are absolutely correct. Same thing can happen in FYM too

I guess sexism is still one of the most accepted prejudices. Yippee! In fact, many might not even consider it to be a prejudice.

Yes you can be from the Stone Age and have a show like that, and get lots o' similarly minded male listeners-and I would imagine perhaps a few females who for whatever reason are of that mindset too.

But alas, Rush and Joe are only kidding and joking. I forgot to laugh.

 

[randhail]

You know what really ticks me off? Michael Richards and Mel Gibson say incredibly racist stuff and it causes an uproar (and rightly so), but when media figures like Limbaugh and Scarborough make sexist remarks, hardly anybody pays attention.

Personally, I think that not saying anything about Limbaugh's comments is the absolute best thing you can do. Do you honestly think that he would care if people were knocking on his door calling him a sexist pig? Raising a stink is probably exactly what he wants. If our society would learn to hit the ignore button when it comes to celebrities and talking heads, the world would be a much better place. Nobody's life changes at all when these guys say stuff like this. Ignoring him would ultimately silence him.

 

[redhotswami]

So if I'm a sexist can I finally get a job??? My own show even?

 

[Bono's shades]

Yes you can be from the Stone Age and have a show like that, and get lots o' similarly minded male listeners-and I would imagine perhaps a few females who for whatever reason are of that mindset too.

I was taking a road trip somewhere with my dad some years back to visit relatives and he had Rush Limbaugh on in the car. Strangely enough, he did get one female caller that I remember. The comment she made was that women (all women except her, of course) are too emotional when it comes to politics and don't thnk about issues in a logical way.

 

[Axver]

Yes you can be from the Stone Age and have a show like that, and get lots o' similarly minded male listeners-and I would imagine perhaps a few females who for whatever reason are of that mindset too.

The people who I feel sorry for are the women who claim to believe this junk. I cannot fathom why any woman would degrade her own sex except due to brainwashing. If a woman has grown up influenced/indoctrinated by religious fundamentalists and other nutcases who keep telling her that she's inferior and incapable of intelligent thought or understanding politics just because she doesn't have a penis, I can see why she could end up listening to and accepting this nonsense. I've met a few in Christian circles (the sort of fundie Christian circles that I try to avoid) and they seem to lead such unfulfilling lives. I suppose if all you think you're good for is incubating babies for nine months, you wouldn't have bucketloads of self-esteem. The social and religious conditions that foster such attitudes should not be tolerated.

Personally, I think that not saying anything about Limbaugh's comments is the absolute best thing you can do. Do you honestly think that he would care if people were knocking on his door calling him a sexist pig? Raising a stink is probably exactly what he wants. If our society would learn to hit the ignore button when it comes to celebrities and talking heads, the world would be a much better place. Nobody's life changes at all when these guys say stuff like this. Ignoring him would ultimately silence him.

I strongly disagree. Whenever someone says something sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise discriminatory, they should be countered at every turn until their position is revealed - not just to everyone else but to them themselves - to be completely lacking in merit. The worst that can be done is to ignore these people and allow them to keep spewing hatred and bigotry.

And nobody's life changes at all? I wouldn't be so quick to thoroughly discard the influence someone with a nationally syndicated show can have upon a sizeable listenership.

 

[BVS]

I guess sexism is still one of the most accepted prejudices.

It is, you're very correct.

 

[BVS]

Personally, I think that not saying anything about Limbaugh's comments is the absolute best thing you can do. Do you honestly think that he would care if people were knocking on his door calling him a sexist pig? Raising a stink is probably exactly what he wants. If our society would learn to hit the ignore button when it comes to celebrities and talking heads, the world would be a much better place. Nobody's life changes at all when these guys say stuff like this. Ignoring him would ultimately silence him.

I couldn't disagree with you more. You may not ever change his mind, but that's not the point. Pointing it out may change his audience's mind. That's the key!!!

Ignorance, which is what you are proposing, enables the growth of such weeds.

 

[yolland]

Comparing members of the opposite sex to domestic animals is always a bad idea--some will find such comments amusing, but personally I'm never entirely sure how seriously people who make these comparisons intend them and I think a lot of people aren't, which is reason enough to avoid them. But BonosSaint is right that it sounds like Rush was more annoyed that he "has to pay for it" lol.

I'm not familiar with Joe Scarborough and Rachel Sklar (or Limbaugh either really, for that matter) but it sounds like he may have been trying to take a dig at her specifically? Pathetically cheap shot if that's the case.

I don't know that I'd compare these comments to Richards or Gibson, though--those were extremely vulgar, verbally violent episodes, and that has much to do with why they garnered the amount of attention they did. Both had made more "subtly" questionable comments in similar vein in the past that didn't attract much press at all. In any case, unfortunately it will probably always be easier to get away with "subtly" sexist comments because the dichotomy in question involves roughly 50% of the population and cuts across other social polarizations (race, class, etc.), making it easier to rationalize such thinking as benign and banal, "popular wisdom" etc. (So no, probably Limbaugh and Scarborough will never evolve.)

I suppose if all you think you're good for is incubating babies for nine months, you wouldn't have bucketloads of self-esteem.

I don't think that attitude (though it certainly exists) is the problem here--rather the attitudes that women are manipulative and lazy (Limbaugh) or just not sharp enough to sustain productive interest in non-warm-n-fuzzy stuff like politics (Scarborough). Plenty of men who couldn't care less whether women have children or not still incline towards attitudes like this at times, as many professional women can attest.

 

[verte76]

You know what really ticks me off? Michael Richards and Mel Gibson say incredibly racist stuff and it causes an uproar (and rightly so), but when media figures like Limbaugh and Scarborough make sexist remarks, hardly anybody pays attention.

You and me both.

 

[redhotswami]

The people who I feel sorry for are the women who claim to believe this junk. I cannot fathom why any woman would degrade her own sex except due to brainwashing. If a woman has grown up influenced/indoctrinated by religious fundamentalists and other nutcases who keep telling her that she's inferior and incapable of intelligent thought or understanding politics just because she doesn't have a penis, I can see why she could end up listening to and accepting this nonsense. I've met a few in Christian circles (the sort of fundie Christian circles that I try to avoid) and they seem to lead such unfulfilling lives. I suppose if all you think you're good for is incubating babies for nine months, you wouldn't have bucketloads of self-esteem. The social and religious conditions that foster such attitudes should not be tolerated.

One need not look further than Bob Jones University to see that this kind of thinking is alive and well. One day in class, we were exploring some of the textbooks of the required classes in BJU. I remember one particular textbook in a class for women that was along the lines of how to be a good wife to your husband. Giving helpful pointers like "how to prepare his meat the way he likes it" (I guess no vegetarians at BJU) and "how important it is to clean up and have dinner ready when he comes home from work." They have redesigned their web site this year, but last year the degrees available were actually divided between Men's programs and Women's programs. There was an obvious trend in which programs were availble to which sex.

I'm usually all about being open minded to others' ideas, but I feel like insitutions like that are poisonous and perpetuate sexist behavior and traditional gender roles. I think what bothers me most is like what you said, that women are OKAY with it!

 

[yolland]

BJU is kind of preaching to the choir though there, aren't they? I mean, if you're looking for progressive attitudes there you're probably looking in the wrong place--their raison d'etre is pretty much in-your-face the opposite.

 

[redhotswami]

This is true, but since it is an institution of higher education, that scares me about a possibility of a growing influence.

 

[Bono's shades]

Does anyone but me find it hilarious that the first two letters of BJU are BJ?

 

[redhotswami]

absolutely! gotta love the irony.

 

[yolland]

Well they've been around since 1927, and are accredited only by the (Forest, VA-based) Christian college accreditation body TRACS (which only just happened last month). Obviously they exist to serve a particular community and if that community grows, so will they, but I wouldn't worry too much about their curriculum influencing that of schools outside their target demographic. I mean, they also have gender-based dress codes, bans on watching TV and DVDs, bans on listening to popular music, even on wearing Abercrombie and Fitch...I don't really see Anywhere State U. implementing policies like that anytime soon. They also didn't get around to desegregating until 1975...but that's another story.

 

[redhotswami]

Well they've been around since 1927, and are accredited only by the (Forest, VA-based) Christian college accreditation body TRACS (which only just happened last month). Obviously they exist to serve a particular community and if that community grows, so will they, but I wouldn't worry too much about their curriculum influencing that of schools outside their target demographic. I mean, they also have gender-based dress codes, bans on watching TV and DVDs, bans on listening to popular music, even on wearing Abercrombie and Fitch...I don't really see Anywhere State U. implementing policies like that anytime soon. They also didn't get around to desegregating until 1975...but that's another story.

Very true! Looking at that is refreshing, because whenever we talk about issues in higher education that flippin school keeps coming up Even though other institutions aren't implementing the same policies, they still have a growing community. And then they will go to school, graduate, make 10 babies per household (minimum) and send them to the school, eventually repopulating the earth with their archaic ideals, spreading their distorted visions all over the country and perhaps others while on their mission trips to convert the world.

But I digress.

Who knows though, maybe some day they will change for the better. Even Liberty finally (either this year or last year) allowed students to wear jeans.