Unless you have been locked in a closet or watch television on a new 55 inch flat screen with 350 channels that only tunes to Fox News, you might have heard the flak caused by Rusty Limbaugh calling that young woman who testified at the Issa hearing on contraception (in front of all those old white men) a slut and a whore because she advocated the dispensing of contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act.

Of course I was outraged myself at this despicable attack by a powerful man against a young and courageous student who professed an opinion that differed from the self-professed leader of public values. But there was plenty of churn in the news and on the internet so I let it run its course. But it has gotten interesting and I have to say something.

First, I am receiving a half-dozen requests a day over the internet asking me to sign yet-another-petition which fundamentally calls out Limbaugh for the destructive force he is. I don’t know where all these petitions will end up but I must have added my name to three or four and even made a couple of contributions to the cause. Then I have heard discussions of this incident on the radio and even on television. Friday night it was one of the topics on Bill Maher and I added to my understanding of the political world.

Thinking about it after the fact, I agree that there is no Republican establishment. One of Maher’s guests pointed out that no serious, organized political party would have ever allowed the presidential candidate clown car to continue. However, a guest suggested that the Republican establishment was Rush Limbaugh and the dwarfs that hang on his coattails and try to sound like they can recognize their elbow. So Rush Limbaugh is the Republican Party! And the suggestion, therefore, is that the Republican Party considers women who take contraceptives and who believe contraceptives should be covered by health insurance are sluts and whores.

It was also suggested that Limbaugh doesn’t understand about birth control pills (this makes a lot of sense).  Rush must believe that when the urge for physical pleasure is aroused, the woman pops a birth control pill, much like oxycontin, and then has sex. Since a prescription for birth control pills is for one a day (almost), then the woman who uses birth control pills must be having a lot of sex and is therefore a slut and if that woman has others to pay for her prescription (like the health insurance company that pays for Viagra), that makes her a whore. Contrast this to the drug-addled gas-bag on the radio who said, “Too many whites are getting away with drug use. Find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river.” Oxycontin, thy name is Rush.

Update:  Here are a few Republican responses. They continue to support the theory that Rush Limbaugh is the Republican establishment.

But even after Limbaugh called Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute”, all Republican leaders can do is offer B.S. responses.

• Mitt Romney: “I’ll just say this, which is, it’s not the language I would have used.”
• Rick Santorum: “He’s being absurd, but that’s you know, an entertainer can be absurd.”
• Finally, Speaker Boehner, refusing to speak for himself, had his spokesman say only that Rush’s words were “inappropriate.”

The common wisdom is that the Republicans were geared up to attack Obama and win back the Presidency (even if they couldn’t do it with a strong candidate like George W. Bush) based on the dismal state of the economy. The Republicans spent the greater part of three years doing everything they could to assure that the economy didn’t improve and they still came up short. So with the economy not being the strong issue they expected, what were the Republicans to do? The gay issue has passed them by so it’s not a good choice; starting a war with Iran sounds good but it might be tricky and could easily backfire; cutting taxes has been in the Republican Speak-and-Spell so long it is considered a joke; they can’t rely on the strength of any of their candidates; fear-mongering and lying are still good GOP qualities but they also need to have a wedge issue to focus on … how about women’s reproductive rights? In fact, it might be possible that the GOP can go beyond concepts like abortion and the pill and get back to the wishes of the founding fathers and repeal all rights from women:  why should women be allowed to own property? why should women be allowed to vote? won’t women get into trouble if we allow them access to education?

It all sounds so clear—the GOP is alienating Women, Hispanics, Blacks—but they still can win if they campaign against a fictional president who is destroying the country and will sell all our daughters into white slavery in a convenient Moslem homeland and institute Sharia Law in America if he can get it done before it is discovered that his birth certificate is a forgery and his Harvard records are fakes. Even if it is a close race, remember what Stalin said, “The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do.”

I realize that the centerpiece of the Republican Party is ignorance and fear, but it’s hard to imagine that they just might take over even more of the country this next election. I suppose that many Republican voters still imagine the party is like it was before Reagan, but that isn’t true. I imagine that Republican voters still accept the words of the Republican leaders, but those leaders are beholding to the corporations and not to the people. The sad thing is that this allegiance to corporation and big money is also poisoning the Democratic Party. I contend that the last step in creating a Fascist government in this country is the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United.

Corporations are not people; money is not speech. It may be possible to turn the tide but with the current environment of hatred, lying, and greed represented so well by El Rushbo himself, I have a less-than rosy vision of the future. I fear for our children.