Since Sandra Fluke announced to the nation that she and her friends are spending a small fortune on contraception (a trumped up claim since debunked), the media has been in a frenzy over the conservative rebuttal as voiced by radio host Rush Limbaugh, among others.  Sadly, Limbaugh let us all down.

“What does it say about the college co-ed Susan (sic) Fluke who goes before a Congressional committee and says she must be paid to have sex?” Rush thundered. “What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex, she can’t afford the contraception.”

Those of us who regularly listen to El Rushbo are familiar with his signature brand of sarcasm and deprecating humor, and I’m all for that.  But when Rush insinuated that Ms. Fluke was a “slut,” he crossed the line separating political discourse and personal attacks — a line we all know the political left likes to push on a regular basis and for which we (rightly) criticize them.

I’m disappointed in Rush for crossing into that territory — a disjointed place where weak political arguments live, hidden behind outrageous catch-phrases meticulously designed to grab media attention.  I’m also disappointed in Rush because he of all people knows the consequences of such words and their impact on your overall message.  Now, instead of focusing on President Obama’s controversial contraception mandate, the media is focused on the proverbial battle between Limbaugh and Fluke, the mean old media titan vs. the poor, innocent law student.

Now, in Rush’s defense, his exact words spoken by anyone else would not have stirred up so much attention in the media.  Take for example Bill Maher, an HBO “comedian” who makes a living slandering and insulting those he disagrees with.  He makes comments on a daily basis that rank higher on the insult scale than Limbaugh’s, yet the media considers that funny and entertaining.  In short, the latest campaign against Rush is just another example of how conservatives must be constantly concerned with how the media will use their own words against them, while the left speaks freely.

Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers also noticed the many double standards playing out as Rush’s rivals are calling for him to be pulled from the airwaves, demanding that his sponsors pull funding from his program and, my personal favorite, using Rush’s comments to paint the entire conservative movement as anti-women:

It’s time for some equal-opportunity accountability. Without it, the fight against media misogyny will continue to be perceived as a proxy war for the Democratic Party, not a fight for fair treatment of women in the public square.

Well said.