Rush Limbaugh issued a rare apology this afternoon to Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law School student he called a “slut” and a “prostitute” after she testified before Congress in favor of contraception coverage in health insurance. Although Limbaugh has a long history of hate mongering, these remarks were so over the top that he ignited a media firestorm, lost several advertisers and drew condemnation from both sides of the political aisle. I can assure you that if this were a liberal on the hot seat, this would be the top story 24/7 on Fox. But you’ll need your reading glasses to find the news of Limbaugh’s apology on FoxNews.com and you won’t find it at all right now on Fox Nation. UPDATED. UPDATE 2.
Although Limbaugh is an “on fire” subject at Fox Nation right now, there’s no report on his apology as of this posting. In fact, the only posts that can be seen seem supportive of Limbaugh’s attack, especially the one called, Is Sandra Fluke a Fame-Hungry Activist? (News Hounds’ Priscilla has more on that post).
FoxNews.com has a report but it’s buried way down the page.
Can’t find it? It’s here:
Or even lower on the page, here:
As for the Fox News Channel, I heard a brief report on the news earlier. But nothing on Special Report tonight, nothing on The Journal Editorial Report and nothing on Fox News Watch.
UPDATE: I realize that many people are not satisfied with Limbaugh's apology or don't view it as an apology at all. In my view, he apologized. Whether you or Fluke accept that apology or whether it's a sufficient apology is a different matter. But Limbaugh said, "I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices." That fits my definition of an apology.
Personally, I think it's a Big F'ing Deal that Limbaugh said what he said, given that he rarely if ever apologizes and had previously been defiant in his refusal to apologize.
But wherever this national conversation goes next, my point in this post is not about the substance and quality of Limbaugh's apology but that it's big news regardless. More to the point, it's the kind of big news that Fox would certainly be trumpeting if it weren't unflattering to their BFF Rush - and not because his apology didn't go far enough.
My own feeling is that the real issue is Limbaugh's hate mongering in general, not whether or not he apologized sufficiently to this one woman about this particular rant. You guys, however, are free to stake out your own ground in the comments.
UPDATE 2: 3/4/12 Fox Nation now has Limbaugh's apology posted, but without comment.
You heard it here first.
With all my love,
Aunty Em
Since Roger Ailes and Rush are friends from their days together as Exective Producer of his TV show, no doubt that the damage control public relation team from Fox are putting together a story and make sure everyone is on the same page which is why we’re seeing the code of silence on Fox today, but just wait, by the end of the day on Monday they’ll make Rush the victim and a wounded puppy dog.
That part actually is a big deal… Limbaugh has never used words like “sorry” or “I apologize” for anything. The closest we’ve gotten before now is him telling people who complained to “shut your mouths and lighten up.”
But I said before- he used very similar wording the day before to insult people who were offended, including Fluke herself. That fits my ideal of someone saying “sorry” and “f*ck you” in the same breath.
But I digress… and not just because this is the best we’ll get from him. He probably had issue it written because an on-air apology would kill him.
With all my love,
Aunty Em
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201203020009
Limbaugh’s notorious for his self-delusion that the only people offended by what he says “never heard him talk,” this is just more proof he started actually believing that.
That said, my theory for why Fox News would bury something like this is because they’re afraid they have to make their hosts apologize, as well. No one on Fox News can deliver a sincere apology, they always deliver the classic non-apology apology where they say something like “I’m sorry if that offended you,” before saying it again.
The brass obviously knows that isn’t gonna fly this time, and it’s just as obvious that the on-air egos aren’t about to provide anything even close to genuine. They’ve gone too long getting away with the sneery worded “are you happy now?!” non-apologies, and they act annoyed at having to provide even that.
Tell me you have a problem seeing attempts to get a real apology from Bill O’Reilly or Megyn Kelly turning into an off-screen civil war. I don’t.
