Rush Limbaugh has said a lot of mean and nasty things about various people over the years. He maligned Iraq war veterans who felt that the war was wrongly contested and that there was no clear exit to the conflict. He, of course, opposed gays, blacks, mexicans, chinese, union members... I could go on, but the litany is not necessary.
However, this latest barrage of hate against Sandra Fluke will prove the un-doing of Rush. It's not so much what he said or whom he talked about or what policy he disagreed with. What's different now versus then is the crowd sourcing of reputation. He cannot escape it now.
It used to be people of his ilk would make up some prickly comment, get a lot of people's dander up, maybe cause some advertisers to back off. Then, the fuming disappears, the advertisers return, and those who were irked by his comments would stew with impotent rage at the lack of counter-actions.
But not anymore. Rush took three days of pot-shots at Sandra Fluke's sexual history (which is all the more weird, because Fluke's testimony was about a female friend of hers who had trouble navigating through Georgetown's bizarre catholic-based health plans, and in doing so, lost an ovary). Rush's apology was not even close to being enough. And further, Rush's non-apology apology was basically, "I apologize to you, Ms Fluke, despite that I am still sticking to my position that you're a slut and the government shouldn't be paying for you to be a slut; at least without the citizens getting something prurient back in return." Really, he still stood by his inane claim that it's wrong for the government to pay for her health care.
However, this latest barrage of hate against Sandra Fluke will prove the un-doing of Rush. It's not so much what he said or whom he talked about or what policy he disagreed with. What's different now versus then is the crowd sourcing of reputation. He cannot escape it now.
It used to be people of his ilk would make up some prickly comment, get a lot of people's dander up, maybe cause some advertisers to back off. Then, the fuming disappears, the advertisers return, and those who were irked by his comments would stew with impotent rage at the lack of counter-actions.
But not anymore. Rush took three days of pot-shots at Sandra Fluke's sexual history (which is all the more weird, because Fluke's testimony was about a female friend of hers who had trouble navigating through Georgetown's bizarre catholic-based health plans, and in doing so, lost an ovary). Rush's apology was not even close to being enough. And further, Rush's non-apology apology was basically, "I apologize to you, Ms Fluke, despite that I am still sticking to my position that you're a slut and the government shouldn't be paying for you to be a slut; at least without the citizens getting something prurient back in return." Really, he still stood by his inane claim that it's wrong for the government to pay for her health care.
Sites like Credoaction.com, sumofus.org, or change.org are allowing individuals to collectively make a big and long lasting stink against such people or corporations. At the moment, the extent of what one can do is limited to supporting a petition or donating money towards the petition. It may soon take on other options for people who are aligned on a topic to offer other assets instead of a vote or
But whatever. Five years ago, two years ago, maybe even one year ago, his comments would have made a big stink and then after a few days or weeks, everything will be back to normal. But not this time. With Twitter and Facebook and all sorts of crowd-sourced interactivity, his advertisers will hear from 99% of their market: the women and the men who support women. These crowd-sourced reputation deliverers will brand a scarlet "A" (for asshole) to the Rush brand that no advertiser will dare touch. His on-air show will die. His online-only show after that will quickly fade. His only solace would be a commercial-free online weblog which can only last so long, as the more popular it gets, the more expensive it would be for him.
Will this happen? I think it will. And if it doesn't happen, I think all you smart readers out there will help make it happen. Show me how a crowd-source reputation decider will finally put Rush in his place.
But whatever. Five years ago, two years ago, maybe even one year ago, his comments would have made a big stink and then after a few days or weeks, everything will be back to normal. But not this time. With Twitter and Facebook and all sorts of crowd-sourced interactivity, his advertisers will hear from 99% of their market: the women and the men who support women. These crowd-sourced reputation deliverers will brand a scarlet "A" (for asshole) to the Rush brand that no advertiser will dare touch. His on-air show will die. His online-only show after that will quickly fade. His only solace would be a commercial-free online weblog which can only last so long, as the more popular it gets, the more expensive it would be for him.
Will this happen? I think it will. And if it doesn't happen, I think all you smart readers out there will help make it happen. Show me how a crowd-source reputation decider will finally put Rush in his place.