05 March 2012

Free Cialis!

There is some deep irony in the fact that, on the first page of the business section in today’s New York Times, there is an article about Rush Limbaugh losing advertisers, and on the back page, there is a full page ad offering up a 30 day supply of free Cialis. Contraception is on the front lines, but the drug companies are giving away “erectile dysfunction” meds. In 2006, Limbaugh got caught coming back from the Dominican Republican carrying a bottle of Viagra - in someone else's name, and joked that perhaps he'd gotten Bob Dole's luggage. So, let's see, a law school student filling a prescription for birth control pills is a slut, which makes Limbaugh a ... what? The mind boggles.

Like Mother Jones notes, it's possible that Limbaugh simply doesn't understand birth control:

It's almost surreal to have to point out that regulating pregnancy is a legitimate medical need. Unlike erectile dysfunction drugs, whose sole purpose is to facilitate sexual activity, birth control has other legitimate medical uses beyond preventing pregnancy.

And let's not forget that it takes two to tango - presumably Limbaugh had a partner when he was using his little blue pills, and presumably one or both of them was using birth control.

Sigh.

How is it possible that in 2012 we are talking about contraception? How is it that in 2012, white Republican men are trying to legislate women's health issues? How can it be that, in 2012, women's rights are being trampled on in this way?

I tell you, I want this sign:


photo from Jezebel - used with great glee and no permission

14 comments:

Kelly @ Student of the Year said...

You KNOW someone is going to make a t-shirt out of that.

It's unreal, isn't it? And enraging. My only solace is that the more these clowns yack (and hurl invective), the better Obama's ratings get. Also, can you believe the Blunt amendment vote was as close as it was? Where the hell are Republican moderates? (Clearly, they are a vanishing breed.)

Patois42 said...

What I really don't want to imagine is Rush's sex life. Yet, here you've brought me with "...presumably one or both of them was using birth control." Goodness me, I hope so.

As for your sighs and wondering how we could possibly be fighting this fight? I'm with you. (And I'm stealing that picture, too).

Stimey said...

I know. It is incomprehensible to me that we are having this discussion about contraception. The mind boggles.

Heide Estes said...

The one good thing to come out of this whole conversation is the delightful grin on the face of the woman holding that sign.

heidi said...

I wonder which senator she'd fuck... perhaps a topic for a new blog post :-)

FreshHell said...

Sigh. Yeah. My sister and step-mother attended the rally at the Va Capitol last weekend. Many women (and men) were arrested for sitting on the steps of the building that is for, by and of the people. Go figure. Women, as Yoko Ono pointed out, are the niggers of the world.

Mental P Mama said...

Idiot. Fucking idiot.

Awesome Mom said...

It boggles my mind that we are having these kinds of discussions in this day and age. Pregnancy can still kill women, ED is never deadly. I have heard this said before but it is soo true, if men got pregnant a lot of the crap that goes on would not be happening and birth control would be 100% effective.

Emily Guy Birken said...

What really gets me is the fact that I suspect much of this silliness would not be going on if it weren't an election year. Pander to the weirdos in the desperate hope for votes!

snozma said...

I think I need to say something about the power of the patriarchy and how it is woven into the very structure of our society--I'm not actually sure that's completely true but it would sure make sense of most of this, wouldn't it?

It makes those men listening to Limbaugh feel sooooooo good to both hate and desire this woman at the same time, it seems. That alone I find rather terrifying.

Mary Kopelke said...

There is a rep from West Bend , WI that is trying to make being a single parent a form of child abuse. If you can wrap your head around that explain it to me. I am single to avoid child abuse. When did old white dudes start planning our families. Shame on them and all those who vote for or listen to them. I would so wear that t-shirt.

leanne said...

LOVE that sign. Love it.

And I, too, am completely floored by the need to explain birth control to people. GAH. It's downright frightening.

painted maypole said...

Rush is an @sshole, and it BAFFLES me that anyone stands by him after this. BAFFLES.

MDTaz said...

A(wo)men sistah.

I'm afraid. Afraid for my daughters. Afraid that everything our mothers and their mothers fought for is at stake. Reproductive health care is not about sex, it's about health and dignity. (sigh).

I'm preaching to the choir, I know.

Let's hope the pendulum swings back.