Paul Crowner Commentary: Rush Limbaugh — Not Quite a Poster Child for Civility

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I should preface my comments that I am not a fan of Rush Limbaugh, and that I normally do not listen to his radio program for three hours a day. I would also like to add that my thoughts are mine alone, and do not reflect the editorial policy of The Chronicle in any way.

On March 17, there were two columns in the Saturday edition of The Chronicle that mentioned Rush Limbaugh. One was a local writer, and the other a syndicated national columnist. Both used Limbaugh to make a point, and gave a positive spin on Limbaugh’s latest 15 minutes of fame.The latest flap all started the day in early March when Rush Limbaugh decided that he would use some crude and derogatory terms to describe a young law student. He also made several sexual innuendos about her.

It started a controversy. His advertisers have begun to bail out and cancel support of his show. They are a broad range of industries from technology to financial services to retailers. AOL said that Limbaugh’s comments “are not in line with our values, we act with integrity.” 

Other retailers such as Sears, Sleep Train, Quicken Loans, Pro-Flowers, LegalZoom, Allstate and Carbonite have pulled their ads. The total keeps adding up. 

Now radio stations have begun to pull the plug. One station, KPUA in Hawaii, has said that they are strong believers in the First Amendment, but it has never been their goal to allow their station to be used for personal attacks on a private citizen. “The most recent incident has crossed a line of decency and a standard that we expect of our programming.”

KPUA president and general manager Chris Leonard said that due to the degrading and other continued comments that were so blatant by Limbaugh, “we are discontinuing the Limbaugh program immediately.” 

Sen. John McCain has said that the Limbaugh outbursts are “totally unacceptable.” 



George Will, a political pundit I like for his baseball expertise, has openly objected to Limbaugh’s comments. The Republican presidential candidates have been more guarded in their criticism, but it seems they are not comfortable defending the radio host.

I listened to Limbaugh during that week, and heard him refer to politicians with what I would call vulgar and uncalled for language that we would not repeat in the newspaper, and certainly should not be broadcast over the airwaves.

I tend to think that most people don’t want to hear him using such foul and crude language as we enjoy a second cup of coffee after breakfast. I even hesitated writing about his latest controversy. Of course, Limbaugh has every right to his opinion under the First Amendment, as I have, but that right should be tendered with a bit of decency, tact and common sense to know when you go over the line of civility.

Limbaugh, who has been married four times, and has no children, is not exactly the poster child to criticize a young woman and a private citizen concerning sexual matters. He does have a few skeletons in his closet. 

Rush’s continued vile and sexual rants are uncalled for, and need to be curtailed. Anyone who can put a positive outlook on this latest controversy needs to rethink his or her consideration of the human race.

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Paul Crowner, a retired Centralia music educator, can be contacted by e-mail at PaulCrowner@ RainierConnect.com.