PressEthic

Rush Limbaugh's blatant bigotry hardly raises eyebrows anymore. Despite the vast popularity of his nationally syndicated radio talk show, the general understanding is that the shock-style conservativism of hosts like Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck differs from actual journalism or even other commentary broadcast programs. It seems, however, that his chauvinism has crossover appeal.

For example, last week, Limbuagh told audiences that he learned everything he knows about women from his cat.

She comes to me when she wants to be fed. And after I feed her -- guess what -- she's off to wherever she wants to be in the house, until the next time she gets hungry. She's smart enough to know she can't feed herself. She's actually a very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn't have to do anything for it, which is why I say this cat's taught me more about women, than anything my whole life. But we put voices in their mouths.

One would be forgiven for assuming that this sort of narrow-mindedness is not accepted in the mainstream, say, at an outlet like MSNBC. But even there, hosts are implying that women cannot think for themselves. The same day as Limbaugh’s keen cat metaphor, Joe Scarborough guest hosted on Tucker. He interviewed Huffington Post columnist Rachel Sklar about an episode of The View in which Danny Devito famously criticized the president.

Scarborough: But we're getting so much politics on The View. Shouldn't this be a program at this time of the year about how to make Christmas balls out of popcorn and pine cones?

Sklar: Oh, I don't know, Joe. Were you recently appointed the head of programming for The View?

Scarborough: No.

Sklar: This should be a program about putting popcorn on pine cones? I'm just going to forget you said that.

Scarborough: Come on -- it is a dayside show for women. It is --

Sklar: Why shouldn't they talk about politics?

Scarborough: It is -- come on.

By lowering the bar and providing a distraction, Limbaugh and his crass colleagues enable mainstreamers to irresponsibly spew these sorts of remarks, while calling themselves journalists. And as tiring it is to hear about each new over-the-top statement one of them makes, their influence is evident, especially in the actual clips.