by John Hayward03/06/2012
Radio host Kim Komando, whose successful program focuses on computers, electronics, and “the lifestyle of the digital age,” was moved to publish a remarkable statement about the Rush Limbaugh – Sandra Fluke controversy on her Web site over the weekend. The really remarkable thing is that Komando has absolutely nothing to do with either of them, and doesn’t really talk about politics on her show:
Over the years, it has been my decision and policy to refrain from the insertion of general politics, candidate endorsements or criticisms of public officials in my program. This has not always been possible for me because, from time to time, our government will set about passing laws and policies which have a direct impact on your lives and my program’s focus: Consumer Electronics, the Internet, privacy issues, and the economy as it relates to all of the foregoing. To that end, I have made no secret of the fact that I am a free-market capitalist.
That’s good enough to get her on any number of enemy lists, but her embrace of capitalism isn’t what got her slammed with enough complaints to warrant investing her valuable time in writing this statement. Here’s how she explained the situation:
On Thursday, March 1, I began receiving a series of complaints from both listeners to The Kim Komando Show and non-listeners, concerning on-air comments made by Rush Limbaugh about Georgetown University Law Student Sandra Fluke and Ms. Fluke’s comments.
News stories of these comments and the ensuing fallout are readily available. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a synopsis within this Statement.
The majority of the comments directed toward me were critical that:
1. Certain sponsors of The Kim Komando Show were also sponsors of the Rush Limbaugh Show.
2. To that end, I had not brought pressure on those sponsors to discontinue their advertising schedules with The Rush Limbaugh Show.
3. Therefore, I must, in some way, agree with Mr. Limbaugh’s positions.
4. Further, as a woman, I should be especially sensitive to his comments and should have been among the first to denounce him.
Women, you see, are entirely homogenous in their opinions. Not only is dissent from female orthodoxy prohibited, but even insufficient enthusiasm is cause for concern. When feminist authorities issue instructions, women are expected to fall into lockstep immediately. The “War on Women” Democrats are so eager to launch is even worse than you thought – it’s got a draft, and every able-bodied woman with a microphone is expected to report for duty.
Speaking of that “war on women,” Kim Komando is a successful, self-made female entrepreneur who has painstakingly built up her business, including her base of sponsors, over the course of two decades. She was only making $60 per week when she started, and carried on through a horrific personal tragedy. And now she has to worry about her livelihood being threatened, because she wasn’t quick enough to fall into line when the jackboots of the Left went thumping past, en route to a crusade that has nothing to do with her professional achievements?
Komando detected a good deal of organization behind the grief she was taking:
I know that some of the comments directed at me have come from long-time listeners to my program. I appreciate them all.
But many others are not my listeners. Rather, they are individuals who are motivated by commentators, bloggers and others with a particular political agenda. It is therefore clear that there is an on-going attempt to use me and my program as leverage to bring further pressure upon Rush Limbaugh.
For what it’s worth, having been backed into a corner by enough pressure to inspire her public statement, Komando ventured this opinion on the Fluke affair:
The old saying that, “Hindsight is 20/20,” is especially true for those of us in media who speak extemporaneously and perform our work without a script. And yes, I believe that Mr. Limbaugh could have phrased his opinions in this matter differently and should have acted much sooner to diffuse the entire situation (if that is possible at all).
However, I also firmly believe in the First Amendment.
Rush Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants.
The public has the right to champion those comments or reject them.
The public also has the right to bring any of the comments that we, as radio talk show hosts, make to the attention of advertisers, whether those comments are made on or off the air.
Advertisers, in turn, have a right to spend their advertising dollars as they see fit.
Finally, in turn, you have the right to patronize those advertisers or not.
But you do not have the right to refuse to pay for other people’s birth control, not any more. Apparently, a good number of liberals also think women don’t have the right to sit on the sidelines during the war they have declared.
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To read another article by John Hayward, click here.
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To read another article about the liberals mock outrage, click here.
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