Rush Limbaugh:
My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.
TPM:
Rush Limbaugh acknowledged his critics — and the advertisers bailing on his show — Saturday when he issued a rare public statement of apology to Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown law student he attacked last week as “a slut.” ... If Limbaugh thought his words would get his critics off his back, the early signs are he’s missed the mark.
NY Times:
Think Progress, a blog run by the liberal think tank the Center for American Progress, noted in a blog post that “Limbaugh often sparks controversy, but it is exceedingly rare for him to apologize.” Lawrence O’Donnell, the MSNBC anchor, was blunt in his interpretation: “Lawyers wrote that apology,” he stated on Twitter.
Melinda Henneberger:
Here’s the real news of the day, though: “In my monologue,’’ Limbaugh said, “I posited that it is not our business whatsoever to know what is going on in anyone’s bedroom nor do I think it is a topic that should reach a Presidential level.”
So he does not, after all, think it’s important to keep gay couples from marrying and women from ending pregnancies? That will come as a surprise to listeners, I feel sure.
“My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.”
Now that he’s apologized, will timid Republican presidential contenders feel safe in confirming that, yes, Limbaugh’s statements were perhaps less than optimal just this once? I wouldn’t count on it.
“@EmilyABC: Romney on Rush: “I'll just say this which is it’s not the language I would have used."” Wow. Profiles in Courage.
— @davidaxelrod via Twitter for iPhone
Maureen Dowd:
As a woman who has been viciously slashed by Rush Limbaugh, I can tell you, it’s no fun.
At first you think, if he objects to the substance of what you’re saying, why can’t he just object to the substance of what you’re saying? Why go after you in the most personal and humiliating way?
Then, once you accept the fact that he has become the puppet master of the Republican Party by stirring bloodlust (earning enough to bribe Elton John to play at his fourth wedding), you still cringe at the thought that your mom might hear the ugly things he said.
TAP (no link):
Meanwhile, this week offered a fresh example of the congressional Republicans’ heedlessness of both sound policy and sane politics. Hey guys, let’s be the anti-birth control party! GOP senators voted with near-unanimity for the failed and foolhardy Blunt amendment, which would have allowed employers with “moral objections” to opt out of covering any health service required by the 2010 health-care law. Only Maine moderate Olympia Snowe, who’d just announced her retirement from the Senate, dared to stray. Even Scott Brown, the Massachusetts Republican facing a challenge from liberal dynamo Elizabeth Warren, drank the Kool-Aid, Jonestown-style. So much for Republicans’ hopes of retaking the Senate majority. And no wonder the Obama campaign and Senate Democrats are jumping for joy. The party that appeared reborn in 2010 is hell-bent on self-destruction.