The White House Petition has reached it's goal. Will the DOD listen?
On March 12, 2012 ThinkProgress reported they "obtained an internal memo from Premiere Radio Networks listing 96 national companies that have “specifically asked” their advertisments not be played during the Rush Limbaugh Show."
They then released a list of 50 additional companies who have since requested all advertising be pulled from Limbaugh's show. Listed among those additional 50 just released is the United States Army.
You read that right. The US Army has pulled all advertising spots from Rush Limbaugh's show.
Why hasn't the Department of Defense yet pulled Rush's show from the American Forces Network (Armed Forces Network, or AFN)?
A bit of pondering below the fold...
Here is the list released by ThinkProgress yesterday:
21st Century Insurance • Hotels.com • Rite Aid • Ace Hardware • Honda • Robitussin • Acura • IBM • Sam Adams • Advance Auto Parts • Icy Hot • Sam’s Club • Advil (All products) • Intuit/Small Business • Schiff – Digestive Advantage • Alacer/Emergen-C • Schiff – Mega Red • Allegra (all products) • Johnson & Johnson (All Brands) • Schiff – Move Free • Kohl’s • Schiff – Sustenex • Ally Bank • La Quinta • Scotts Miracle-Gro (all products) • American Express • Lifetime • Autozone • Little Caesars • Sony • Lowe’s • State Farm • British Petroleum • Luxottica • Staples • Bullfrog Sunblock • Macy’s • Sterling/Kay Jared Jewelers • Caltrate • MasterCard • Subway • Centrum • McDonalds • Takeda Uloric • Chapstick • Midas • The Home Depot • Clorox (Pinesol/Homecare) • Napa Auto Parts • ThermaCare • Cortizone • National Realtor • Toyota • DeVry • NBC-TV • Discover Card • Office Depot • Twinings of London • Domino’s Pizza • Office Max • Tyson/Wright Brand Bacon • Exxon/Exxon Mobil • One Main Financial • Unisom • Farmers Insurance • United Healthcare • Ford • Orkin • U.S. Army • Outback • U. S. Postal Service • General Motors (All products -GM Certified Service • Chevy • Onstar • Cadillac • etc) • Preparation H • Visa • Gold Bond (all products • ProNutrients (all products) • Walgreens • Grainger • Progressive Insurance • Wal-Mart • Green Mountain Coffee • Prudential • Wells Fargo • Hallmark • Radio Shack • Wrigley • H&R Block • Rent-A-Center • Yahoo!
As proven in my last
diary entry, the Department of Defense, by continuing to allow Limbaugh's show to air on AFN, especially after receiving a wealth of complaints from active duty servicewomen and servicemen, is not only actively condoning sexual harassment in direct contradiction with their "zero tolerance" policy, but they are also breaking the law, per USC Title 10, Section 136, by not enforcing the Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) policies they instituted.
Dude!
Actively condoning sexual harassment from the highest level of the Defense Department sends a clear message to many within the rank and file; that it's okay to sexually harass your military co-workers and peers, regardless of what the MEO policy says.
Hey, screw that. If Rush can say that, so can I, yo!
This also causes a problem within the Command structure. Commanders adjudicate claims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape (unless these cases actually make it to an Article 15 trial under the USMJ, which most don't.)
The DOD is actively telling Commanders, "Hey, bro... don't worry about it. Ain't no big deal. It's just sticks and stones, you know? Tell her to go back to work, pull herself up by her bootstraps, just shut the hell up, and do her job like a good girl."
The DOD is also complicit in sexual assaults and rapes by not taking active steps to end this mess. As already pointed out within my last entry, the General Accounting Office report published September 21, 2011 has specifically linked sexual harassment with sexual assault and rape:
Moreover, a 2010 DOD survey, the most recent available, found that, of the active duty servicemembers who reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact during the preceding 12 months, about half of women and a third of men reported they were also sexually harassed or stalked by the alleged offender before or after the incident.
So, the US Army got wise and pulled their advertising spots from the show. Good job, Army!
When will the Department of Defense finally get a clue?
I've no idea.
The White House petition is over 25,000 signatures. The goal has been reached. Let's see if the DOD will listen and wise up like the US Army did.