The shame game

I appreciated the leading News Hits column, concerning Sandra Fluke and Tracie McMillan ("Rush makes it personal," March 14). However, I take issue with the assertion that "neither is this a free speech issue."

Rush Limbaugh's comments were not merely "calculated to offend and inflame" but, as Fluke herself has acknowledged, it was an attempt to shame her into silence, thus circumventing her right to free speech. This attempted silencing of women's voices is the also the basis of his attack against Ms. McMillan; as an "authorette," her voice "doesn't matter." 

This silencing of women's concerns isn't limited to the airwaves. Just this past week, the Detroit Free Press made the decision not to run a Doonesbury series about the impositions that women face when seeking an abortion. Apparently, in the view of the "bought-and-sold" press, it's OK to report on the limiting of women's reproductive rights, but it's not OK to speak out against the restrictive laws.

It is a great thing that Rush Limbaugh's comments backfired, but it is far from a total victory. We need to remain vigilant and aware. —Don Handy, Mount Clemens

Another view

Re: "Should we root for Santorum?": I myself am a conservative voter and I very much agree with what Rick Santorum is trying to promote (something that's very foreign to left-wing liberals): abstinence until marriage. This could be a great undertaking in sin-sick America (even a harrowing feat), but what he's trying to get across is something: This country was built on the word of God. Not Muslim ideals of shoot first and pray next! But you mentioned a quote that Santorum said: "an entertainer can be absurd." Obama is the greatest entertainer I've seen in decades, and just wait until he finishes playing nice with America after the election is over — then hell is going to be unleashed! —Marcia Snyder, Inkster

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