After class today

Good discussion today.  Something occurred to me afterwards, though.  You seemed to all agree that the appropriate response to Rush Limbaugh calling Miss Fluke a slut or prostitute is social pressure (e.g. advertisers dropping him), not government (e.g. FCC) intervention.  Okay, I think most Americans would find that a very reasonable position, but let me ask one question.

If it is appropriate for people who don't approve of him calling her a slut to put social pressure on him, isn't equally appropriate for him to use social pressure on her if he doesn't approve of her demanding we hand over the fruits of our labor so her law school friends can have sex without getting pregnant?

1. One objection, obviously, is he is a public figure and she isn't.  That's a red herring, though; she deliberately injected herself into public discourse by making her demands at a congressional hearing. That makes her a public figure.
2. Another objection might be that he is getting paid and she is doing it for public-spiritedness.  If you look at her resume, though, that objection fails, too.  Given her past work and intended career, this appearance (and controversy!) will--beyond any doubt--promote both her status and career prospects, with predictable financial return.   So yes, Rush is benefiting personally, but so is she.
3. A feminist might object that he's a man and she's a woman and the comment reflects some kind of gender dominance play.  Yeah right, a student at Georgetown Law (with a connection to the former Speaker of the House, no less) talking about someone taking away her power.  A future member of the 1% whining about threats to her personal autonomy.  Cry me a river.

For what it's worth, I received a Tea Party related email this afternoon that read in part, "Rush’s inappropriate comments," so I understand that there is a conditioned reflex to call him out regardless of one's political convictions.

But is there any difference, really, between the people talking for pressure on Rush and him calling for pressure on her?  I don't see anyone occupying the moral high ground here, just a bunch of people equally getting mad about someone else saying something they don't like.

Am I wrong?