Inspired by the great and effective effort to stop companies from advertising in Rushbo's radio shows, lead in DailyKos by ProgLegs, let us do what we can to stop this monster from being "validated" by giving him a voice in the Armed Forces Radio.
The concept of this intolerant mysoginist, homophobe, racist, drug addict who constantly attacks the Commander in Chief and even the Secretary of Defense gets such a visible pulpit funded by the DoD budget. That this extremist gets to address all Americans in uniform around the world as if he was the spokesman for anything that is not destructive to the fabric of America. All this is incomprehensible and unacceptable.
But first things first.
Thousands have participated in previous efforts to stop this bad joke from continuing.
ProgLegs and other Kossacks have written diaries;
How Rush Limbaugh's Presence on Armed Forces Radio Contributes to the Military's Rape Epidemic
Action: Tell Armed Forces Network to drop Rush Limbaugh
Secretary Panetta, pull Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio now
Service Women's Action Network: Armed Forces Radio should flush Rush.
Petition to Get Rush Off Armed Forces Radio: Will be 2K+ Sigs 1st Day
The push by Kossacks to rid AFR of Rush started in the context of Rush's Sandra Fluke tirades. Th last diary by OleHippieChick started a White House petition that received almost 30,000 signatures. The petition was turned down very succinctly by Bryan G. Whitman who is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (i.e. Dod PR flack under Bush and Obama).
And let's not forget all others that have part of the initial push including; Vote Vets which has been sparring with Rush for years, Dena Patrick who started this Change.org petition and this Facebook page (which I suggest we all "like") and evne Senator Carl Levin (chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee).
So what is the plan this time?
First, the situation has changed. The campaign to make advertisers drop Rush's show has gained tremendous momentum. The corporate bosses of the media where he appears are getting concerned.
Second Leon Panneta has been replaced by Chuck Hagel as SECDEF. The interesting thing here is that Hagel is a Republican. IMO, only a Republican can fire Rush from AFR. So there you have it. I believe that Chuck Hagel can fire Rush. Not Obama, not whomever is in charge of AFR in the DoD. Not the Chief of Staff. But Republican SECDEF can do it. If a Dem in the chain of command fired Rush it would quickly attract a storm of criticism by the wingnuts.
IMO, and I am looking for your validation or criticism, the battle to get Rush out of AFR will be won when we put enough pressure (and perhaps rewards) on SECDEF Hagel.
So what can we do?
1) We can get the word out via social media. I hope to be able to diary about this subject once a week but I cannot do it alone or uninterruptedly (I have a complicated day job). We should all "like" this Facebook page (I will contact the administrator).
Let's also start Twitting with #armedforcesradio and continue Twitting with #stoprush and support ProgLegs campaign.
Let's write letters to the editors and lets post comments on Internet publications (specially in Stars and Stripes).
I am open to other suggestions and ideas. This exchange is what makes us stronger.
2) If you know any high ranking officers it makes sense to ask them how is it possible that Rush is on AFR. I know some, mostly retired, and I will.
3) Our own Pirogue had a good idea;
Suppose the military recruiters started receiving notes in the mail that read, " I am an African American (Asian, Hispanic, Native American) high school student and want to request that you do not contact me with recruiting solicitation as long as Armed Services Radio carries a racist commentator like Rush Limbaugh. Thank you."
4) To get some visibility I am thinking of organizing demonstrations (with the help of other SoCal Kossacks) in front to AFN Broadcast Center in South Riverside county.
5) Let's start another White House petition. One that does mention his Sandra Fluke atrocity but also mentions his disrespect for Obama, his drug addiction, his homophobia and everything else we can mention. I am counting on Kossacks to come up with the final text. More next week.
6) Let's write Chuck Hagel so he understands that this is important. Does anyone know his email? Let's research this.
One thing we will have to deal with is that he is not the only one talking politics on AFR. Ed Schultz and Sean Hannity cancel each other (whether we like it or not, MSNBC vs Fox) but I believe that while Thom Hartmann is a good progressive, he is no progressive Rush. Id like your comments on this.
So here we go. When we remove Rush from AFR we will hammer the final nail in his coffin. He will no longer be validated by being accepted by the DoD. This will be a very strong message for his remaining advertisers.
Any takers?