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Grand Rapids says to advertisers “Dump Rush!”

By Tom Burke

Grand Rapid protest demands 'Dump Rush'

Grand Rapids, MI – Protesters here are demanding that Clear Channel radio “Dump Rush.” The Dump Rush Campaign is a nationwide response to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh calling a young woman a “slut” and a “prostitute” on the air. Limbaugh’s attack came when law student Sandra Fluke publicly advocated for birth control and contraceptive medicine as part of government funded health care. People across the country are outraged by Limbaugh’s anti-woman attacks.

Twenty people gathered and held signs outside the Clear Channel radio station in Grand Rapids on March 16. Their signs read, “Dump Rush!” “Sluts for women’s health care,” and “Clear the hate!” Protesters want Limbaugh’s show dropped from the airwaves. Already, over 140 corporate advertisers have pulled their funding from his shows. There is one exception: the pro-Newt Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future is increasing its advertising.

The week before, the National Organization for Women and the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy gathered 20 people to picket. Both times a friendly crowd asked for WOOD TV Station Manager Tim Feagan to come down to the building lobby and answer questions. Feagan hid and told his secretary to tell people he was out of the building. This past week inside the building lobby, the owners had taken down the contact information for the Clear Channel station on the top floor. Protesters are asking people to send an email message to “Dump Rush” to [email protected].

Protesters plan to continue the campaign until Clear Channel takes Rush Limbaugh, with his message of hate towards women, immigrants, African-Americans and other oppressed people, off the air. The local Grand Rapids station is going to see a growing crowd of protesters on March 23, at 1:00 p.m. as word is spreading of the impact of protests. Over 100 people took handouts on how to contact advertisers and spread the word. The radio station’s public record also showed roughly 150 people wrote letters demanding “Dump Rush. Unbelievably, 19 self-identified Tea Party supporters thanked the radio station for hosting the woman-hating bigot.

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