Rep. Shelley Berkely, D-Nev., has led a push to get Rush Limbaugh pulled off the air, but she doesnn't believe that Bill Maher needs to face the same pressure because Maher is less important to Democrats.
"There’s a big difference between what is being said by Bill Maher and his humor, although I don’t find that funny, and what Rush Limbaugh does, who pretty much calls the shots in the Republican Party," Berkely, who is running for Senate, said in the Las Vegas Sun. Maher has donated $1 million to President Obama's superPAC.
She maintained that her petition drive calling for Clear Channel to pull Limbaugh's show "has nothing to do with the First Amendment" and everything to do with defending women from demeaning remarks. "I am merely asking Clear Channel to make a business decision to get somebody who uses and abuses the public airwaves off the airwaves," Berkley said. "We need to stand up for ourselves as women around this country."
Republicans pounced on Berkley's defense of Maher. "In Berkley's world it is perfectly acceptable to attack and degrade women, and make fun of children with down syndrome, as long as you're a liberal commentator, and not a conservative one," National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement.
