The young woman and Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke got an unexpected call today while she was waiting to be interviewed by Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Let's talk about how you felt, first of all, you were in our green room ge -- room getting ready to come on and the white house said we can reveal that you just got off the phone with the president?
SANDRA FLUKE: Yes i did.
ANDREA MITCHELL:The stakes have been raised pretty high. what did he say to you?
SANDRA FLUKE: He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of american women and what was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud and that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I appreciated that very much.
ANDREA MITCHELL: I'm sure. this has been emotional for you. I cannot imagine. you try to testify, you are excluded from testifying, we see the all male panel, which was an amazing picture and signal to the nation, the next thing you know, a man with a microphone, reaching millions people, perhaps the largest radio audience here in the country, is calling you all kinds of names.
SANDRA FLUKE: Yes.
ANDREA MITCHELL: And now, you have had a call from the President of the United States ?
SANDRA FLUKE: There have been highs and lows. Yes. So it's been quite a journey, and I am just happy that what seems to be happening in the process is that America is hearing the voices of the women effected by lack of contraception coverage and who will benefit from this policy, that is really what is most important for me, and that is why I''ve been working on this for years honestly.
Fluke also received support from Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia today on the need for civility in public discourse.
One need not agree with her substantive position to support her right to respectful free expression. And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position – including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels – responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student.
And really, who is there to support here? A poised young woman making her case in a calm and reasoned manner or a drug-addled blowhard, four times married yet mysteriously without children decrying the need for contraception? Yet Republicans continue to stand by this blight on the political landscape at the expense of everyone else..
