Brown, Desai 1

Claudia Brown, Mira Desai

Professor Blair
UWRT 1103-23
3/2/16 a
Luby vs. Limbaugh
There is a new icon at the University of Connecticut that a student claims makes her
think of rape. When she sees that, she gets scared. When she sees that, she thinks male
domination. She think violence, brutality, predator, everything associated with rape. Thats it.
The new cartoon character that is the University of Connecticut new logo, the
husky.(Limbaugh) Carolyn Luby, a female student at the University of Connecticut believes the
new husky logo promotes rape, but Limbaugh disagrees and backfires by using multiple
fallacies in a talk show transcript.
In the Limbaugh talk show transcript we could identify three main fallacies, straw man,
slippery slope, and a sarcastic tone. These fallacies were shown through Limbaugh; the
author and talk show host throughout the talk show. Straw man was shown through Rushs
attempt to start an argument to prove himself right, slippery slope was presented throughout the
whole transcript because the students opinion led to a huge debate that was mostly blown up by
Rush, and a sarcastic tone was detected in Rushs tone throughout the talk show towards Lubys
opinion about the new mascot.
Straw man was shown throughout the interview talk show by Rushs attempt to distort
different ideas, without knowing their position on that specific idea. He does this multiple times
throughout the passage. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary the definition of a straw man
is a weak or imaginary argument or opponent that is set up to be easily defeated.("Straw
Man.") Rush does this with three specific examples in the talk show to try and get the reader to

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believe that he has the correct stance on the argument or side by distorting the opponent's
position on the argument. Our first example of straw man in the talk show was from Rush saying
We dont. But the female student does. That is the point. One female saw the new logo. Its a
drawing. It is a cartoon figure, Oh, my God, I feel like Im gonna be raped....What do you think
theyre gonna do at Uconn? Theyll change it. You know damn well they will.(Limbaugh) This
example shows that Rush is putting an falsified argument in her mouth just to prove he is right.
The wording he gave in the imaginary example of what a woman would say is exaggerated,
mocking, and can even be called insensitive. Luby just stated her opinion about the logo and
how she thought it exemplified rape or sexual assault, who knows if she meant for it to be blown
up in social media. That is when Rush starts to use straw man, by saying all these other things
that were never mentioned by Luby to help the readers believe that Rush is correct.
The next example we have is a response to Luby statement What terrifies me about the
admiration of such traits is that I know what it feels like to have a real-life Husky look straight
through you and to feel powerless, and to wonder if even the admiration cannot mess with
them And to know I am not alone.(Luby) Rushs responses was when the straw man fallacy
occurred. Folks, were talking about a cartoon character. Were talking about a drawing. Were
talking about a logo, an icon, that will appear on basketball uniforms, maybe on the football
helmet.(Limbaugh) Yes, we all understand that it is a cartoon logo, but Luby was just stating her
opinion. He then goes on to ignore how luby wasn't upset with change but with the lack of
as stated by Luby Instead of giving these problematic aspects of male athletic peer culture
at UConn a second look or a giving the real face of athletics a true makeover, it appears
that the focus of your administration is prioritizing the remodeling of the fictional face of
the Husky Logo. (Luby) When Rush started talking about the logo on sports uniforms we was
trying to tell the readers look it is just a cartoon on a sports uniform, how can it even represent

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rape?.(Limbaugh) He was trying to dumb down(Limbaugh) what Lubys position on the
mascot to make the readers seem like it isnt a big deal and that Rush is correct on this whole
argument.
There are multiple instances of slippery slope within the length of the transcript.
Limbaugh is trying to get a negative emotional reaction that will scare the reader into agreeing
with him. Even if the scenarios would never happen the idea is still introduced and will now exist
in ones thoughts. One example of slippery slope could be of when Limbaugh said Because this
is the kind of little stuff that ends up ballooning. One student offended, one student scared,
one student raising a ruckus... This is how the left and their unwitting dupes, by the way,
end up effecting major cultural change in America in ways they prefer that are totally antinormal.(Limbaugh) The first sentence by itself is a valid example with its use of imagery that
describes what Limbaugh considers a petty issue getting out of control. Further along in the
quote he reiterates the same idea, but this time saying it starts with one student then ends up
resulting in a major cultural change in America(Limbaugh) and it is implied the change is bad
or as he put it anti-normal.(Limbaugh) In his conversation with a caller Limbaugh said So one
woman, one woman on the UConn campus. Another example is the made-up scenario Limbaugh
gave of what could have happened to the person who designed the new mascot. He starts the
quote with They'll have to commission a blue-ribbon panel of faculty. They'll have to go get a
political consultant and a pollster in there to start focus-grouping this. And whoever drew this is
probably slinking and hoping that his name is never made public. They'll look into his life, has
he ever tried to rape a woman, and is that why he drew it? I know this stuff(Limbaugh) a whole
process of what might happen is shown with it getting progressively worse towards the end. As
the sentence goes on each new segment starts with theyll have to and that is him using

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parallel structure to make a point. Both example arent guaranteed, but Limbaugh ignores that
and presents these examples as certainties.
Lastly, is the general sarcastic tone present during Limbaugh's speech. The definition of
sarcasm is that Sarcasm is a literary and rhetorical device that is meant to mock with
often satirical or ironic remarks with a purpose to amuse and hurt someone or some section
of society simultaneously. (Sarcasm) Through the use of questions he achieved the goal of
mocking humour. His sarcasm is used in a belittling manner meant to discredit Lubys open
letter. Limbaugh said to his viewers So I wonder if the female basketball team members feel
like they're being raped when they see a teammate approaching them in the uniform.(Limbaugh)
he is rhetorically mulling over the thought for a yes or no answer. The question is sarcastic
because he is using an exaggerated reaction in the pretend scenario that implies the answer is
opposite to what he is asking. After his live call Limbaugh went on to say Yeah, there's gotta be
a line where somebody says, Sorry, Sweetheart, that's a little odd and go talk to a counselor or
something. We're not changing it. (Limbaugh) his suggestion to what someone should say to
Luby is condescending and sarcastic. It is implying she needs therapeutic help because
something is wrong with her, that she is crazy. During a personal story Limbaugh said So, if 24year-old girls are frightened by the fact that I get passionate sometimes and may raise my voice
and then think that conservatism is bad because of that, what hope do I have if a cartoon of the
new icon, University of Connecticut Huskies, makes one of them think of rape?(Limbaugh) he
is sarcastically comparing himself to the situation with the mascot. The mascot is a
representation of the team and its members are what scare Luby because some of the athletes
have a history with sexual assault so there fore the comparison is a undue dig towards the issue.
To be fair Rush Limbaugh had some warrant to his argument. There were parts of the
open letter that could be considered fallacious themselves. Looking at the open letter and

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Limbaugh talk show session it did seem like Rush might have missed the point. But, the point
about sexual assault from athletes at UCONN wasn't clear and it got overshadowed by mentions
of the mascot. Limbaugh zeroed in on that and successfully discredited the idea through fallacies.
He also had predicted that the open letter turn into a big deal because it was about football The
more popular it is, the bigger target it is among the left. and it did turn out to be a big deal at the
campus as explained by an administrator from the feminist wire.(Admin) Even Limbaugh
referenced how this issue was brought up by a legitimate reporter who briefly explained what
Lubys open letter was about.(Soave) Another prediction that he made based on experience is
that Luby would gain allies that support and bring attention to her cause as you can see from any
article about UCONN that is on the feminist wire website.
In conclusion, the use of fallacies was employed by Limbaugh to support his opinion.
Nancy Woods own definition of fallacies is Authors sometimes resort to using misleading
evidence and faulty reasoning when they try to be convincing.(Wood 1) In the transcript there
are multiple examples of straw man, slippery slope and the overall sarcastic tone. Based on
Woods definition the main problem with our example is misleading evidence with fake
scenarios for slippery slope and fake arguments for straw man. Limbaugh had an opinion and
there isn't anything wrong with that. Spinning things in your favor is something else though, that
is deceitful. It is possible to give your opinion in a genuine manner without the sarcasm or
the scare tactics. It can be true though, that the use of fallacies is effective in supporting an
argument, as shown by all the fans of Rush Limbaugh.

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Works Cited

Admin. "Urgent: Press Release: An Open Letter to President Susan Herbst, the UConn
Community, Barstool Sports, and Others on Behalf of Carolyn Luby - The
Feminist

Wire." The Feminist Wire. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.

Limbaugh, Rush. "This Is How It Starts: One UConn Student Says New Husky Logo Promotes
Rape." The Rush Limbaugh Show. Premiere Radio Networks. 26 Apr. 2013. Radio.
Transcript.

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http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/04/26/this_is_how_it_starts_one_
uconn_student_say_new_husky_logo_promotes_rape
Luby, Carolyn. "COLLEGE FEMINISMS: An Open Letter to UConn President Susan
Herbst - The Feminist Wire." The Feminist Wire. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
"Sarcasm - Definition and Examples of Sarcasm." Literary Devices. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.
Soave, Robby. "College's Husky Dog Logo Promotes Rape, Says Student." The Daily Caller. 26
Apr. 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
"Straw Man." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
Wood, Nancy. Essentials of Argument. Upper Saddle River: Pearson / Prentice Hall, 2006.
Print.