To Those Companies That Bullied Rush Limbaugh

Dear Citrix Systems Inc., Carbonite, ProFlowers, Quicken Loans, Sleep Train, and Sleep Number, and any others who made calls against Rush Limbaugh's Freedom of Speech:

I appreciate the public relations issues that caused you to decide to pull your advertising from the Rush Limbaugh show in order to coerce an apology from him for stating his response to statements made by a 30 year old woman named Sandra Fluke, who spoke voluntarily about her sex life in front of the United States Congress, and thus invited all media personalities to weigh in and discuss those matters.

I can appreciate that you exercised your own freedom of choice to decide not to fund Rush Limbaugh's show in which he criticized a woman who wants to force you to pay for her preferred, expensive, non-essential, elective birth control method.

I can appreciate that your companies have the freedom to determine for yourselves where you will spend your advertising dollars, and I hope you will continue to have that freedom for as long as your companies exist.

I'm sure you will also appreciate my exercise of freedom of choice when I politely say it's nothing personal (and I don't even listen to or watch Rush), but I will never spend a single dime for any product your companies produce - not even years from now. The older I get, the better my long term memory will become and I will not relent, even when it's a moot point.

I'm sure your CEOs and other executives will also totally understand when I quietly stop buying from their next companies as well - I'll simply change brands with no fanfare or announcement, so they won't notice at all, I am sure. I'm sure that the people who, unlike me, still support the Susan G Komen Foundation  will make up the difference.

 It will be quite civilized, nice and polite. I'll still smile and say "hello" should we chance to meet in passing.

I'm sure your people will all understand that its simply "the right thing to do" in response to your deliberate failure and refusal to demand that same freedom for others.

3/5: Thanks to Pat @ SIGIS for the link in her Not-Quite-Full-Metal-Jacket post!

3/6: Thanks to Miss Quite Rightly for noting in the comments that Go To Meeting is another company that does not want our business.     Also, I see a report that AOL Inc and an artist we used to think of as Peter Gabriel have added their own names voluntarily to the pile.   Plus, don't miss the list with a call to action to "Rally for Rush" over at Doug Ross @ Journal.