On last night’s Countdown, Keith Olbermann again asked where was the outrage from the conservative feminists (video below). We decided to go and find it.  I reached out to several conservatives who have been critical of this type of behavior from the left, including Michelle Malkin, Ed Morrissey, and Mary Katherine Ham.

First, I asked Mary Katherine Ham about the brouhaha. She had written a column about Halperin’s photoshop for The Weekly Standard, using it as a springboard to make some points about Huffington Post’s editorial standards. Her column didn’t mention Beck or Limbaugh, with good reason (via Twitter):

I added it to opening. Hadn’t heard about it. I obviously feel the same way about that as about Halperin’s move.

Here’s the update to her column:

(So nobody gets caught up in calling me out for not calling out right-wingers, Beck and Limbaugh were inappropriate on Landrieu, too.)

I asked Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey about it on his show yesterday, and he hadn’t heard about it yet. He sent me his reaction this morning:

People have called politicians of both genders whores and prostitutes for a very, very long time.  What made Halperin’s photoshop over the line was that the reference he used was all about semen and not at all about prostitution — the main character in “There’s Something about Mary” wasn’t a prostitute, and was more or less virginal, at least presumably.  I have no idea what Halperin was thinking with that one.

Finally, Michelle Malkin, whom Keith Olbermann invoked while naming Beck and Limbaugh to Monday night’s version of  “Worst Persons,” had this to say:

I would not use — and did not use — that kind of rhetoric in my criticism of Landrieu. Having been called a whore, prostitute and far more degrading sexual epithets by countless times by liberals who never have to apologize, I’ll say this: Women in politics deserve to be treated the same as men. Call them sellouts, corruptocrats, bribe-takers, and backroom wheeler-dealers — but leave the streetwalker analogies at the Bunny Ranch where they belongs.

And lefty concern trolls, spare me all the over-the-top outrage about Rush and Beck. Their jabs at Landrieu are nothing compared to the unending attacks on Sarah Palin.

Since I’ve already said my piece, and because they don’t have the opportunity to respond further, I’ll let their comments stand on their own.

What I do find interesting is that these kinds of attacks on a Democratic Senator managed to stay off the right’s radar, even though they were leveled by its two most visible figureheads. On the other hand, Sarah Palin’s magazine cover is big news on both sides, as was Alan Grayson’s “K Street whore comment.”

I would also observe that the outrage from the left on this is somewhat muted, perhaps because Mary Landrieu’s opposition to the public option puts her at odds with them.

It seems to me that this is yet another example of politics trumping simple human decency.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La) has given new, disturbing meaning to the phrase “taking your lumps.” Since striking a bargain Friday that brought $300 million in federal aid to her state in exchange for a vote to allow debate on a healthcare reform bill, she has been called a prostitute twice, and been depicted as a user of non-herbal “essence” hair care products. Where’s the outrage? Apparently, still stuffed into a pair of running shorts.

As Keith Olbermann pointed out on last night’s Countdown (videos below), both Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have called Landrieu some form of prostitute, with Beck getting all “Mod Squad” by saying, “You’re still hookin’!”

To complete the hat-trick (or hair trick?) Time’s Mark Halperin posted a cutesy photoshop of Landrieu sporting the famous “assisted” hairdo from “There’s Something About Mary.” He’s since taken it down, but Jason Linkins posted the cached version, along with an awesome takedown of Halperin. (BTW, if you’re not reading Jason Linkins, you’re missing a full life.) ABC News’ Jonathan Karl showed relative respect for Landrieu, saying she had been “playing hard to get” on the health care bill.

When conservative women have been attacked, the right has complained about the lack of outrage from the left. Keith Olbermann even cited an example last night, as he rightly compared his own description of Michelle Malkin to the slams against Landrieu. This doesn’t get him off the hook, but certainly likening Landrieu to a spunk pinata equals or overshadows Olbermann’s insult. We’ll see how the right reacts to this.

The Louisian Democratic Party is also looking for reaction from the right, in the person of David Vitter. Clever, but it also serves to trivialize the offense.

As for Landrieu, you can disagree with the tactic of stalling such important legislation in exchange for federal funds, but it’s also fair to mention that she’s trying to make up a shortfall that was created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She may be wrong to do so, but it’s not like she’s having the federal government build her a new deck or an in-ground pool. Opportunist? Maybe. Dirty, bribe-taking whore? Not quite.

Many supporters of health care reform are fed up by supposedly moderate Democrats standing in the way, but you have to say this for Landrieu: at least there is something that can be done to this bill to get her vote. The same cannot be said of the RMS (Republicans minus Snowe).

Keith Olbermann On Landrieu

Rush Limbaugh On Landrieu

Glenn Beck On Landrieu