I want to thank the editors of The Bulletin for printing — on the March 7 editorial page — a syndicated political cartoon of a pudgy bully huffing a big cigar and saying, “I apologize … for my choice of words, not the misogynistic sentiment behind them.”

I struggled with my concern that if I submitted a letter to the editor about Rush Limbaugh, I and my family might also be bullied by members of the new ultraconservative Republican Party. Like The Bulletin editors, I too will not fear political bullies!

Limbaugh not only called Sandra Fluke a slut and a prostitute, he made several stunning statements that are slanderous lies. He defamed the 30-year-old graduate student.

Limbaugh is a bully, not an “entertainer” who is reportedly influential among the ultraconservative New Republicans.

He alleged that law school student Fluke was “having so much sex she can’t pay for it, and we should.”

He went further the next day, adding, “If we’re going to pay for your contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

Limbaugh made more daily attacks about Fluke. “She was not allowed to testify because it was about women at Georgetown University who have so much sex they can’t afford birth control,” he said.

Fluke had testified about the reproductive and broader medical reasons for birth control medication, and cited the cost. Limbaugh said she was having “$3,000 worth of birth control pills worth of sex.”

He described her testimony from his conservative perspective. “So the woman comes forth with this frankly hilarious claim that she’s having so much sex — and her buddies with her — that she can’t afford it.”

Limbaugh continued, “And not one person says, ‘Did you ever think about maybe backing off the amount of sex that you have?’ ”

GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum and Fox News operatives call Limbaugh an “entertainer.” I question that Limbaugh’s slander is “entertainment,” on a “conservative” radio show, available to families.

Limbaugh “apologized” only for using the words slut and prostitute. He did not apologize for all the rest of his disgusting vitriol.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, “That is not how I would have phrased it.” Santorum said, “Those are not the words I would have chosen.”

“Words”? Slut and prostitute? What about the rest of Limbaugh’s bully slander? How stupid and dangerous are these pandering bumper-sticker responses by these politicians who ask to be elected president?

President Barack Obama called Fluke, she said, to make sure she was OK and strong. Obama is a gentle man and a gentleman.

Limbaugh reacted to Obama’s call to Fluke. Obama told Fluke that her parents should be “proud” of her. Limbaugh had a different message for them. “I’d be embarrassed,” he said. “I’d disconnect the phone. I’d go into hiding.” One can see all of these statements on YouTube. See them for yourself.

A Google search on March 19 of the phrase “141 advertisers quit Limbaugh” brought up more than 20 reliable source confirmations of the number — 141 advertisers, to date. These advertisers include major companies and the Armed Forces Radio taxpayer-funded advertising.

I find myself, at just 84, to be the patriarch of six strong college graduate women who are really angry with Republicans. Perhaps these strong women and their mates will help vote the anti-women conservative New Republican politicians out of office in November 2012, and re-elect President Obama.