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Has Rush Limbaugh done permanent damage to his career by calling Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a 鈥渟lut鈥� and a 鈥減rostitute鈥�?

We know that sounds a little far-fetched, but as of Monday it appears possible. Yes, Mr. Limbaugh has posted an apology on his website, but critics have dismissed this move as insincere. Even GOP presidential contender Ron Paul on Sunday said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 very apologetic.鈥�

Seven advertisers have now pulled spots from Limbaugh鈥檚 show, producing a real (though still unquantified) financial penalty for the radio host/provocateur. And it鈥檚 worth remembering that other edgy talk-show hosts have said stuff they were never really able to take back.

Remember Don Imus? Back in 2007, he referred to the Rutgers University women鈥檚 basketball team as 鈥渘appy-headed hos鈥� on his syndicated morning program.

鈥淭he one-time shock jock鈥檚 radio career has never fully recovered,鈥� in The Washington Post in a piece that equates the Limbaugh and Imus situations.

For Limbaugh, one problem right now is that was not exactly a symphonic mea culpa. In it, he notes that he鈥檚 an entertainer and says he 鈥渄id not mean a personal attack on Ms. Fluke.鈥�

But what鈥檚 鈥渟lut鈥� but a personal attack? Limbaugh had also said Fluke should post tapes of her intimate acts online so 鈥渨e can see what we鈥檙e getting for our money.鈥� Is that not ... pretty personal?

Critics thus clam that the degree of apology is not yet equivalent to the nature of the attack.

鈥淭his was not a case of bad 鈥榳ord choice鈥�. It was a brutally sexualized accusation, against a specific person, prolonged over three days,鈥� writes in a CNN piece.

Limbaugh is further hurt by the fact that there are plenty of people on the political left who don鈥檛 want this discussion to die. It serves their purpose by allowing them to argue about Rush鈥檚 words instead of the underlying administration policy of mandating that employer-provided health coverage include free contraceptives for women.

Plus, Limbaugh has made many enemies over the years with his slashing rhetoric, and they鈥檙e not about to let up on the counteroffensive. Take liberal filmmaker Michael Moore 鈥� a favorite Limbaugh target. He鈥檚 turned around and accused Limbaugh of being what the talk-show host accused Fluke to be.

鈥淎nd BTW Rush, your vile & vicious attacks on me over the years 鈥� I wear them as a badge of honor. You are sad & sick & I鈥檝e always pitied u,鈥� wrote Mr. Moore in a to his followers.

However, some conservatives complain that the liberal mainstream media has a double standard in this case 鈥� that they (the MSM) have let similar comments from left-wing radio hosts go by without nearly as much comment.

At the conservative RedState website on Monday, Ben Howe points out that Carbonite, an online backup support firm that has said it will pull ads from Limbaugh鈥檚 show, also sponsors a lefty talker named Ed Schultz. Mr. Schultz has called conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a 鈥渞ight-wing slut鈥� on air, yet Carbonite hasn鈥檛 pulled ads from him.

鈥淐ould they just be dropping sponsorship of Rush in an effort to gain some exposure to help their company get new customers? Because let鈥檚 face it, they鈥檒l get more exposure from dropping Rush then they鈥檒l ever get from keeping Schultz,鈥� .